Truman Doctrine

On 12 March 1947, US President Harry Truman asked Congress for 400 million dollars in aid for Greece and Turkey, announcing a new policy that became known as the Truman Doctrine. Britain, weakened by World War II, had informed the United States in February 1947 that it could no longer afford to support the Greek government in its fight against the communist Democratic Army in the civil war, or to assist Turkey against Soviet pressure. Truman argued that the United States must support free peoples who were resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. Congress approved the aid in May 1947. The United States sent weapons, advisers and economic aid, and American officers helped retrain the Greek army. The aid was crucial to the government's victory in the civil war. The Truman Doctrine marked a turning point in American foreign policy, committing the United States to containing the spread of communism around the world, and is often seen as the start of the Cold War. It began decades of strong American influence in Greece.