The Truman Doctrine's Impact in Cold War Strategy
             By the middle of the twentieth century's fifth decade, the world had been jolted by two catastrophic wars; a seven- year economic disaster and the recognition that weapons of mass destruction existed. Where blood had been spilled through hand to hand combat dating back to trench warfare, the realization that thirty years hence, blood bones and the complete human identity could be vaporized helped create a climate of distrust between former allies. The architects of postwar Europe, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, acting as a triumvirate of supreme commanders, negotiated on behalf of their countries' interest in redefining the geographic boundaries of Europe. The contrast in nationalistic views exposed by Stalin and Churchill would begin the journey to what became known as the "Cold War". The strategies utilized by both the United States and Great Britain were designed to thwart the Soviet Union's attempt to expand puppet Communist regimes over conquered territories. Winston Churchill would write in his memoirs an entry dated May 10th, 1945, "The Soviet menace had already replaced the Nazi foe". As part of that strategy, a statement of purpose or "doctrine" exposed by President Harry Truman played a role in defining U.S. interests. This paper will explore the impact of Truman's decree in meeting America's foreign policy needs.
             No one more clearly than Churchill had foreseen the threat to the future of Eastern Europe and the impending Cold War brought about by Russian intervention. Churchill thus directed his energies toward limiting the postwar territorial expansionism of Stalin and his communist cohorts by defining a plan which divided territory among the three allies before the final guns were silenced in an October 1944 meeting with Stalin in Mo...