Download Containment Due - Seaford School District

Name
Containment
By Sharon Fabian
The Ghostbusters had Containment Units
that strapped onto their backs like school
backpacks. When they found a bad ghost,
they zapped him into a Containment Unit.
There the ghost was "contained," and he
couldn't bother anyone on the outside. This
was their method of keeping the bad guys
under control.
In the late 1940's, the United States used the
idea of containment to keep Communism
from spreading. It was right after World War
II, and Communism was spreading among
the countries near the Soviet Union. The United States and Western
Europe were afraid of it spreading even further. This was no job for
the fictional Ghostbusters and their backpack-style Containment
Units. President Harry Truman of the United States came up with a
real plan.
President Truman's idea was to support the countries of Europe with
economic aid. The United States would provide money and supplies
to the countries that had been so badly damaged by the war. This
would help them recover their strength more quickly. Then they
would not have to worry about being taken over by Communists.
Truman said that this would help to contain Communism within the
countries of Eastern Europe where it was already established.
Truman's plan began with the countries of Greece and Turkey. Both
Greece and Turkey needed to rebuild after the war, and they did not
have the money to do it themselves. In a speech to Congress, Truman
said that Communist rebels were threatening the governments of both
Greece and Turkey. He said that, without our help, both countries
could be taken over by Communism. He asked Congress for
$400,000,000 to assist Greece and Turkey.
Next, Truman's Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, developed a
detailed plan that would extend aid to any European country that
wanted to accept it. The Marshall Plan offered aid in the form of
money, food, machinery, medicine, farm animals, and other materials.
To accept the aid, European countries would have to participate by
joining together and deciding just what they needed.
Beginning in 1948, seventeen European countries took advantage of
the Marshall Plan aid. These were all independent countries in
Western Europe. They included countries from Iceland to West
Germany and Austria as well as Greece and Turkey.
The countries of Eastern Europe that were behind the Iron Curtain
said, "No, thanks." Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union said that the
Marshall Plan was a plot created by the United States in order to
interfere in European affairs. The Soviet Union developed its own
economic assistance program for the Communist countries.
Through the Marshall Plan, the United States continued to provide
assistance to its European allies through 1952. By that time, Western
European countries were well on the way to recovery.
The United States economy was also doing well. The Marshall Plan
had created more business for American companies that supplied the
products for Marshall Plan aid. It had provided business for shipping
companies too.
The Marshall Plan was a success. Europe was on the way to recovery.
The Communist countries were recovering too, but the spread of
Communism seemed to have stopped. At least for now, Communism
seemed to be contained behind the Iron Curtain.
Containment
Questions
1. The situation described in this article took place ______.
A. during World War II
B. after World War I
C. after World War II
D. during World War I
Name
2. At that time, ______ was President of the United States.
A. Marshall
B. Truman
C. Stalin
D. None of the above
3. The Marshall Plan was written by ______.
A. the Secretary of State
B. the President
C. the Secretary of Defense
D. the Secretary of the Treasury
4. The Marshall Plan provided ______ to ______.
A. military support, European countries
B. economic assistance, Communist countries
C. military support, Communist countries
D. economic assistance, European countries
5. Which happened first?
A. World War II
B. Truman's speech to Congress
C. Stalin refused Marshall Plan aid
D. Marshall Plan aid to European countries
6. All of the following countries accepted Marshall Plan aid,
except ______.
A. Austria
B. West Germany
C. Soviet Union
D. Iceland
7. This article is mainly about ______.
A. a plan for the defeat of Communism
B. a plan for economic recovery and the defeat of
Communism
C. a plan for economic recovery in the United States
D. a plan for economic recovery and containment of
Communism
8. The word containment means ______.
A. prevent from spreading
B. giving money
C. military defeat
D. reducing the size
After World War II, the United States decided to use economic aid to
contain Communism. What other choices might the US have had?
Why do you think it chose to give economic aid?