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43.Harry S. Truman: "The Truman Doctrine"

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress of the United States:
The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates
my appearance before a joint session of the Congress. The foreign policy
and the national security of this country are involved. One aspect of the
present situation, which I present to you at this time for your
consideration and decision, concerns Greece and Turkey. The United States
has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal for financial and
economic assistance. Preliminary reports from the American Economic
Mission now in Greece and reports from the American Ambassador in Greece
corroborate the statement of the Greek Government that assistance is
imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation.

I do not believe that the American people and the Congress wish to turn a
deaf ear to the appeal of the Greek Government. Greece is not a rich
country. Lack of? sufficient natural resources has always forced the Greek
people to work hard to make both ends meet. Since 1940, this industrious,
peace loving country has suffered invasion, four years of cruel enemy
occupation, and bitter internal strife.
When forces of liberation entered Greece they found that the retreating
Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways, roads, port facilities,
communications, and merchant marine. More than a thousand villages had
been burned. Eighty-five per cent of the children were tubercular.
Livestock, poultry, and draft animals had almost disappeared. Inflation
had wiped out practically all savings. As a result of these tragic
conditions, a militant minority, exploiting human want and misery, was
able to create political chaos which, until now, has made economic
recovery impossible.
Greece is today without funds to finance the importation of those goods
which are essential to bare subsistence. Under these circumstances, the
people of Greece cannot make progress in solving their problems of
reconstruction. Greece is in desperate need of financial and economic
assistance to enable it to resume purchases of food, clothing, fuel, and
seeds. These are indispensable for the subsistence of its people and are
obtainable only from abroad. Greece must have help to import the goods
necessary to restore internal order and security, so essential for
economic and political recovery. The Greek Government has also asked for
the assistance of experienced American administrators, economists, and
technicians to insure that the financial and other aid given to Greece
shall be used effectively in creating a stable and self-sustaining economy
and in improving its public administration.
The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the terrorist
activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists, who defy the
government's authority at a number of points, particularly along the
northern boundaries. A Commission appointed by the United Nations security
Council is at present investigating disturbed conditions in northern
Greece and alleged border violations along the frontiers between Greece on
the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia on the other.
Meanwhile, the Greek Government is unable to cope with the situation. The
Greek army is small and poorly equipped. It needs supplies and equipment
if it is to restore authority of the government throughout Greek
territory. Greece must have assistance if it is to become a
self-supporting and self-respecting democracy. The United States must
supply this assistance. We have already extended to Greece certain types
of relief and economic aid. But these are inadequate. There is no other
country to which democratic Greece can turn. No other nation is willing
and able to provide the necessary support for a democratic Greek
government.
The British Government, which has been helping Greece, can give no further
financial or economic aid after March 31st. Great Britain finds itself
under the necessity of reducing or liquidating its commitments in several
parts of the world, including Greece.
We have considered how the United Nations might assist in this crisis. But
the situation is an urgent one, requiring immediate action, and the United
Nations and its related organizations are not in a position to extend help
of the kind that is required.
It is important to note that the Greek Government has asked for our aid in
utilizing effectively the financial and other assistance we may give to
Greece, and in improving its public administration. It is of the utmost
importance that we supervise the use of any funds made available to Greece
in such a manner that each dollar spent will count toward making Greece
self-supporting, and will help to build an economy in which a healthy
democracy can flourish.
No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy,
however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic
processes can be pointed out and corrected. The Government of Greece is
not perfect. Nevertheless it represents eighty-five per cent of the
members of the Greek Parliament who were chosen in an election last year.
Foreign observers, including 692 Americans, considered this election to be
a fair expression of the views of the Greek people.
The Greek Government has been operating in an atmosphere of chaos and
extremism. It has made mistakes. The extension of aid by this country does
not mean that the United States condones everything that the Greek
Government has done or will do. We have condemned in the past, and we
condemn now, extremist measures of the right or the left. We have in the
past advised tolerance, and we advise tolerance now.
Greek's [sic] neighbor, Turkey, also deserves our attention. The future of
Turkey, as an independent and economically sound state, is clearly no less
important to the freedom-loving peoples of the world than the future of
Greece. The circumstances in which Turkey finds itself today are
considerably different from those of Greece. Turkey has been spared the
disasters that have beset Greece. And during the war, the United States
and Great Britain furnished Turkey with material aid.
Nevertheless, Turkey now needs our support. Since the war, Turkey has
sought financial assistance from Great Britain and the United States for
the purpose of effecting that modernization necessary for the maintenance
of its national integrity. That integrity is essential to the preservation
of order in the Middle East. The British government has informed us that,
owing to its own difficulties, it can no longer extend financial or
economic aid to Turkey. As in the case of Greece, if Turkey is to have the
assistance it needs, the United States must supply it. We are the only
country able to provide that help.
I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if the United States
extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and I shall discuss these
implications with you at this time. One of the primary objectives of the
foreign policy of the United States is the creation of conditions in which
we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from
coercion. This was a fundamental issue in the war with Germany and Japan.
Our victory was won over countries which sought to impose their will, and
their way of life, upon other nations.
To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the
United States has taken a leading part in establishing the United Nations.
The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and
independence for all its members. We shall not realize our objectives,
however, unless we are willing to help free peoples to maintain their free
institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements
that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes. This is no more than a
frank recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed upon free peoples, by
direct or indirect aggression, undermine the foundations of international
peace, and hence the security of the United States.
The peoples of a number of countries of the world have recently had
totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will. The Government
of the United States has made frequent protests against coercion and
intimidation in violation of the Yalta agreement in Poland, Rumania, and
Bulgaria. I must also state that in a number of other countries there have
been similar developments.
At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose
between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one.
One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is
distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free
elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and
religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is
based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It
relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed
elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.
I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures.
I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies
in their own way.
I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial
aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political
processes.
?The world is not static, and the status quo is not sacred. But we cannot
allow changes in the status quo in violation of the Charter of the United
Nations by such methods as coercion, or by such subterfuges as political
infiltration. In helping free and independent nations to maintain their
freedom, the United States will be giving effect to the principles of the
Charter of the United Nations.
It is necessary only to glance at a map to realize that the survival and
integrity of the Greek nation are of grave importance in a much wider
situation. If Greece should fall under the control of an armed minority,
the effect upon its neighbor, Turkey, would be immediate and serious.
Confusion and disorder might well spread throughout the entire Middle
East. Moreover, the disappearance of Greece as an independent state would
have a profound effect upon those countries in Europe whose peoples are
struggling against great difficulties to maintain their freedoms and their
independence while they repair the damages of war.
It would be an unspeakable tragedy if these countries, which have
struggled so long against overwhelming odds, should lose that victory for
which they sacrificed so much. Collapse of free institutions and loss of
independence would be disastrous not only for them but for the world.
Discouragement and possibly failure would quickly be the lot of
neighboring peoples striving to maintain their freedom and independence.
Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect
will be far reaching to the West as well as to the East.
We must take immediate and resolute action. I therefore ask the Congress
to provide authority for assistance to Greece and Turkey in the amount of
$400,000,000 for the period ending June 30, 1948. In requesting these
funds, I have taken into consideration the maximum amount of relief
assistance which would be furnished to Greece out of the $350,000,000
which I recently requested that the Congress authorize for the prevention
of starvation and suffering in countries devastated by the war.
In addition to funds, I ask the Congress to authorize the detail of
American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, at the
request of those countries, to assist in the tasks of reconstruction, and
for the purpose of supervising the use of such financial and material
assistance as may be furnished. I recommend that authority also be
provided for the instruction and training of selected Greek and Turkish
personnel. Finally, I ask that the Congress provide authority which will
permit the speediest and most effective use, in terms of needed
commodities, supplies, and equipment, of such funds as may be authorized.
If further funds, or further authority, should be needed for purposes
indicated in this message, I shall not hesitate to bring the situation
before the Congress. On this subject the Executive and Legislative
branches of the Government must work together.
This is a serious course upon which we embark. I would not recommend it
except that the alternative is much more serious. The United States
contributed $341,000,000,000 toward winning World War II. This is an
investment in world freedom and world peace. The assistance that I am
recommending for Greece and Turkey amounts to little more than 1 tenth of
1 per cent of this investment. It is only common sense that we should
safeguard this investment and make sure that it was not in vain. The seeds
of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and
grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their full growth
when the hope of a people for a better life has died.
We must keep that hope alive.
The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their
freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the
world. And we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation.
Great responsibilities have been placed upon us by the swift movement of
events.

I am confident that the Congress will face these responsibilities
squarely.?
　