Truman Doctrine

The Truman Doctrine stated that the United States would support "free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." U.S. President Harry S. Truman made the proclamation in an address to the U.S. Congress on March 12, 1947 amid the crisis of the Greek civil war (1946-1949). The doctrine was specifically aimed at assisting governments resisting communism. It was used primarily to aid Greece and Turkey and tied them into the West.

Truman signed the act into law on May 22, 1947 which granted $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.