what was the United States policy of containment?

Principally it was to keep communism where it was in 1945 and not let it extend any further.

The two main actions were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid.

The Truman Doctrine was first conceived as a promise of economic and military aid to prevent Greece and Turkey falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere.

Truman stated the Doctrine would be "the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Truman reasoned, because these "totalitarian regimes" coerced "free peoples," they represented a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States.

This was then extended to the rest of Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Essentially it promised that if those nations supported the west, that the west would not forget them.

Marshall Aid was conceived as a plan to rebuild the shattered economies in Germany and Japan, particularly the former, which found itself as the first line of defence against Soviet expansion westwards into Europe. After WWI the Versailles treaty had exacted a heavy toll on Germany in terms of reparations which undermined the economy and allowed the grounds for political and social upheaval. This led to the Nazis and Hitler getting into power and this time the US and the west generally chose to rebuild Germany. Without that financial and economic support it is possible that est Germans might have looked to the Soviet Union for support and that in turn would have destabilised the rest of Europe and torpedoed the Truman doctrine and policy of containment.

Both Germany and Japan recovered quickly and that economic success along with political stability (the two things are always linked) meant that they were effective and strong bulwarks against communism.

The containment of communism was the policy you are studying. Containing any nation that had a communistic government was the main point of the policy. Keeping it from spreading from one nation to another was the Truman Doctrine following WW2.

Korea replaced into the 1st try - we nonetheless have troops there after 60 years. South Korea remained freed from communism, however the ever-recent threat of North Korea is a relentless subject. Latin u . s . a . of america - Cuba replaced right into a botched operation known through fact the Bay of Pigs. Cuba continues to be a communist fort in the Caribbean after fifty one years. China is making inroads into South u . s . a . of america.