The domino theory, as applied to political systems, is a Cold War Era theory that communism spread from region to region in such a way as dominoes knocked each other over; that is, if one state in a region became communist, its neighbors would subsequently follow.
Following the division of European nations after WWII and the subsequent Soviet takeover of these states (as described in US President Winston Churchill’s influential “Iron Curtain” Speech of 1946), the United States was growing increasingly suspicious of the influence of communist governments. Nations governed this way, they believed, were subject to too much influence from the Russian Soviet powers, and could too easily form anti-capitalist (and thus American) sentiment. The United States first acted on the domino theory when it used it to justify their political support of Greece and Turkey, nations that were not only positioned between the communist Soviet Sphere and the free-market nations of Western Europe, but which were teetering on the brink of economic and political collapse. Outlined in President Harry Truman’s 1947 Address to Congress, the Truman Administration’s policy of providing aid to countries that might otherwise fall to communism (known as the Truman Doctrine) used the domino theory as a justification for their extension of the policy in Greece and Turkey.
The domino theory was later elaborated on by American diplomat George Kennan, who argued in his influential “X article” that the supposition of communist regimes outside the Soviet Sphere would lead to the further spread of communism throughout Europe and the world, to the point of becoming an issue of national security. Even were communism to be chosen through a democratic election, Kennan argued, would violate the concept of “containment” and allow it to begin to spread.
Much as in Greece and Turkey, the domino theory was used by the United States to justify their intervention in Vietnam. Following the complete withdrawal of French Forces following their defeat at the hands of Vietnamese nationalists, the entire Indochinese region was divided into four territories: North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The United States, fearing the spread of communism from North Vietnam to the surrounding territories and eventually into central Asia (in accordance with the domino theory) began to economically and militarily support South Vietnam’s resistance of the North, in what would eventually lead to the Vietnam War.
Following the division of European nations after WWII and the subsequent Soviet takeover of these states (as described in US President Winston Churchill’s influential “Iron Curtain” Speech of 1946), the United States was growing increasingly suspicious of the influence of communist governments. Nations governed this way, they believed, were subject to too much influence from the Russian Soviet powers, and could too easily form anti-capitalist (and thus American) sentiment. The United States first acted on the domino theory when it used it to justify their political support of Greece and Turkey, nations that were not only positioned between the communist Soviet Sphere and the free-market nations of Western Europe, but which were teetering on the brink of economic and political collapse. Outlined in President Harry Truman’s 1947 Address to Congress, the Truman Administration’s policy of providing aid to countries that might otherwise fall to communism (known as the Truman Doctrine) used the domino theory as a justification for their extension of the policy in Greece and Turkey.
The domino theory was later elaborated on by American diplomat George Kennan, who argued in his influential “X article” that the supposition of communist regimes outside the Soviet Sphere would lead to the further spread of communism throughout Europe and the world, to the point of becoming an issue of national security. Even were communism to be chosen through a democratic election, Kennan argued, would violate the concept of “containment” and allow it to begin to spread.
Much as in Greece and Turkey, the domino theory was used by the United States to justify their intervention in Vietnam. Following the complete withdrawal of French Forces following their defeat at the hands of Vietnamese nationalists, the entire Indochinese region was divided into four territories: North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The United States, fearing the spread of communism from North Vietnam to the surrounding territories and eventually into central Asia (in accordance with the domino theory) began to economically and militarily support South Vietnam’s resistance of the North, in what would eventually lead to the Vietnam War.