That is what I do know about him…”, Robert Richards: “Mr President, would you mind commenting on the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world? It was updated on September 28th 2020. [6], Following the Iran crisis of 1946, Harry S. Truman declared what became known as the Truman Doctrine in 1947,[7] promising to contribute financial aid to the Greek government during its Civil War and to Turkey following World War II, in the hope that this would impede the advancement of Communism into Western Europe. In West Germany, this includes the terrorist actions of the Red Army Faction. Therefore, the domino theory is indubitably a significant theory which deals with the close relationship between micro-cause and macro-consequence, where it suggests such macro-consequences may result in long-term repercussions. Choose from 40 different sets of domino theory flashcards on Quizlet. Moreover, the domino theory was utilized as one of the key arguments in the “Kennedy and Johnson administrations during the 1960s to justify increasing American military involvement in the Vietnam War.”[17], In May 1954, the Viet Minh, a Communist and nationalist army, defeated French troops in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and took control of what became North Vietnam. Linguist and political theorist Noam Chomsky wrote that he believes that the domino theory is roughly accurate, although he put a more positive spin on the threat, writing that communist and socialist movements became popular in poorer countries because they brought economic improvements to those countries in which they took power. This would give them a geographical and economic strategic advantage, and it would make Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand the front-line defensive states. This is supported by how the United States created asymmetrical bilateral alliances with the Republic of Korea, Republic of China and Japan “not just to contain but also constrain potential ‘rogue alliances’ from engaging in adventurist behavior that might it into larger military contingencies in the region or that could trigger a domino effect, with Asian countries falling to communism.”[3] Since the United States struggled with the challenge of “rogue alliances and the threat of falling dominoes combined to produce a dreaded entrapment scenario for the United States,”[3] the domino theory further underscores the importance of bilateral alliances in international relations. French Indochina/Vietnam (1941-1954)", "JFK and Vietnam: The September 1963 TV Interviews", Ford, Kissinger, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew - May 8, 1975 (Gerald Ford Library), "Rough Draft of History: 'All Right, Let's Get the @#! When Eisenhower gave one of his famous speeches about the domino theory and its affects on the country and the countries surrounding. This underscores the correlation between domino theory and path dependency, where a retrospective collapse of one country falling to communism may not only have adverse effects to other countries but more importantly, on one’s decision-making scope and competence in overcoming present and future challenges. All of these were unsuccessful Communist attempts to take over Southeast Asian countries which stalled when communist forces were still focused in Vietnam. The global interpretation of the domino effect relies heavily upon the "prestige" interpretation of the theory, meaning that the success of Communist revolutions in some countries, though it did not provide material support to revolutionary forces in other countries, did contribute morale and rhetorical support.
Some foreign policy analysts in the United States have referred to the potential spread of both Islamic theocracy and liberal democracy in the Middle East as two different possibilities for a domino theory. Note the Malayan Emergency, the Hukbalahap Rebellion in the Philippines, and the increasing involvement with Communists by Sukarno of Indonesia from the late 1950s until he was deposed in 1967. [14] The installation of the new government was established after the People's Liberation Army defeated the Nationalist Republican Government of China in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949). Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. I think there has been, across the country, some lack of understanding on just what it means to us.”, Eisenhower: “…You have the possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world… You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the ‘falling domino’ principle. Korea had also partially fallen under Soviet domination at the end of World War II, split from the south of the 38th parallel where U.S. forces subsequently moved into. Learn domino theory with free interactive flashcards. [8] Later that year, diplomat George Kennan wrote an article in Foreign Affairs magazine that became known as the "X Article", which first articulated the policy of containment,[9] arguing that the further spread of Communism to countries outside a "buffer zone" around the USSR, even if it happened via democratic elections, was unacceptable and a threat to U.S. national security. Occupation Zone in Germany, Khrushchev, Eisenhower and De-Stalinization, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, People to People Student Ambassador Program, Republican Party presidential primaries, 1948, United States Presidential election, 1952, Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, gravesite, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–1989), Calcutta Southeast Asian Youth Conference, Circumstances prior to the Malayan Emergency, Central All-Indonesian Workers Organization, Revolutionary Socialist Party (Netherlands), Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawà ng Pilipinas, Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Pilipinas, Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataang Pilipino, League of Young Communists of the Philippines, Student Movement in the Philippines (1965–1972), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Domino_theory&oldid=985616171, History of the foreign relations of the United States, Articles needing additional references from April 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles that may contain original research from August 2020, All articles that may contain original research, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 October 2020, at 23:05.
[10] Kennan was also involved, along with others in the Truman administration, in creating the Marshall Plan,[11] which also began in 1947, to give aid to the countries of Western Europe (along with Greece and Turkey),[12] in large part with the hope of keeping them from falling under Soviet domination. This implies that the domino theory is useful in evaluating a country’s intent and purpose of forging an alliance with others, including a cluster of other countries within a particular region. Domino theory, theory adopted in U.S. foreign policy after World War II according to which the ‘fall’ of a noncommunist state to communism would precipitate the fall of noncommunist governments in neighboring states. Michael Lind has argued that though the domino theory failed regionally, there was a global wave, as communist or Marxist–Leninist regimes came to power in Benin, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Angola, Afghanistan, Grenada, and Nicaragua during the 1970s. McGeorge Bundy argued that the prospects for a domino effect, though high in the 1950s and early 1960s, were weakened in 1965 when the Indonesian Communist Party was destroyed via death squads in the Indonesian genocide. However, proponents believe that the efforts during the containment (i.e., Domino Theory) period ultimately led to the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. In the far east the Japanese Red Army carried out similar acts. Historical Briefings: JFK, the Cold War, and Vietnam, 1949 victory of the Chinese Communist Party, Nationalist Republican Government of China, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Quotable Quotes of Dwight D. Eisenhower", "STALIN, SOVIET POLICY, AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF A COMMUNIST BLOC IN EASTERN EUROPE, 1944-1953", "The Iron Curtain: Winston S. Churchill, "The Sinews of Peace," speech, 1946", "TURKEY AND THE MARSHALL PLAN: STRIVE FOR AID", "The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan", "Mao Zedong outlines the new Chinese government", Rogue Regimes: Terrorism and Proliferation, pg. +1 628 123 4000 [email protected] Mon–Sat: 8:00AM–6:00PM Sunday: CLOSED You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.