NSC-68+-+12-13



= Description of the Event: = **National Security Council Paper 68 (NSC-68)** outlined a plan proposed by the U.S. Department State’s Policy Planning Staff on April 7, 1950 targeting governmental policy during the Cold War. This top-secret report initially suggested four possible stances: isolationism, war, efforts for negotiation, or the rapid development of U.S. military. In remembrance of Hitler’s growth of power due to appeasement, the NSC rejected isolationism. However, due to the fear of war, considering that the U.S. had just come out of World War 2, the government realized that plummeting into another one would be unacceptable for the citizens. Under the circumstances that the Soviet Union had succeeded in providing a stockpile of nuclear weapons, the NSC supported the method of negotiation, but also believed that military growth would only make negotiation possible. Thus, the NSC-68, strengthening the government’s general view against communism through the Truman Doctrine and containment policy, provided government jurisdiction to promote a massive build-up of both conventional and nuclear weapons to protect the U.S. and its allies from Soviet attack. In order to compensate for the increase in military spending, NSC-68 resolved the increase of taxes. Although a number of people were against the proposal, North Korean attack, support by the Soviet Union, in the Korean War, quickly changed the tide.

= “Major Players”: =
 * 1) **Harry S. Truman** was the president of the **United States** during the establishment of the NSC-68. The document was an extension to the Truman Doctrine, emphasizing the need to contain the spread of communism by increasing military development. After North Korea attacked, the government quickly made these recommendations into a foreign policy.
 * 2) The **U.S. Department State’s Policy Planning Staff**, also know as the NSC Study Group, included Paul Nitze, Chip Bohlen, Samuel S. Butano, John P. Davis, Robert hooker, Major General Truman Landon, and Robert Tufts. This group of members established the NSC-68, documenting the main proposals as well as reviewing the other possible methods to react to Soviet threats.
 * 3) The NSC-68 was a direct response to the **Soviet Union**. Feeling threatened by the nation’s expansion to countries such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldavia, and the Ukraine, as well as its placement of puppet communist governments in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, and Bulgaria, the U.S. believed that the spread of communism had to cease and that merely stating the containment policy through the Truman Doctrine was not enough. In regards to the Soviet Union’s additional success in building atomic bombs, the U.S. proposed the NSC-68 to combat the threat with direct military development.

=Dates:= 1947 : President Truman officially declared the U.S. containment policy against the spread of communism through the **Truman Doctrine**.

1949 : **Communist revolution in China** provokes the U.S. government to review their foreign policy on the spread of communism. 1950 : **NSC-68** is written under the resolution of military development to strengthen the country’s containment policy.

1950 : **North Korea attacks**. As a result, **NSC-68 is passed** and becomes a policy.

1950 - 1953 : The Truman Administration increased the percentage of the country’s GDP on **defense spending from 5% to 14.2%**.

1975 : **NSC-68 is de-classified** and opened to the public. = Outcome: = As a result of the NSC-68, President Truman almost tripled the amount of money spent on military development and defense. However, as a result of this document, the Soviet Union began to develop a fear of war themselves. Similar to the fear of war in the United States, the Soviet Union were not so confident in having a direct war with the U.S., considering the negative effects of both world wars on the nation. Thus, the Soviet Union established “buffer states” along the borders in case the U.S. attacked. The main foundation of this fear of war in the Soviet Union was that the U.S. had already used a nuclear weapon and was the “leading” researcher of it. But because the NSC-68 provoked a sense of fear of U.S. attack, it also encouraged the Soviet Union to build up their army as well. Along with the traditional “rivalry” between the two superpowers, the Soviet Union nor the U.S. wanted to lose. If the developed military in both nations were to be used, the entire world would only expect a Mutually Assured Destruction. However, when Truman left office, leaving Eisenhower to take the presidency, the new president was not as supportive of military spending. Instead, he believed in “massive retaliation,” further emphasizing the military as the primary instrument to promote containment. But due to the introduction of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the use of “massive retaliation,” using nuclear weapons became less plausible as these missiles were able to strike any location in the world. Rather than seeking for mere military development to stop the spread of communism, the U.S. was essentially forced to focus on negotiation as their first resort. The NSC-68, overall, was a foreign policy carried out until the 1980s. In 1975, the document was released to the public.

= Impact on the Cold War: = Because the NSC-68 was a direct strengthening factor of the Truman Doctrine, it clearly re-emphasized U.S. stance against communism and introduced a closer step towards war. While the Truman Doctrine was merely a passive statement against communism, the NSC-68 brought in the possibility of military intervention. Hence, tension between the two nations increased, creating a fear of another world war. The NSC-68 essentially resembled the arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Although the document did not directly state the development of nuclear weapons, it did provide the U.S. to rapidly build up their military to strengthen the containment policy. Thus, the Soviet Union was encouraged to do the same, providing this cycle of military development. Furthermore, because the cause to establish the NSC-68, as well as the reason to fear the U.S. in the Soviet Union were both the obtainment of nuclear weapons, the NSC-68 was essentially rooted in the possibility of a nuclear war. Although such situation did not occur, the fear of direct war in both nations was exacerbated. Because the urge to defeat their rival went parallel with a fear of another war, the United States and the Soviet Union continued their proxy war that somewhat fulfilled both variables.

Works Cited Kay, Kip. " NSC-68 (an Analysis) | History Road." //History Road | The Human story is a path down the History Road.//. N.p., 12 May 2012. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. < [] >. Office of the Historian. "Office of the Historian - Milestones - 1945-1952 - NSC-68, 1950." //Office of the Historian//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. < [] >. Salo, Glen. "National Security and Strategy: NSC 68." //National Security and Strategy//. N.p., 2 May 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. < [] >. The Executive Secretary. "A Report to the National Security Council - NSC 68." //Truman Library//. N.p., 12 Apr. 1950. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. < [] >. The U.S. Department State’s Policy Planning Staff. "NSC-68 United States Objectives and Programs for National Security ." //Federation of American Scientists//. N.p., 31 Jan. 1950. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. < [] >.