Containing Communism In 1947, in an effort to halt, or contain, the advance of communism in Europe, and especially in Greece and Turkey, President Truman announced the policy known as the Truman Doctrine, by which the United States furnished military and economic aid to countries threatened by aggression and subversion. An important adjunct of this policy was the Marshall Plan, proposed in June 1947 by Secretary of State George C. Marshall. Officially designated the European Recovery Program, it was a broad program of economic rehabilitation. The policy of containment was expanded to the western hemis