The Truman Doctrine extended pre-existing Western support for authoritarian anti-communist regimes.
Evidence
What Truman was now raising to the status of a doctrine was a continuation of the Western democracies’ policy following the Second World War: toleration and even support for authoritarian regimes as bastions against communism. The Salazar dictatorship in Portugal and the Franco dictatorship in Spain had never ceased to benefit from toleration and support of this sort. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1667
Categorization
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: how did the Frankfurt School position itself rhetorically against Western toleration of Franco and Salazar while attacking Stalinism from the other side?
- XREF: connects to: The Eisenhower Doctrine offered both financial aid and military backing against communism.; The 1957 Eisenhower doctrine promised armed backing against communist threat