Domino theory Domino theory The domino theory was a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s that posited that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower described the theory during an April 7, 1954, news conference, when referring to communism in Indochina: In 1945, the Soviet Union brought most of the countries of eastern Europe and Central
Historiography of the Cold War expansionism in the immediate years following World War II. Bailey argued Joseph Stalin violated promises he had made at the Yalta Conference, imposed Soviet-dominated regimes on unwilling Eastern European populations and conspired to spread communism throughout the world. From that view, American officials were forced to respond to Soviet aggression with the Truman Doctrine, plans to contain communist subversion around the world and the Marshall Plan. Another prominent "orthodox" historian was Herbert Feis, who in his works like "Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin" and "From Trust to Terror: The Onset of the Cold War" stated similar views. According to him, Soviet aggression