George F. Kennan Quotes
It is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.
Kennan, George F. "The Sources of Soviet Conduct." Foreign Affairs, vol. 25, no. 4, 1947, p. 575.
At the end of WWII there was much tension between Russia and the Anglo-American alliance. This plan was developed but never implemented. See {613195} for Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s description of the invasion idea.
This quotation was used by the Goldwater campaign in 1964 to make the point that Fidel Castro was an evil and that the Democrats had not done anything about him. Four decades later Castro was still in place but neither party would chastise the other on this issue since both had their chance and neither succeeded.
The Germans had invaded Russia who despite losing over 20 million people continued to fight the Germans who had never had to deploy forces over such a large territory. But it was the severe Russian Winter that turned the tide. Germans were not equipped or dressed for the terrible winter. The Russians were used to it. The Germans were repulsed and had to retreat back into Germany.
George Frost Kennan was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly histories of the relations between the USSR and the United States. He was also one of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men".
