Truman's presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy and renounced isolationism. During his first year in office, Truman approved the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and subsequently accepted the Surrender of Japan, which marked the end of World War II. In the aftermath of World War II, he helped establish the United Nations and other post-war institutions. Relations with the Soviet Union declined after 1945, and by 1947 the two countries had entered a period of geopolitical tension known as the Cold War. In 1947, Truman promulgated the Truman Doctrine, which called for the United States to prevent the spread of Communism through foreign aid and other means. The following year, he convinced Congress to approve the Marshall Plan, a massive aid package designed to rebuild Western Europe. In 1949, Truman presided over the creation of NATO, an alliance of Western countries opposed to the Soviet Union.
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