The Marshall Plan

Marshall: The Marshall Plan was an outgrowth of the disillusionment over the Moscow Conference which proved conclusively that the Soviet Union was negotiating in good faith and could not be induced to cooperate in achieving European recovery. Consideration was given to inaugurating the European Recovery Plan at the conclusion of the Moscow Conference but I vetoed this suggestion because I did not want it to appear that the eastern allies had come to Moscow Conference with a prior agreement to go ahead without Soviet cooperation. Further, differences with Britain over reparations etc., and the necessity for working out details of the plan prevented disclosure at this time.

Marshall: I took only a few intimate advisors into my confidence during the preparation of the European Recovery Program plan. I asked Kennan and Bohlen to present separate memoranda concerning means of meeting the European crisis. Kennan’s was the most succinct and useful—this was during the embryo period of State’s policy planning staff. I also drafted a paper reflecting my own view on this subject. Other than Bohlen and Kennan I consulted only Acheson and Lovett for fear that my deliberations would be “leaked”. The June 5th speech was not completed until after I had left Washington for Cambridge (to give a speech at Harvard and receive a degree). Keenan and others took exception to certain parts of my speech, particularly my statement that the U.S. proposal was aimed at hunger, poverty, and chaos and not against any group and my inclusion of all Europe including the Soviet Union and her satellites. Despite their opposition I insisted on formulating the speech as it was finally delivered.

Marshall: Senator Vandenberg was not consulted prior to the Harvard speech. He soon became a full partner in the adventure, however, and we consulted together twice weekly at the Blair House. Those meetings were kept secret and this secrecy resulted in charges that I was not enlisting bipartisan support. I worked closely with Senator Vandenberg on the Vandenberg resolution—in fact, the first draft of this resolution was prepared by Lovett at my request. Senator Vandenberg took the Lovett draft and “improved it on his own typewriter. I feel that Vandenberg has never received full credit for his monumental efforts on behalf of the European Recovery Program. Vandenberg was my right-hand man and at times I was his right-hand man.

• The Marshall Plan was offered to all European Nations including the USSR and all the Soviet Bloc nations. The USSR and its satellites refused the aid. Read the excerpt from Marshall’s interview and answer the following questions.

  1. What was the ERP?
  2. What does the term “Soviet Bloc” mean?
  3. What does the abbreviation “USSR” stand for?
  4. What is meant by the phrase difference between us and them?
  5. What were the Paris Consultations?
  6. Who is Vandenberg? What role did he have? Why was he an important ally?
  7. Who is George C. Marshall?
  8. How much aid was given to the countries that expected?
  9. What does that amount equal today?
  10. List the types of aid given? (technical, machinery, money, food, etc.)
  11. Why did the USSR and the Eastern Bloc Nations refuse the aid?
  12. How does that help shape the Cold War world?
  13. How does Marshall go about selling the Plan to the American people?
  

• "what if".......Czechoslovakia accepted the aid offered in the Marshall Plan? How would the United States and USSR react to that country’s acceptance for aid?

• Examine the countries of the former Soviet Bloc Nations. Make a chart detailing who are the leaders, political majorities, what city is the capitol, what is the form of government, is the country a member of the European Union, and the country a member of NATO? Discuss if aid would have changed the out come of these nations.

• Create a timeline of Czechoslovakia, Hungary or Poland. Chart the history of that Nation from the end of the second World War to today. Discuss the political, economic and social changes of that nation.

• Compare the Greek situation in 1947-48 to that of one of the Soviet Bloc countries of that same time. How are they alike and dissimilar?

• Did the aid help the European nations? The Soviet nations did not take the aid and yet today many are governed by a democratic government? Would the aid have made an economic and political difference in postwar Europe? In the 1960’s? In the 1980’s?

• Suppose you were going to interview George C. Marshall tomorrow what questions would you ask him regarding the situation in Europe?

• Create a presentation, exhibit board, or multimedia presentation showing the history of a nation that received aid from the Marshall Plan (and/or a Soviet Bloc country). Show the country’s history from 1947 to the present. Predict what the future might hold for this country or countries.

• Discuss what other countries in the world today would benefit from a plan such as the Marshall Plan? Compare aid packages that the United States has authorized in the decades of 1970, 1980, and 1990 and compare that to the Marshall Plan? Should the United States be contributing more the world’s economic well being? What role does the United Nations play in aid currently, for example, the International Monetary Fund IMF? Was the IMF in existence in 1948?