What follows is the text of the speech given
by United States Secretary of State, George C. Marshall
at Harvard University on June 5, 1947. This speech
initiated the post-war European Aid Program commonly
known as the Marshall Plan.
*
*
*
*
*
I need not tell you, gentlemen, that the
world situation is very serious. That must be apparent to
all intelligent people. I think one difficulty is that
the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the
very mass of facts presented to the public by press and
radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the
street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation.
Furthermore, the people of this country are distant from
the troubled areas of the earth and it is hard for them
to comprehend the plight and consequent reactions of the
long-suffering peoples, and the effect of those reactions
on their governments in connection with our efforts to
promote peace in the world.
In considering the requirements for the rehabilitation of
Europe, the physical loss of life, the visible
destruction of cities, factories, mines and railroads was
correctly estimated but it has become obvious during
recent months that this visible destruction was probably
less serious than the dislocation of the entire fabric of
European economy. For the past 10 years conditions have
been highly abnormal. The feverish preparation for war
and the more feverish maintenance of the war effort
engulfed all aspects of national economies. Machinery has
fallen into disrepair or is entirely obsolete. Under the
arbitrary and destructive Nazi rule, virtually every
possible enterprise was geared into the German war
machine. Long-standing commercial ties, private
institutions, banks, insurance companies, and shipping
companies disappeared, through loss of capital,
absorption through nationalization, or by simple
destruction. In many countries, confidence in the local
currency has been severely shaken. The breakdown of the
business structure of Europe during the war was complete.
Recovery has been seriously retarded by the fact that two
years after the close of hostilities a peace settlement
with Germany and Austria has not been agreed upon. But
even given a more prompt solution of these difficult
problems the rehabilitation of the economic structure of
Europe quite evidently will require a much longer time
and greater effort than had been foreseen.
There is a phase of this matter which is both interesting
and serious. The farmer has always produced the
foodstuffs to exchange with the city dweller for the
other necessities of life. This division of labor is the
basis of modern civilization. At the present time it is
threatened with breakdown. The town and city industries
are not producing adequate goods to exchange with the
food producing farmer. Raw materials and fuel are in
short supply. Machinery is lacking or worn out. The
farmer or the peasant cannot find the goods for sale
which he desires to purchase. So the sale of his farm
produce for money which he cannot use seems to him an
unprofitable transaction. He, therefore, has withdrawn
many fields from crop cultivation and is using them for
grazing. He feeds more grain to stock and finds for
himself and his family an ample supply of food, however
short he may be on clothing and the other ordinary
gadgets of civilization. Meanwhile people in the cities
are short of food and fuel. So the governments are forced
to use their foreign money and credits to procure these
necessities abroad. This process exhausts funds which are
urgently needed for reconstruction. Thus a very serious
situation is rapidly developing which bodes no good for
the world. The modern system of the division of labor
upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger
of breaking down.
The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements for
the next three or four years of foreign food and other
essential products - principally from America - are so
much greater than her present ability to pay that she
must have substantial additional help or face economic,
social, and political deterioration of a very grave
character.
The remedy lies in breaking the vicious circle and
restoring the confidence of the European people in the
economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a
whole. The manufacturer and the farmer throughout wide
areas must be able and willing to exchange their products
for currencies the continuing value of which is not open
to question.
Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large
and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result
of the desperation of the people concerned, the
consequences to the economy of the United States should
be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States
should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the
return of normal economic health in the world, without
which there can be no political stability and no assured
peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or
doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and
chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working
economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of
political and social conditions in which free
institutions can exist. Such assistance, I am convinced,
must not be on a piecemeal basis as various crises
develop. Any assistance that this Government may render
in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere
palliative. Any government that is willing to assist in
the task of recovery will find full co-operation I am
sure, on the part of the United States Government. Any
government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other
countries cannot expect help from us. Furthermore,
governments, political parties, or groups which seek to
perpetuate human misery in order to profit therefrom
politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of
the United States.
It is already evident that, before the United States
Government can proceed much further in its efforts to
alleviate the situation and help start the European world
on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement
among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of
the situation and the part those countries themselves
will take in order to give proper effect to whatever
action might be undertaken by this Government. It would
be neither fitting nor efficacious for this Government to
undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to
place Europe on its feet economically. This is the
business of the Europeans. The initiative, I think, must
come from Europe. The role of this country should consist
of friendly aid in the drafting of a European program and
of later support of such a program so far as it may be
practical for us to do so. The program should be a joint
one, agreed to by a number, if not all European nations.
An essential part of any successful action on the part of
the United States is an understanding on the part of the
people of America of the character of the problem and the
remedies to be applied. Political passion and prejudice
should have no part. With foresight, and a willingness on
the part of our people to face up to the vast
responsibility which history has clearly placed upon our
country, the difficulties I have outlined can and will be
overcome.
[For more information on the Marshall
Plan, be sure to consult For
European Recovery: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Marshall Plan.]
| Return
to the Lecture |
| The History
Guide | |
copyright ?2000 Steven Kreis
Last Revised -- May 13, 2004
Conditions of Use
|
