The Marshall
Plan
Cold War policy
Power point by Robert L. Martinez
Primary Content Source: All the People, Joy Hakim
Images as cited.
http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/upload/thumb/9/98/300px-Stamp-us-marshall-plan.jpg
• On the president’s desk read a sign, “The
Buck Stops Here.” Which means, the
president has the final word and can’t blame
anyone else for his decisions.
http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/Truman_Buck_stops_here_small.jpg
• In one of the most important of is decisions,
Harry S. Truman persuaded the American
people to act generously on behalf of the
defeated nations in Europe.
http://portrait.kaar.at/USA%202/image35.html
• He knew how defeated people feel after a
war. He knew that Germany’s anger after
WWI had helped bring about a second
world war.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005121/data/Germany_files/image007.jpg
• So he supported a plan that would send
billions of dollars in aid and assistance to
our allies and to our former enemies. It was
called the Marshall Plan.
http://www.freonfilm.com/blog/wp-content/Marshall_Plan_poster.jpg
• The Marshall Plan was named for Secretary
of State George C. Marshall, who introduced
the idea. Marshall was the U.S. Army’s chief
of staff during WWII.
http://www.ww2-airborne.us/images/george_c_marshall5.jpg
• Marshall believed that if America helped
out the European countries, they would be
less likely to fall to communism during this
Cold War. It worked.
http://www.baltlantis.com/?id=27104
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/aa/marshall/aa_marshall_mplan_1_e.jpg
“You can’t be vindictive after a war. You
have to be generous. You have to help
people get back on their feet…People were
starving , and they were cold because there
wasn’t enough coal…”
President Harry S. Truman
Speaking with General
Dwight Eisenhower.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bravo213/2944665972/
“There had been food riots in France and
Italy…We were in a position to keep people
from starving and help them preserve
freedom and build up their countries, and
that’s what we did.” – President Truman
Food Riots
In France
http://www.historynyc.com/products.asp?cat=24
• Marshall Plan aid was offered to all of
Europe’s nations, including the Soviet
Union and those countries under Soviet
control.
http://www.a525g.com/histoire/plan-marshall.php
• The Soviet nations refused the aid. Sixteen
nations accepted with enthusiasm. The
plan encouraged Europeans to use
American materials and services (good for
U.S. economy.)
http://vho.org/tr/2004/2/Bassler123-126.html
• U.S. money rebuilt steel mills in Belgium,
ceramics factories in France, railroads in
Germany, and bridges and buildings in a
whole lot of places.
http://www.virtualstampclub.com/images/marshger.jpg
• Prosperity began returning to the free
nations of Europe. Those newly prosperous
European nations now had money to buy
American goods.
http://www.a525g.com/histoire/plan-marshall.php
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sstop/135980667/
• In East Asia, General Douglas MacArthur
was sent to defeated Japan as head of an
occupation army to bring democracy,
freedom, and prosperity to that nation.
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/Archive/images/loc.gov_douglas_macarthur_23july02_150_se.jpg
• The U.S. poured aid into Japan – food,
clothing, medicines, and other supplies.
Ancient temples and museums were
restored. No nation had ever done that kind
of thing for a defeated foe.
General MacArthur and
Japanese Emperor Hirohito
www.mutantfrog.com
• In addition, President Truman decided it
was time to do something about civil rights
for all citizens.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/09/0902001r.jpg
• The army, navy, and air force were all
segregated. Blacks and whites served in
separate units. Blacks got the worst jobs.
That wasn’t fair.
http://www.speaker.gov/img/tuskegee.jpg
• In Mississippi, when some black soldiers
returned home, they were dumped from
army trucks and then beaten.
http://www.ashp.cuny.edu/video/images/up10-11_vet.jpg
• In Georgia, a black man was shot and killed
because he had voted. When Truman heard
of those outrages he was horrified.
http://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/hunting/shotguns-and-rabbits_3.jpg
• Truman sent proposals to Congress to stop
lynchings, to outlaw the poll tax that kept
some people (mostly blacks) from voting,
and to end segregation in the armed
services.
http://www.naacpldf.org/images/content/black_woman_voting.jpg
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlynching.jpg
Truman’s 1947 speech denouncing racial
discrimination and pledging to fight it was
the first ever made by a president to the NAACP.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/73-2561.jpg