The Marshall Plan

Power point by Robert L. MartinezPrimary Content Source: All the People, Joy HakimImages as cited.

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Cold War policy

• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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“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. TrumanSpeaking with General Dwight Eisenhower.

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“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

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• Marshall Plan aid was offered to all of Europe’s nations, including the Soviet

Union and those countries under Soviet control.

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• 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.)

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• 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.

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• Prosperity began returning to the free nations of Europe. Those newly

prosperous European nations now had money to buy American goods.

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• 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.

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• 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 andJapanese Emperor Hirohito

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• In addition, President Truman decided it was time to do something about civil rights

for all citizens.

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• 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.

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• In Mississippi, when some black soldiers returned home, they were dumped from

army trucks and then beaten.

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• In Georgia, a black man was shot and killed because he had voted. When Truman heard

of those outrages he was horrified.

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• 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.

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Truman’s 1947 speech denouncing racialdiscrimination and pledging to fight it was

the first ever made by a president to the NAACP.

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