The following is the address
given by Secretary of State George C. Marshall in which he outlined a program
of economic assistance to war-torn Europe. It became known as "The Marshall
Plan Speech". Unfortunately, the speech has neither been filmed nor voice-recorded.
June 5, 1947, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
"Mr. President, Dr. Conant, members of the
Board of Overseers, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I'm profoundly grateful and touched by
the great distinction and honor and great compliment accorded me by the
authorities of Harvard this morning. I'm overwhelmed, as a matter of fact,
and I'm rather fearful of my inability to maintain such a high rating as
you've been generous enough to accord to me. In these historic and lovely
surroundings, this perfect day, and this very wonderful assembly, it is
a tremendously impressive thing to an individual in my position.
But to speak more seriously, I need not
tell you 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 ten years conditions have been 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 has 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, and
in some places approaching the starvation
levels. 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 product 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 cooperation,
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.
I am sorry that on each occasion I have
said something publicly in regard to our international situation, I've
been forced by the necessities of the case to enter into rather technical
discussions. But to my mind, it is of vast importance that our people reach
some general understanding of what the complications really are, rather
than react from a passion or a prejudice or an emotion of the moment. As
I said more formally a moment ago, we are remote from the scene of these
troubles. It is virtually impossible at this distance merely by reading,
or listening, or even seeing photographs or motion pictures, to grasp at
all the real significance of the situation. And yet the whole world of
the future hangs on a proper judgement. It hangs, I think, to a large extent
on the realization of the American people, of just what are the various
dominant factors. What are the reactions of the people? What are the justifications
of those reactions? What are the sufferings? What is needed? What can best
be done? What must be done?
Thank you very much.
