Semester 2 Blog #12

Dear Mr. President,

Let me remind you of the condition that Europe was in after years of conflict during World War II. Millions of people were killed or severely wounded and industrial and residential centers in England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Belgium, and everywhere else was in ruins. The majority of Europe was near famine because agricultural production was disrupted by the war. Transportation infrastructure was in pieces and the only major power in the world that was not significantly damaged was the United States.

During 1945 through 1947, the United States was assisting European economic recovery with financial aid. The military was assisting Greece and Turkey and the newly made United Nations was providing some humanitarian assistance as well. President Harry Truman appointed George Marshall to be Secretary of State in January 1947.

“Marshall is the greatest man of World War II. He managed to get along with Roosevelt, the Congress, Churchill, the Navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and he made a grand record in China. When I asked him to [be] my special envoy to China, he merely said, ‘Yes, Mr. President I'll go.’ No argument only patriotic action. And if any man was entitled to balk and ask for a rest, he was. We'll have a real State Department now.”

Officially known as the European Recovery Program (ERP), the Marshall Plan was meant to rebuild the economies and spirits of western Europe. Marshall was convinced that the key to restoration of political stability was in the revitalization of national economies.

European nations received nearly $13 billion in aid, which resulted in shipments of food, staples, fuel and machinery from the United States and later resulted in investment in industrial capacity in Europe. Marshall Plan funding ended in 1951.

I believe that we need to follow this again in order to help rebuild the government and economy in the Middle East areas. They will not be able to rebuilt themselves and would look up to us if we give them a hand at "normal" life again. Personally I feel that it would be the right thing to do if we helped these countries out. We've done some damage to them, the least we could do is clean up the mess that we made.

Sincerely,

Ally Moder