Editing Marshall Plan (section)

==Marshall's speech==
{{Wikisource|The Marshall Plan Speech}}
After the adjournment of the Moscow conference following six weeks of failed discussions with the Soviets regarding a potential German reconstruction, the United States concluded that a solution could not wait any longer. To clarify the American position, a major address by Secretary of State [[George Marshall]] was planned. Marshall gave the address at Harvard University on June 5, 1947. He offered American aid to promote European recovery and reconstruction. The speech described the dysfunction of the European economy and presented a rationale for US aid:

<blockquote>The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down.&nbsp;... 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 to the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is not directed against any country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Any government that is willing to assist in recovery will find full co-operation on the part of the United States. 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.{{sfn|Hanhimäki|Westad|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JSyv24u7iVEC&pg=PA122 122]}}</blockquote>

Marshall was convinced that economic stability would provide political stability in Europe. He offered aid, but the European countries had to organize the program themselves.

The speech, written at Marshall's request and guidance by [[Charles Bohlen]]{{sfnm|Mee|1984|1p=[https://archive.org/details/marshallplan00char/page/97 97]|Miall|1977|2loc=}} contained virtually no details and no numbers. More a proposal than a plan, it was a challenge to European leaders to cooperate and coordinate. It asked Europeans to create their own plan for rebuilding Europe, indicating the United States would then fund this plan. The administration felt that the plan would likely be unpopular among many Americans, and the speech was mainly directed at a European audience. In an attempt to keep the speech out of American papers, journalists were not contacted, and on the same day, Truman called a press conference to take away headlines. In contrast, [[Dean Acheson]], an Under Secretary of State, was dispatched to contact the European media, especially the British media, and the speech was read in its entirety on the [[BBC]].{{sfnm|Mee|1984|1p=[https://archive.org/details/marshallplan00char/page/99 99]}}

In the audience at Harvard was International Law and Diplomacy graduate student Malcolm Crawford, who had just written his Master's thesis entitled "A Blueprint for the Financing of Post-War Business and Industry in the United Kingdom and Republic of France."{{Citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=Questionable claims with no reliable references.}} Crawford's thesis was read by future Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas and presented to President Truman as the solution for Marshall's proposal.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=Questionable claims with no reliable references.}} It was Crawford's thesis which provided the key to selling the Marshall Plan to Congress by laying out the idea of "strategic partnerships."{{Citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=Questionable claims with no reliable references.}} Instead of the Federal government granting money directly to Europe, American businesses would provide technology, expertise, and materials to Europe as a strategic partner, and in exchange, the Federal government would purchase stock in the US businesses to reimburse them. In this way, Europe would receive the aid it needed, American businesses would receive capital investment, and the federal government would make a profit when the stock was sold.<ref>The Marshall Plan: The Economic Exchange of the Century by Tyler Bray, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nymHILU_XNg</ref>