George C. Marshall: 1880-1959 : The American Secretary of State who changed the fare of Europe.

                           by

                Simona Jaselskyte

Riversdale Community College

                           4L

General George C. Marshall was one of those rare men  who followed a successful military career with a distinguihed political achievemant. He was the architect of the European Recovery Program  called the Marshall Plan after him. Its importance in Europe’s  economic recovery after World War II can hardly be overstressed.

 

George C. Marshall, Jr. was born on the last day of the last month of 1880, the last of three children born to George C. Marshall, Sr. and Laura Bradford Marshall. He had an older sister ( Marie ) and an older brother ( Stuart ) who were already in school by the time Marshall could walk. Though his parent had roots in Virginia and Kentucky, the Marshall family lived in Uniontown, Pennsylvania ( near Pittburgh ) where doing business with the coal industry provided a good living for his father.

 

George Marshall grew up at the end of the 19th century, which in many ways was the end of one era in American history and the beginning of another. It was a simpler time, before radios and moves and airplanes or cars, and Marshall spent much of his time outdoors, playing with friends and getting into trouble. Real trouble began, though, when Marshall went to school and did not live up to his parents’ expectations.

 

Marshall’s sister and brother both did well in school, but George did not and as a result never had an easy time with school. In fact when it came time for Marshall to go to college, his own brother begged their mother not to send him to the college he had attended. That college was the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, where Stuart had already graduated. In Stuart’s opinion, sending.

 

An outstanding staff officer in World War I, Marshall served in China between 1924 and 1927. He headed the United States army as Chief of Staff from 1939 to 1945, being  created general of the army in December 1944. Marshall had urged a direct attack on German-held France from 1942 and opposed Winston Churchill’s polisy of a front in North Africa. He was overruled by Franklin D. Roosevelt. When the European second front was at last established after the D-Day landings of June 1944 the Americans wanted a single Supreme  Commander  for Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Marshall was the obvious choise for the post. But separate commands were decided upon and Dwight D. Eisenhower was made commanderin- chief Europe. Marshall’s wartime responsibilities involved a great deal of diplomatic activity. When he resigned as chief of staff President Truman gave him the delicate task of mediating between America’s wartime allies in China – Mao Tsetung’s communists and the nationalists under Chiang K’ai-shek.

 

During World War II the United States supported both parties as common allies against Japan. But there were clear signs that the civil war, suspended in the 1930 was about to break out again. The Americans decided to try to conciliate. Marshall’s mission went well at first. A conference was arranged between the two sides. But it got nowhere. What he saw of the corrupt regime of Chiang K’ai-shek led Marshall to recommend his government  to consider supporting the communists. But the United States felt bound by wartime agreements with Chiang. Marshall returned home where, in January 1947, President Truman appointed him secretary of state. He busied himself at once with the shattered economies of Europe. Within a month he had engineered immediate American aid to Greece and Turkey. Then he began to prepare for his revolutionary scheme for general European recovery.

 

In 1947 the British informed the U.S. that they could no longer afford the cost of maintaining British troops in Greece to support the Monarchist government against the communists in the continuing civil war there. Truman, in face of  the growing danger of communism throughout Europe, granted military and economic aid to Greece and pledged U.S. support for all free peoples against communist take-over attempts. This declaration, which became known as the Truman Doctrine, represented the acceptance by the U.S. of its role as a world power and as leader of the free world. It represented the beginning of a policy of containment of communism- the U.S. pledged their support to prevent the spread of communism.

 

In June 1947 the U.S. Secretary for State, George Marshall, announced a plan for the reconstruction of Europe. Under the Marshall Plan huge amounts of U.S. money were made available to develop the economies of Europe. The Marshall Plan was the logical extension of the Truman Doctrine- the surest way to prevent the spread of communism was to create a prosperous free-market economy in Europe. The sixteen nations that benefited from the Marshall Plan set up  the Organisation for European  Economic Co-operation (O.E.E.C.) to draw up plans to administer the aid. The results were impressive. By the mid-1950s Western Europe had recovered from World War II. Marshall aid was available to all the countries of Europe but Stalin, fearing the spread of U.S. influence, prevented the Eastern bloc, communist countries from partaking. In 1947 Stalin set up Cominform. Its aim was to co-ordinate the activities of communist parties throughout Europe and to integrate their economies with the Soviet economy. The Marshall Plan, Cominform and Comecon helped consolidate the economic division of  Europe into East and West.  

 

 

SHORT QUESTIONS

 

QUESTION 1

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ed Cray, General of the Army, Cooper Square Press ( June 2000 )

Forrest C. Pogue , George C. Marshall Organizer of Victory, 1943-1945, Viking Press (January 1973 )

Mark A. Stoler, George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century (Twayne’s Twentieth Century American Biography Series)

Twayne Pub ( March 1989 )

 

 

QUESTION 2

 

SKILLS

 

Sudying for this essay, I learnt to use skills the fallowing:

1.  I learnt to look for suitable books in libraries on the topic.

2.  I used the Internet to get more information for my essay.

3.  I read many different sources for my essay and

4.  I have learnt new skills on Microsoft Word.

 

QUESTION 3

 

REVIEW

 

George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century

 

Mark  Stoler writes a concise account of the life and accomplishment of George C. Marshall, one of the greatest soldiers and statesman in U.S. history. The opening lines in chapter one describe how Marshall was the only professional soldier to receive the Nobel Peace prize. I found the book highly readable, having the detailed notes that provide guidance for futher reading. It is well worth the read.

Stoler’s work comes in at just under two hundred pages, but adds depth with extensive notes for the reader who wishes to pursue more details on the life and accomplishment of General  Marshall. The author leans heavily on Forrest C. Pogue, Marshall’s official biography, and others who have written extensively on the leader and World War II. The book also features a chronology of  Marshall’s life, two sets of  photos, a bibliographic essay, and index.

I found the chapter on Marshall’s time as Secretary of State to be extremely interesting. He not only helped the passing of the European Recovery Plan (“Marshall Plan”) during his tenure, but he also helped negotiate the Rio Pact and Organisation of American States, witnessed Tito’s Communist coup in Czechoslovakia, opposed the Soviet blockade of  Berlin, and supported the creation of NATO. Marshall’s immense impact on world affairs can still be felt in Western Europe and elsewhere, as his military and diplomatic efforts set the stage for international relations for the remainder of the 20th century.

 

 

QUESTION 4

 

HOW THE ESSAY WAS WRITTEN

 

I was told about this essay by a teacher in class. The teacher gave me a week to think about the topic that I want to write about. During this week I went to the school libarary and got a book on “World War II” book. I also went on the Internet looking for information. I got some information from Microsoft Incarta as well. I read 3 books about the topic which were very interesting. I planed out the essay. Wrote a first draft. I also added bits from different book and checked the dates. I typed the essay using Microsoft Word. I printed it out and made few corrections. Printed it out again  and put it on the school website.