USAID: The Marshall Plan Study Guide

Marshall Plan


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Study Guide for Educators

Introduction

Dear Educator:

The Marshall Plan was one of the key elements of U.S. foreign policy following World War II. The goals and philosophy of Secretary of State George C. Marshall as stated in 1947 continue to guide America's foreign aid program. Where once America helped rebuild war-torn nations of Western Europe, now we assist developing countries and newly independent nations of Eastern and Central Europe and Asia. Today, foreign assistance continues to translate American ideals into concrete actions to help others in need. Its aim is still to build a peaceful, more prosperous world.

The video, "Seeing the Victory Through: 50th Anniversary of the Marshall Plan," will help your students understand the circumstances that produced the pivotal decision that would do much to shape our world in the second half of the 20th century.

The video will also help students understand the problems in our world today and U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, disease and underdevelopment. The end of the Cold War brought new opportunities to help newly independent states establish institutions and policies that support democracy, opportunity, justice, and human rights. One of the legacies of the Marshall Plan is that our nation has been joined in these international aid efforts by an increasing number of nations, many of which once received help from the Marshall Plan or subsequent U.S. aid programs.

Professional educators helped prepare the following discussion questions and extension activities. We hope they will provide a starting point for discussion -- both inside and outside the classroom -- about America's goals and responsibilities in our increasingly interdependent world.

Jill Buckley
Assistant Administrator for
Legislative and Public Affairs
USAID

Questions for Discussion

Fifty years ago, then Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a plan of economic trade and aid (the Marshall Plan) to help a Europe devastated by World War II. How did the plan work and what was involved?
Secretary of State Marshall believed that countries whose people do not go hungry and who trade with each other are less likely to go to war. Do you think this is true today? How does economic aid help bring about this result?
After he proposed the Marshall Plan in 1947, many Americans thought the $13 billion over four years proposed to be spent was too much money. Our lawmakers in Congress were eventually convinced to provide the funds. What convinced them to do this?
We have been providing economic aid to foreign countries long after the Marshall Plan. Do you think our aid programs since the Marshall Plan have been a success or failure? Why?
It took leadership by the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress to carry out the Marshall Plan. Why did these people go to such great lengths to make the Marshall Plan a reality? What does this tell about problems in the world affecting our country today?

Extension Activities

In your classroom, based on available resources in the library or in magazines and newspapers, assign roles for Secretary of State Marshall and his supporters and opponents in Congress. You may wish to re-enact the scene in the video with Marshall testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Try to include as many arguments for and against the plan as possible.
Ask each student to write a two-page essay that describes:
- the economic problems facing Europe in the late 1940s;
- the organizing principles of the Marshall Plan; and,
- how the Marshall Plan experience relates to problems of poverty and underdevelopment today, and what lessons can be learned from the success of the Marshall Plan.