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Thursday, 27-Jun-2002 13:20:36 EDT |
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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.
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