Brief summary:
George Catlett Marshall was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on December 31, 1880 and
died in Washington, D.C., on October 16, 1959.
George C. Marshall was the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1939 to 1945.
Perhaps overshadowed by other great generals, General Marshall was one of the greatest
Americans of the 20th century, and yet his name is only mentioned once or twice in the
history books. He played a crucial role in international affairs from 1939 to 1951 --
the years that shaped the second half of the century. He lead the Alies to victory in
WWII and was one of the greatest strategists that ever existed.
But his greatest accomplisment was yet to come, after resigning from the army in
1945, he took on great responsibilty and devoted himself and all his efforts to the cause
of international peace and security. He first spent time in China as President Truman's
representative, attempting to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict between
the nationalists and the communists, but was unfortunate to return without much success.
As Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949, he had the vision to make the Marshall Plan a
vehicle for the economic reconstruction of Europe.
The Marshall Plan was perhaps the Marshall's greatest accomplishment. As a general,
Marshall had helped to destroy Europe, but as the Secretary of State, he started what was
to restore Europe back to the way things were, perhaps even better. He created the
Marshall plan based on his direct belief upon America's security and continued economic
growth were a major influence over Europe's well-being. The tast of creating the Marshall
Plan was handed down to the Chief Policy Planner, George Kennan, who wrote the plan based
on his ideals and other government officials at them time. However, in Marshall's view, his
greatest contribution to the Plan was not enunciating the plan, not being the Secretary of
State while others ran it, but in giving the round of speeches to convince the American
people that were unsure, and to make them believe that the Marshall Plan was in everyone's
interest. It should be noticed, that Marshall never refered to it as the Marshall Plan,
but as it's official name, the Economic Cooperation Administration. With the assistance of
the Marshall Plan, Western Europe began to recover from the devastation it had endured
during WWII. Marshall made efforts to try and also include the Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe in this grand design of the Marshall Plan, but the idea was rejected by Moscow. As
Western Europe rebuilt under the Marshall Plan, Europe was divided both economically and
ideologically, and conflicting politics soon laid the way for a new kind war -- The Cold
War.( click here for more information on the Marshall Plan)
When it became clear that the differences between Eastern and Western Europe were too
large to overcome, and that the Western European countries have started to fear for their
safety, Marshall was one of the leaders who created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
which would ensure the security for the West. The establishment of NATO in 1949 achieved a
balance of power in Europe that endured until the end of the Cold War and beyond.
In his last official position as Secretary of Defense during 1950-51, Marshall oversaw
the formation of an international force, under the United Nations, that turned back the
North Korean invasion of South Korea.
Although he spent most of his life in the U.S. military, Marshall is best remembered as
a true internationalist who sought peace for the world through cooperation and understanding
among nations. It was a fitting tribute to a splendid career spent pursuing this ideal of
peace that Marshall earned himself the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
The principles of Marshall's vision for post WWII Europe, as revealed in The Marshall
Plan, are the same as those which lead to the creation of the George C. Marshall European
Center for Security Studies. The Marshall Center is an initiative which was launched just
as new democracies were emerging from the nations of the former Warsaw Pact. It seeks to
provide these emerging democratic nations with the intellectual capital they require to
make and sustain the transition to democracy, while increasing their knowledge and
understanding of each other and the West. Among these many institutions dedicated to
Marshall, George C. Marshall High School was also dedicated to his name in 1962 and it
still stands proudly today as a 5 star school.
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