NEWS REPORTER [ARCHIVE]: When asked his opinion of the European Recovery Program, commonly known as the Marshall Plan, he replied:
EISENHOWER: The security of the United States is definitely tied up and affected by the strength of democracy throughout the world. If we can make these countries of Western Europe again strongholds of democracy, of course it affects our security. We are no Atlas to carry all the rest of the world on our backs, but it is important that we help those that want to help us to make their own living.
NEWS REPORTER VO [ARCHIVE]: And finally, a blunt question. Do you think Russia wants war?
EISENHOWER: There is no great nation in the world today that would deliberately provoke a global war. A vast and productive industry is necessary to a nation with mountainous quantities of supplies built up before it would attempt any such venture. Economies in all nations except our own – and we know we don't want war – are far too broken and debilitated by World War II to believe that they would deliberately start a war now.
Video summary
This BBC Archive clip is from a news conference in February 1948. It features General Dwight Eisenhower, who at that time was stepping down as Chief of Staff of the United States Army, answering questions about the European Recovery Programme, better known as the Marshall Plan.
He affirms that the security of the United States depends on the strength of democracy throughout the world.
He is defending the foreign aid being given to the countries of Western Europe; there was an unspoken fear of some of these war-ravaged countries becoming communist.
Eisenhower is asked whether Russia wants war. In answering, he reflects on the cost and consequences of the recent war and why countries would not start another conflict.
Teacher notes
This video could be shown as part of a series of lessons around this possible overarching enquiry question:
- In what ways did the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan increase Cold War tensions?
Before the video:
It is important to provide the historical context before playing the clip, by addressing questions such as:
- What was the Marshall Plan?
- When was the Marshall Plan announced?
- How much money did the USA offer under the Marshall Plan?
- Who was the man in the clip, Dwight Eisenhower?
While watching the video:
Students could consider the following:
- According to Eisenhower, upon what does the security of the United States depend and why would this be?
- What were the consequences of the war on European countries?
- Why may they welcome this foreign aid?
- What would America gain by providing such a large sum of money?
At the end of the video:
The students will need to study why the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were introduced and possibly compare the difference between the public pronouncements, such as this one from Eisenhower, with other reasons.
In addition, there is an opportunity to compare American and Russian propaganda on the Marshall Plan. The video is an example of the former; the Soviet Union called the Plan - ‘dollar imperialism'. The students could consider what different interpretations of the Plan are being promoted by such conflicting propaganda.
There is a helpful map in this revision guide and it would be useful for the students to interrogate the reasons behind:
- The countries which received the most money under the Marshall Plan
- The countries which received the least money under the Marshall Plan
- The countries which received the no money at all under the Marshall Plan
Once the students have studied the Marshall Plan, it would be important to compare and contrast the Marshall Plan with Cominform, the Soviet response and evaluate which was more successful in achieving its aims and why.
The video could be interrogated as a historical source by answering a question like:
- How useful is this source to a historian studying the Marshall Plan?
Before being examined on this topic, the students could be directed to this set of revision podcasts.
Suitable for teaching the GCSE History units on The Cold War in England and for National 5 examinations in Scotland.
More from this series:
1945 Roosevelt speech at Yalta. video
An audio clip from the BBC archive taken from a speech made by the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference.
1949 Signing of the Atlantic Pact. video
A BBC Archive newsreel clip of the signing of the Atlantic Pact, the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
1962 President Kennedy's Cuban Missile speech. video
A clip from the BBC Archive from President John Kennedy’s television broadcast to the American people on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
