Write a 4-5 page paper showing how the chosen document reflects general issues, trends or opinions discussed in the textbook as characteristic of the period we are studying

t.; t - "^-"v'" "' \4J ( ii ,-.i' ' ii. I i" 't- '" !,-r ii'if REM.ARKS BY THE SECN$TARY OF STATE AT HARVARD UNIVERsTTY ON JUNE 5, t947 \'a l i l. -l )l .u*1. .l ,t - ts-< t t A -/' f,15 r ,Flod.ffr"" ' \,1 ij r&1"t *-,"-*.sFd* a** h*-t{ , r need not te1l you gentrennen that the world sltuatlon ls very serlous. That must be apparent to all lntelllgent people. r think one dlfflculty is that the problen ls one of sueh enormous conplexlty that the very mass of facts presented to the pub11c by press and radlo nake it exeeedlngly dlfflcult for the man 1n the street to reach a clear appralsement of the sltuatlon. Furthernore, the peopl_e of thls country are dlstant from the troubled areas of the earth and 1t ls hard for them to eornprehend the plight and consequent reactlons of the long-sufferlng peoples, and the effect of those reactions on their governments 1n conneatlon with our efforts to prornote peaee in the world. fn conslderlng the requlrements for the rehabllltation of Europe the physlcal loss of llfe, the vlslble destructlon of clties, factories, mines and rallroads was eorrectly estlnated, but it has beeone obvlous durlng recent nonths that thls vislble destructlon -7 was probably less serl ous than the dislocatlon of the entlre fabric of Europeen economy, For the past ten years condltlons have been highly abnormal. rhe feverish preparatlon for war and the more feverlsh maintenance of the war effort engulfed alL aspects of nattonal econonies. Machlnery has fallen intc dlsrepair or is entirely obsolete. under the arbitrary and destructive Nazl rule, virtually every posslble enterpri_se was geared lnto the Gernan war machine. Long-standlng eommerci.al tles, prlvate lnstltutlons, banks, lnsurance compa.nles and shlpplng conpanles dlsappeared, through loss of capltal, absorptlon through natl-onalization or by simple destruetlon. In many eountries, confldence in the loca1 eurrency has been severely shaken. The breakdown of the buslness structure of Europe during the war was conplete. Recovery has been serlously retard,ecl by the faet that tvro years after the elose of hostilities a peace settlement wlth Germa.ny and Austri-a has not been agreed. upon. But even given a nore pronopt solutlon of these dlfficult problems, the rehabllita-tion of the -3- eeonomlc structure of Europe qulte evidently w111 requi.re a much longer tine and greater effort than had been foreseen. There ls a phase of thls matter whlch ls both lnteresttng and seriousr The farner has always , -.' produced the foodstuffs to exchange with the clty dwe].ler for the other neeessities of l-lfe. Thls dlvtslon of labor ls the basis of nodern clvlllzation. At the present time lt is threatened with breakdown. The town and city industrles a.re not produclng ad.equate goods to exchange with the food-produclng farmer. Raw materials and firel are ln short supply. ldaehlnery ls .laeklng or worn out. The farmer or the peasant cannot flnd the goods for sale whicb he deslres to purch?.s€r So the sale of hls farn produce for money whlcb he cannot use seems to hlm an unprofltable transactlon. IIer therefore, has withdrawn many flelds flom crop cultlvatlon and. is uslng then for grazlng. IIe feeds nore graln to stock and flnds for hlnself and hls famlly an anple supply of foodt -4- however short he may be on clothing and the other ordlnary gadgets of clviLlzatlon. Meanwhlle people 1n the cities are short of food and fuelo So the governments are forced to use their forelgn noney and credLts to procure these necessltles abroad. Thts process exhausts funds whlch are urgently needed for reconstructlon. Thus a very serlous sltuatlon ls rapldly developing whlch bodes no good for the wor1d.. The nodern system of the dlvlslon of labor upon whlch the excbange of products is based ls ln danger of breaklng down. The truth of the matter ls that Europefs requlre- ments for the next three or four years of foreign food and. other essentlal products--prlncipally from Amerlca-- are so mueh greater than her present ablllty to pay that she must have substantlaL addltlonal belpr or face econonlcr soelal and polltlcal deterloratlon of a very grave charactel. ?he remedy lles ln breaklng the vlcLous circle and restorlng the onfldence of the European people tn the -5- economlc future of thelr own countrles and of Europe as a whole. The nanufacturer and the farner throughout wlde areas rnust be able and wllllng to exchange thelr products for currencles the contlnulng value of whlch ls not open to questlon. Aslde from the demorallzIng effect on the world at large and the posslbilltles of dlsturbances arlsing as a result of the desperatlon of the people concerned, the eonsequences to the econony of the United States shouLd. be apparent to all. 11 ls logicaL that the Unlted States should do whatever lt ls able to do to assist ln the return of normal econonle health ln the world, wlthout which there can be no po1ltlca1 stablLlty and no assured peace. Our pollcy ls directed not agalnst any eountry or doctrlne but agalnst hunger, poverty, d.esperatlon a.nd- ehaos. fts purpose shou,ld be the revlval of a rcrking economy ln the world so as to perrnit the ernergenc.e of pol1tlcal and soclal condltlons ln whlch free lnstitutions can exlst. Such asslstancet I an eonvlneed, must not be cn a plece-raeal be.sls as -6- various crlses develop. Any asslstance that thls Governnent may render ln the future should provlde a cure rather than a mere palllatlve. Any governnent that ls wllllng to assist ln the task of reeovery w111 flnd fuLl cooperatlon, I am surer or the part of the United States Government. Any grrernment whlch rganeuvers to block the recovery of otber eountrles cannot expect heLp from us. F rthermorer goverrunentSt polltlcaL partles or groups whlch seek to perpetuate human nlseyy |n order to proflt therefrom poLltlca11y or oth,erwlse wllL encounter the opposltlon of the Untted States. It is already evldent that, before the Unlted states Goverrunent ean proeeed nuch fwther in lts efforts to allevlate the situatlon and help start the European worl-d on lts way to recoveryr there must be some agreement anong the countrles of Europe as to the reoulrenents of the sltqatlon ard the part those eountrles thenselves w111 take ln order to glve proper effect to whatever actlon nlght be undertaken by thls '7- Government. ft would be neither fitting nor efflcaelous for thls Governrnent to undertake to draw up unllaterally a program d.esigned to place Europe on its feet economleally. This is the buslness of the Europeans. The lnlttatlve, I thlnk, must come from Europe. The role of thls country should conslst of frlendly aid in the drafting of a European prcgram and of later support of such a program so far as it may be praetlcal for us to do soo The program should be a jolnt one, agreed to by a number, if not all European natlons. An essentLal part of any successful aetton on the part of the unlted $tates is an und,erstanding on the part of the people of Anerlca of the character of the problem and the remedies to be applied. Folitlcar passlon and prejudlee shor-rld have no part. Ttr1th foreslght, and a wllllngness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responslbility whlch history has clearly placed upon our country, the Cifficulti es I have outllned can and lrrill be overcome. l--::