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GUEST COMMENTARY - A grim reality faced both the victors and the losers of World War II. Between 70 and 85 million people perished in the conflict. Having started both WWI and WWII, Germany lie in ruin with its economy and towns shattered, its leadership vanquished, and its soul eviscerated by the public viewing of the atrocities committed by the Nazis. The Emperor of Japan, a deity in the eyes of Japanese, proved all too human and completely defeated. Japan became the first nation to suffer nuclear attack. Many of its cities were decimated by attacks, its economy had crumbled, and its war crimes exposed a malignancy in the Japanese society. Having cast its fate with Germany, Italy emerged enfeebled, hapless and in disarray.
Most of the allies faced extraordinary difficulty as well. The Allies’ economies were in shambles. Their people reeled from the losses suffered—both to property and persons. Their colonial conquests of earlier years were nearly certain to be lost. In victory, they could see only a shrinkage of power and prestige, coupled with a staggering cost to rebuild and the advance of communism as a threat to their societies. The victory unveiled the deep and abiding conflict between the East and West, and merely opened a new forum for conflict between those that had just prevailed over the Axis powers.
The sole factor serving to unite the victorious Allies was their shared hatred for Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Axis countries endured a harsh occupation that heavily restricted military and industrial rejuvenation, for fear or rearmament. Germany faced programs of De-Nazification and Emperor Hirohito was made to renounce his divinity. Germany saw mass deportations from Eastern Europe and Italy lost its colonial territories. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were depicted as the ultimate evil in movies, newspapers, and other media. Fear, prejudice and hatred for the Axis powers and their people thrived in the post-war period.
Americans shared this hostility. In 1945 80% of Americans supported the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 60% believed Japan was inherently militaristic and should never be allowed to regain military power and nearly 30% believed the US should permanently occupy Japan. A vast majority of American, 80%, believed that Germany should be harshly punished for the war. Nearly 30% of Americans supported the Morgenthau Plan, which would punish Germany by reducing it to a permanent agrarian society.
The other Allies had even harsher feelings toward Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Allies sought retribution for the unspeakable atrocities of the Nazis and Imperial Japan, and for the damage caused by their militarism. The voices for calm, reason and reconciliation dared not speak and were cast as naïve, unpatriotic, and dangerous.
Into this cauldron of enmity arrives George Marshall, the United States Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949. George Marshall arose from a military background, having graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1901. He served in the Philippines, World War I and ultimately as U.S. Army Chief of Staff where he helped plan D-Day and worked closely with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Despite his long and accomplished background as a military leader, his greatest accomplishment came as a statesman.
Marshall first outlined his eponymous plan in a June 5, 1947, speech at Harvard University. He observed that economic instability in Europe threatened the United States. Europe’s economic collapse would bring enormous human suffering and create the foundation for political extremism, and particularly for the spread of communism. Marshall emphasized the new role of the United States as the leading international power and its moral obligation to create stability, saying famously, “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” Though not stated in the speech, Marshall privately discussed the need for his plan to prevent Soviet expansion. More importantly, Marshall recognized the failure of the Treaty of Versailles and the rise of Hitler from the punitive approach to post-WWI reconstruction. President Truman reiterated this point publicly, stating “The Versailles policy of retribution failed. We will not make that mistake again.”
Marshall faced stiff opposition in the United States. Republican lawmakers argued the plan was a waste of taxpayer money. Isolationists feared that giving assistance would entangle the United States in European affairs. Others claimed that the plan created big government that would give the United States too much power and set an unsustainable precedent for American assistance abroad. Even key allies such as Britain and France had concerns. While welcoming assistance, both worried about American influence over their governments and economies. The Soviet Union and its satellite nations flatly rejected assistance in its entirety.
Marshall artfully overcame the opposition to his plan by convincing Truman and key Congressional members that the plan was necessary to blunt the Soviet expansion and the proliferation of communism. In April 1948 Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act, which implemented the Marshall Plan and provided $13 billion of aid to Western European countries. In current dollars, the plan infused over $150 billion in aid to rebuild Western Europe. While not part of this plan, the United States provided similar economic stimulus to Japan through Japan’s pivotal role in the Korean War.
Gaza and post-WWII Europe have clear differences. The Cold War pushed the United States and Western European countries to deepen alliances. Japan and Germany were of vital US interest in the Cold War. Gaza has no similar strategic interest to Israel, except the strong benefit that would emerge from peace. WWII left all of the Axis countries defeated, whereas in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict there remain millions of refugees outside of Gaza whose interests must be addressed even if Gaza were resolved. In addition, the defeated Axis countries had long standing presence as independent nations with a unified underlying body politic, despite internal political differences. Palestine has been dismantled as a nation since 1948 and the aftermath of the dissolution has failed to produce a cohesive Palestinian political body. Nevertheless, Gaza shares an overwhelming similarity in the need to rebuild successfully in order to prevent its future political disintegration that leads to extremism and violence.
Marshall has been hailed as a brilliant statesman for his plan. Through his efforts to support and rebuild, rather than punish, our defeated adversaries, the United States managed to change Germany, Italy, and Japan from sworn enemies into some of our closest allies. As these political realities changed, so too did the attitude of Americans toward the Germans, Japanese and Italians. Soon, the wartime animosity gave way to economic, political, and social integration. This integration eroded the post-war hatred and allowed for cross-cutting dependencies to replace animosity with shared respect and understanding that arose from the achievement of mutual goals. Marshall’s policies of compassion and cooperation had triumphed over the acrimony and recriminations that Marshall originally faced. Marshall created geopolitical stability that formed the basis of NATO. Amazingly, he forged a new understanding and respect from Allied citizens for German, Japanese and Italian citizens. His foundation for understanding and security continues to serve the United States’ efforts to maintain peace and prosperity. From the ashes of WWII, Marshall found a path to overcome hatred and create a new, stable world order.
(J. George Mansour was born and raised in Missouri and has long been a student of political science and international relations. Mr. Mansour is now based in Austin Texas, where he remains an active investor in a variety of businesses.)
