Copies of documents for students Copies of America, Pathways to the Present for background information (or some other source)

Transcription

1 Lesson Title: Analyzing the Marshall Plan Grade(s): Grade 10, 20 th Century Studies II Time Frame: 2 class periods Planning and Preparation: Students will need to have some background knowledge in the post-war arrangement in Europe, the development of Soviet satellite states, and the crisis in Greece and Turkey leading to the Truman Doctrine. See Academic Vocabulary Materials/Equipment Needed: Copies of documents for students Copies of America, Pathways to the Present for background information (or some other source) Learning Standards: Common Core: WHST.9 Draw evidence from information texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Social Studies Content Standards: HS.9. Identify historical and current events, issues, and problems when national interests and global interest have been in conflict, and analyze the values and arguments on both sides of the conflict. HS.31. Describe United States foreign policy and evaluate its impact on the United States and other countries. Rationale: The Marshall Plan was the beginning of an often used foreign policy approach, to provide monetary aid in the hope of helping people, influencing policies, building allies, and molding international politics. Then, as now, there are both critics and supporters, and as our students enter adulthood, they will need to understand these kinds of complex issues to inform their political participation and eventual votes in our democratic system. Lesson Learning Target: I can explain the goals of the Marshall Plan and evaluate arguments both for and against it. Academic Vocabulary/Concepts: satellite state iron curtain political bloc containment Cold War Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan/European Recovery Program

2 Sequence of Lesson Activities: Day 1 Day 2 1. Students should be familiar with background information on pages in America, Pathways to the Present. As an opener for this lesson, ask students to do a quick draw of the terms, Iron Curtain, Truman Doctrine, and/or Containment. This is a quick application of Marzano s nonlinguistic representation strategy. Remind them that they may use drawings and symbols but no letters or words. Share examples with the class as time permits. 2. Introduce the document following the lesson plan (President Truman to Congress). Ask students to read and underline any unfamiliar words. Either address these as a class or pair students to see if they can use context clues and background knowledge to make sense of the words. 3. Ask the class to reread the document, this time pausing to notice the boxes on the right side of the paper. Some have summary information and some require students to add information. To create better focus on the text during the initial reading, have the students fold the paper hot dog style so they can only see the document and not the boxes. 4. Discuss student responses. 5. Closure. Ask students to respond to this prompt verbally or in writing: What do you think was the most important goal of the Marshall Plan? Why? 1. Compile student responses from yesterday s closure and illustrate by percentages or graph to represent class opinion in response to the prompt. Ask if anything is surprising in what they see. 2. Explain to the class that today s lesson continues yesterday s and that they will take a closer look at the details of the Marshall Plan. 3. Distribute copies of the page with seven documents. Students will individually or in pairs, read each document, record appropriate information in graphic organizer provided, and be prepared to discuss their opinions about the Marshall Plan. If time is a factor, it might be helpful to do one document as a class and then assign odds and evens to different groups who can then share information with each other. 4. Review the definitions of four evaluative terms: ethical, unethical, effective, ineffective. The goal is for students to practice the skill of evaluating and finding evidence in text to support a given opinion. The real learning is to be had in the thinking and conversation, rather than in designating certain answers correct and others incorrect. Some examples are provided. 5. Closure: Ask students which box of arguments they find most compelling. Have them compose a paragraph (or could it could be as short as a sentence) summarizing the argument and supporting reasons

3 they think is most correct/convincing/accurate, etc. 6. For those who are interested, this could be a launching pad for further investigation of US aid to nations around the world. It remains a current and at times controversial issue. Questions for discussion: Why did President Truman support the Marshall Plan? What would Europe look like if the Marshall Plan was completely successful? Why did the Soviets dislike the Marshall Plan? What is an example of an ethical action? An unethical action? Does it surprise you that there are different opinions about the Marshall Plan? How should we go about making up our own minds about this? Check for Understanding 1. Student responses to questions on President Truman to Congress regarding the Marshall Plan. 2. Summary paragraph/sentence at conclusion of day 2 lesson.

4 President Truman to Congress regarding the Marshall Plan (1948) I need not tell you gentlemen that the world situation is very serious. That must be apparent to all intelligent people. I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. Furthermore, the people of this country are distant from the troubled areas of the earth and it is hard for them to comprehend the plight and consequent reaction of the longsuffering peoples, and the effect of those reactions on their governments in connection with our efforts to promote peace in the world. In considering the requirements for the rehabilitation of Europe the physical loss of life, the visible destruction of cities, factories, mines, and railroads was correctly estimated, but it has become obvious during recent months that this visible destruction was probably less serious than the dislocation of the entire fabric of European economy. For the past 10 years conditions have been highly abnormal. The feverish maintenance of the war effort engulfed all aspects of national economics. Machinery has fallen into disrepair or is entirely obsolete. Under the arbitrary and destructive Nazi rule, virtually every possible enterprise was geared into the German war machine. Long-standing commercial ties, private institutions, banks, insurance companies and shipping companies disappeared, through the loss of capital, absorption through nationalization or by simple destruction. In many countries, confidence in the local currency has been severely shaken. The breakdown of the business structure of Europe during the war was complete. Recovery has been seriously retarded by the fact that 2 years after the close of hostilities a peace settlement with Germany and Austria has not been agreed upon. But even given a more prompt solution of these difficult problems, the rehabilitation of the economic structure of Europe quite evidently will require a much longer time and greater effort than had been foreseen. The devastation of World War II is causing suffering for the people of Europe. It is hard for those of us in the US to understand how bad it is. List 5 specific problems Europe was facing: There is a phase of this matter which is both interesting and serious. The farmer has always produced the foodstuffs to exchange with the city dweller for the other necessities of life. This division of labor is the basis of modern civilization. At the present time it is threatened with breakdown. The town and city industries are not producing adequate goods to exchange with the food-producing farmer. Raw materials and fuel are in short supply. Machinery is lacking or worn out. The farmer or the peasant cannot find the goods for sale which he desires to

5 purchase. So the sale of his farm produce for money which he cannot use seems to him unprofitable transaction. He, therefore, has withdrawn many fields from crop cultivation and is using them for grazing. He feeds more grain to stock and finds for himself and his family an ample supply of food, however short he may be on clothing and the other ordinary gadgets of civilization. Meanwhile people in the cities are short of food and fuel. So the governments are forced to use their foreign money and credits to procure these necessities abroad. This process exhausts funds which are urgently needed for reconstruction. Thus a very serious situation is rapidly developing which bodes no good for the world. The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down. The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements for the next 3 or 4 years of foreign food and other essential products -- principally from America -- are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help, or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character... Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis as various crises develop. Any assistance that this Government may render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere palliative. Any government that is willing to assist in the task of recovery will find full cooperation, I am sure, on the part of the United States Government. Any government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect help from us. Furthermore, governments, political parties, or groups which seek to perpetuate human misery in order to profit there from politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of the United States... Farmers have: Farmers need: People in cities need: Money is flowing out of European countries because: List at least 4 goals of the US:

6 Source 1 The Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947 I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support peoples who resist being enslaved by armed minorities or by outside pressure. I believe that we must help free peoples to work out their own destiny in their own way. Source 2 Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, 1947 Europe s requirements fir the next three or four years of foreign foods and other essential products mainly from the USA are so much greater than its present ability to pay that it must have substantial additional help or face economic and political disaster. The Marshall Plan Source 5 Constitution Rights Foundation, 2004 By the time the Marshall Plan ended in 1951, industrial production in Western Europe had risen 40% above the prewar level. Trade and exports also increased far above what they were before the war. People had returned to work and their standard of living was rising. After Czechoslovakia, no European nation fell to communism... The Marshall Plan did not cure all of Europe s economic problems. Western Europe was still importing 30% of its food in Inflation remained a problem in some countries... National trade barriers continued to block the free flow of goods and services Source 3 Undersecretary of State, Dean Acheson, Describes US goals in Europe, 1945 In the first place, our own interest is to maintain full employment and expand it sufficiently to absorb the twelve million or more men and women who will come back from the services. The great thing which creates purchasing power is people. If the people can develop their own countries in Europe, they will become an increasing market for US goods. Iceland Source 4 Marshall Plan Aid in Millions of Dollars Portugal Ireland Turkey Switzerland Sweden Norway Greece Denmark Austria Belgium Netherlands Italy West Germany France United Kingdom Source 6 Historian Walter Coffey, 2012 The Marshall Plan was the forerunner to many US foreign aid programs in place today. These programs consist of government-to-government grants that come with no guarantees that they will actually go toward benefitting those most in need. In many instances, the grants simply uphold the ruling powers and embolden dictators to oppress their people even more. Moreover, foreign aid programs... tend to create violence, as special interests in the countries getting the aid often fight each other over who controls the money. The Marshall Plan... spread the false notion that an external stimulus could generate prosperity, when prosperity can only be generated by market forces such as creating customers through innovation, increasing production... Source 7 Shipments Financed by the Marshall Plan Shipment Total Value Food, feed, fertilizer Fuel Cotton Other raw materials Machinery and vehicles Other 88.9 Total 10, Values listed in millions of dollars

7 Evaluating the Marshall Plan Directions: Read each document and underline arguments if they support the Marshall Plan and circle arguments that do not seem support it. Consider the definitions below, and write the sentence or phrase and the document number in the appropriate box. Ethical something that is morally good, the right thing to do Unethical something that is morally bad, the wrong thing to do Effective something that achieves positive results Ineffective something that does not produce positive result The Marshall Plan was ethical (it was the right thing to do). Doc 1 We should help people trying to resist being enslaved. The Marshall Plan was unethical (it was the wrong thing to do). Doc 6 The money allows dictators to oppress their people even more. The Marshall Plan was effective. The Marshall Plan was ineffective.

8 Evaluating the Marshall Plan Directions: Read each document and underline arguments if they support the Marshall Plan and circle arguments that do not seem support it. Consider the definitions below, and write the sentence or phrase and the document number in the appropriate box. Ethical something that is morally good, the right thing to do Unethical something that is morally bad, the wrong thing to do Effective something that achieves positive results Ineffective something that does not produce positive result The Marshall Plan was ethical (it was the right thing to do). The Marshall Plan was unethical (it was the wrong thing to do). The Marshall Plan was effective. The Marshall Plan was ineffective.