【英语时差8,16】马歇尔计划

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ANNCR: The Marshall Plan — on Today's Congressional Moment. Europe lay devastated¹ at the end of World War II. Its major cities were damaged or destroyed. Its infrastructure² — roads and bridges, power plants, communications — was ruined. Many of its people were destitute³ and hungry. Secretary of State George Marshall was convinced the United States needed to intervene to stave off “hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos⁴.” In a speech at Harvard, he outlined a massive effort to rebuild Europe's economy. His proposal that day is known to history as the “Marshall Plan,” but at the time it was little more than an idea. What gave it shape was its passage through Congress. Marshall served President Harry⁵ S Truman, a Democrat⁶. The House and the Senate, however, were controlled by Republicans, and the congressional majority was dubious⁷ about spending billions of dollars to help other countries, especially countries like Germany, that had been our enemy. “We are through being 'Uncle Sap,'” one senator declared. Marshall found one indispensable ally, Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, chair of the foreign relations committee and a Republican leader. Talking daily, they shaped the Marshall Plan into a business–like, $13 billion operation that got the congressional approval it needed. Today, 60 years later, their work is remembered for helping⁸ lift Europe from its knees and helping create the post–war economic prosperity that followed.