How did a Harvard commencement speech help save Europe after World War II?
How did a Harvard commencement speech help save Europe after World War II? It took Secretary of State George Marshall only 12 minutes to outline a plan to save Europe after World War II, though he planned to keep his remarks even briefer. Rather than addressing Congress or the newly formed United Nations, Marshall chose a Harvard commencement speech on June 5, 1947, as his platform to unveil the U.S. State Department’s strategy for reviving the flagging European economy. Emphasizing poverty relief above political conflict, Marshall spoke in simple, concrete language. Days later, officials in the United States and Europe initiated discussions about what would be recognized as the most significant foreign policy exchange in U.S. history. World War II, which came to a close in 1945, had devastated Western Europe. A quarter of Germany’s urban housing had been destroy
