Human Progress: Enlightenment Reason and the Marshall Plan

The Autonomy of Reason

Reason is sufficient in and of itself; therefore, it requires confidence and the decision to use it independently, without any limits other than those provided by nature. In the Enlightenment, reason is seen as the ability to acquire knowledge from experience, analyze, and understand, creating a close link between the empirical and the rational.

The Progress and Liberation of Humanity will no longer depend on a provident God and Redeemer, but is instead the result of one's own work and the efforts of humanity throughout history. It is a belief that human living conditions will improve over time. Each generation is better than its predecessor and contributes its work to an even better life for future generations, forming a long-term part of this human progress. It is considered that progress will continue indefinitely until there is widespread enjoyment of happiness.

The Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan is the name for the European Recovery Program announced by the then U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall, in a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947. Given the poverty in Europe and the financial impossibility of buying American products, support for this plan demanded prior coordination among European countries for its implementation.

A conference was held in Paris during June and July 1947, which the USSR attended after much hesitation. However, Moscow declined the offer and soon forced its satellite countries to follow suit, alleging that the plan was a tool of imperialism and American hegemony. Despite the campaign by communist parties, sixteen countries agreed to the aid and met at a conference in Paris in September 1947.

Objectives of the Conference

The conference had three primary objectives:

• To prevent European insolvency, which would have had dire consequences for the U.S. economy.
• To prevent the spread of communism in Europe.
• To create a structure that favored the establishment and maintenance of democratic regimes.

The communist coup in Prague in February 1948 precipitated the approval of the Plan by the U.S. Congress in April 1948. That same month, the OEEC (Organisation for European Economic Cooperation) was created to finalize the deal and provide assistance. It is estimated that the plan provided a total assistance of $13,000 million between 1947 and 1952.

The success of the plan was essential for economic recovery and the establishment of democratic regimes in Western Europe. Franco's Spain, which met no requirements for democracy, was excluded from the plan, which made the slow recovery of the country after the Civil War even harder.