World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAs a youth, George Marshall was considered shy and reserved. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in Virginia, United States in 1901 and served in the United States and Philippines until World War I, where he was sent to France to fill planning and operations roles, and later became the commanding officer of the First Army during the 1918 Meuse-Argonne offensive. He worked extensively with General John Pershing in the later years of WWI.

ww2dbaseMarshall was named by President Franklin Roosevelt as Army Chief of Staff in 1939 with the rank of brigadier general. He was credited with preparing the US Army for WW2, reorganization of the Army and the Army Air Corps, and contributed in planning Allied operations in general (including planning Operation Overload/Normandy invasion). A fellow American General, Fox Connor, commented to Dwight Eisenhower his complete confidence and respect for Marshall:

ww2dbaseConnors' comment from before the United States entered WW2 was right on target. Marshall, along with Eisenhower, were credited with being two of the American leaders who almost seamlessly aligned the goals of the American and British on many occasions, which resulted in the victories North African and European campaigns.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Marshall served as the US ambassador to China for a brief amount of time. He actively engaged the Chinese Communists in an attempt to stop the Chinese Civil War. When the Chinese Nationalists opened an initially successful offensive campaign into Communist-held northeastern China (Manchuria), Marshall threatened Nationalist leader Chiang Kaishek with the scaling back of US aid, and Chiang gave in. While Marshall did achieve temporary peace, ultimately this would become one of the many reprieves that led to the Communists' victory in the Civil War. After the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan, Chiang said that giving in that particular demand of Marshall's was Chiang's biggest mistake.

ww2dbaseIn 1947, Marshall was named the US Secretary of State. His achievements in that role, particularly in Europe, would redeem his failures in China. He was credited with the Berlin airlift; the European Recovery Program; the military assistance to Greece, Turkey, and Israel; and the precursor discussions that eventually led to the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

ww2dbaseMarshall resigned in 1949 due to illness, but later in 1950 was brought out of his brief furlough to become the US Secretary of Defense. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for the Marshall Plan that brought Europe out of the ruins of WW2. Marshall died on 16 Oct 1959.

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