Recommendation
for assistance
to Greece and Turkey
by
the Presisent of the United States,
Harry Truman
The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates
my appearance before a joint session of the Congress. The foreign policy
and the national security of this country are involved.
One aspect of the present situation, which I wish to present to you at
this time for your consideration and decision, concerns Greece and Turkey.
The United States has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal
for financial and economic assistance. Preliminary reports from the American
Economic Mission now in Greece and reports from the American Ambassador
in Greece corroborate the statement of the Greek Government that assistance
is imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation.
I do not believe that the American people and the Congress wish to turn
a deaf ear to the appeal of the Greek Government.
Greece is not a rich country. Lack of sufficient natural resources has
always forced the Greek people to work hard to make both ends meet. Since
1940, this industrious and peace-loving country has suffered invasion,
four years of cruel enemy occupation, and bitter internal strife.
When forces of liberation entered Greece they found that the retreating
Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways, roads, port facilities,
communications and merchant marine. More than a thousand villages had
been burned. Eighty-five per cent of the children were tubercular. Livestock,
poultry and draft animals had almost disappeared. Inflation had wiped
out practically all savings.
As a result of these tragic conditions, a military minority, exploiting
human want and misery, was able to create political chaos which, until
now, has made economic recovery impossible.
Greece is today without funds to finance the importation of those goods
which are essential to bare subsistence. Under these circumstances the
people of Greece cannot make progress in solving their problems of reconstruction.
Greece is in desperate need of financial and economic assistance to enable
it to resume purchases of food, clothing, fuel and seeds. These are indispensable
for the subsistence of its people and are obtainable only from abroad.
Greece must have help to import the goods necessary to restore internal
order and security so essential for economic and political recovery.
The Greek Government has also asked for the assistance of experienced
American administrators, economists and technicians to insure that the
financial and other aid given to Greece shall be used effectively in creating
a stable and self-sustaining economy and in improving its public administration.
The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the terrorist
activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists, who defy
the Government's authority at a number of points, particularly along the
northern boundaries. A commission appointed by the United Nations Security
Council is at present investigating disturbed conditions in northern Greece
and alleged border violations along the frontier between Greece on the
one hand and Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the other.
Meanwhile, the Greek Government is unable to cope with the situation.
The Greek Army is small and poorly equipped. It needs supplies and equipment
if it is to restore the authority of the Government throughout Greek territory.
Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and
self-respecting democracy.
The United States must supply that assistance. We have already extended
to Greece certain types of relief and economic aid but these are inadequate.
There is no other country to which democratic Greece can turn.
No other nation is willing and able to provide the necessary support
for a democratic Greek Government.
The British Government, which has been helping Greece, can give no further
financial or economic aid after March. Great Britain finds itself under
the necessity of reducing or liquidating its commitments in several parts
of the world, including Greece.
We have considered how the United Nations might assist in this crisis.
But the situation is an urgent one requiring immediate action, and the
United Nations and its related organizations are not in a position to
extend help of the kind that is required.
It is important to note that the Greek Government has asked for our aid
in utilizing effectively the financial and other assistance we may give
to Greece, and in improving public administration. It is of the utmost
importance that we supervise the use of any funds made available to Greece,
in such a manner that each dollar spent will count toward making Greece
self-supporting, and will help to build an economy in which a healthy
democracy can flourish.
No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however,
is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes
can be pointed out and corrected. The Government of Greece is not perfect.
Nevertheless it represents 85 per cent of the members of the Greek parliament
who were chosen in an election last year. Foreign observers, including
692 Americans, considered this election to be a fair expression of the
views of the Greek people.
The Greek Government has been operating in an atmosphere of chaos and
extremism. It has made mistakes. The extension of aid by this country
does not mean that the United States condones everything that the Greek
Government has done or will do. We have condemned in the past, and we
condemn now, extremist measures of the Right or the Left. We have in the
past advised tolerance, and we advise tolerance now.
Greece's neighbor, Turkey, also deserves our attention.
The future of Turkey as an independent and economically sound State is
clearly no less important to the freedom-loving peoples of the world than
the future of Greece. The circumstances in which Turkey finds itself today
are considerably different from those of Greece. Turkey has been spared
the disasters that have beset Greece. And during the war, the United States
and Great Britain furnished Turkey with material aid.
Nevertheless, Turkey now needs our support.
Since the war Turkey has sought financial assistance from Great Britain
and the United States for the purpose of effecting that modernization
necessary for the maintenance of its national integrity.
That integrity is essential to the preservation of order in the Middle
East.
The British Government has informed us that, owing to its own difficulties,
it can no longer extend financial or economic aid to Turkey.
As in the case of Greece, if Turkey is to have the assistance it needs,
the United States must supply it. We are the only country able to provide
that help.
I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if the United States
extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and I shall discuss these implications
with you at this time.
One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States
is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able
to work out a way of life free from coercion. This was a fundamental issue
in the war with Germany and Japan. Our victory was won over countries
which sought to impose their will, and their way of life, upon other nations.
To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the
United States has taken a leading part in establishing the United Nations.
The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence
for all its members. We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless
we are willing to help free people to maintain their free institutions
and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to
impose upon them totalitarian regimes.
This is no more than a frank recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed
on free peoples, by direct or indirect aggression, undermine the foundations
of international peace and hence the security of the United States.
The peoples of a number of countries of the world have recently had totalitarian
regimes forced upon them against their will. The Government of the United
States has made frequent protests against coercion and intimidation in
violation of the Yalta agreement, in Poland, Rumania, and Bulgaria. I
must also state that in a number of other countries there have been similar
developments.
At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose
between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one.
One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished
by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guaranties
of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from
political oppression.
The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly
imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled
press and radio, fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.
I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support
free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities
or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to
work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help
should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential
to economic stability and orderly political processes.
The world is not static, and the status quo is not sacred. But we cannot
allow changes in the status quo in violation of the Charter of the United
Nations by such methods as coercion, or by such subterfuges as political
infiltration. In helping free and independent nations to maintain their
freedom, the United States will be giving effect to the principles of
the Charter of the United Nations.
It is necessary only to glance at a map to realize that the survival
and integrity of the Greek nation are of grave importance in a much wider
situation. If Greece should fall under the control of an armed minority,
the effect upon its neighbor, Turkey, would be immediate and serious.
Confusion and disorder might well spread throughout the entire Middle
East.
Moreover, the disappearance of Greece as an independent State would have
a profound effect upon those countries in Europe whose peoples are struggling
against great difficulties to maintain their freedoms and their independence
while they repair the damages of war. It would be an unspeakable tragedy
if these countries, which have struggled so long against overwhelming
odds, should lose that victory for which they sacrificed so much. Collapse
of free institutions and loss of independence would be disastrous not
only for them but for the world.
Discouragement and possibly failure would quickly be the lot of neighboring
peoples striving to maintain their freedom and independence.
Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect
will be far-reaching to the West as well as to the East. We must take
immediate and resolute action.
I therefore ask the Congress to provide authority for assistance to Greece
and Turkey in the amount of $400,000,000 for the period ending June 30,
1948. In requesting these funds, l have taken into consideration the maximum
amount of relief assistance which would be furnished to Greece out of
the $350,000,000 which I recently requested that the Congress authorize
for the prevention of starvation and suffering in countries devastated
by the war.
In addition to funds, I ask the Congress to authorize the detail of American
civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, at the request of
those countries, to assist in the tasks of reconstruction, and for the
purpose of supervising the use of such financial and material assistance
as may be furnished. I recommend that authority also be provided for the
instruction and training of selected Greek and Turkish personnel.
Finally, I ask that the Congress provide authority which will permit
the speediest and most effective use, in terms of needed commodities,
supplies and equipment, of such funds as may be authorized.
If further funds, or further authority, should be needed for purposes
indicated in this message, I shall not hesitate to bring the situation
before the Congress. On this subject the executive and legislative branches
of the Government must work together.
This is a serious course upon which we embark. l would not recommend
it except that the alternative is much more serious.
The United States contributed $341,000,000,000 toward winning world war
II. This is an investment in world freedom and world peace. The assistance
that I am recommending for Greece and Turkey amounts to little more than
one-tenth of 1 per cent of this investment. It is only common sense that
we should safeguard this investment and make sure that it was not in vain.
The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They
spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their
full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must
keep that hope alive.
The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their
freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of
the world and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.
Great responsibilities have been placed upon us by the swift movement
of events. I am confident that the Congress will face these responsibilities
squarely.
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