--- title: George C. Marshall url: https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/george-c-marshall/ description: 4 verified quotes from George C. Marshall, General of the Army; Chief of Staff of the US Army (1939-1945), with sources. section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a Second World War naval-intelligence collage of a Pacific theatre map, aerial reconnaissance photographs and radar plots.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-wwii-pacific.jpg) [Quotes](https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/) · United States # George C. Marshall ![George C. Marshall speaking at a congressional hearing, about 1940](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/images/roosevelt-administration/george-c-marshall.jpg) [Photo](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gen._George_C._Marshall_speaks_during_a_hearing_LCCN2016877864.jpg): Harris & Ewing, Public domain (Library of Congress: no known restrictions on publication) General of the Army; Chief of Staff of the US Army (1939-1945) · United States On the regime page: [Roosevelt administration](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/roosevelt-administration/#george-c-marshall) 4 quotes, oldest first. [Filter with other speakers](https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/#speaker=george-c-marshall). 1. > “For the first time since assuming this office six years ago, it is possible for me to report that the security of the United States of America is entirely in our own hands. Since my last formal report to you on the state of the Army, our forces in Europe; air and ground, have contributed mightily to the complete destruction of the Axis enemy. In the Pacific, Japan has been compelled to sue for an end to the war which she treacherously started.” — September 1, 1945 · Statement — Opening paragraph of Marshall's final wartime report to Secretary of War Stimson, covering the two years to 30 June 1945. It was written after the end of fighting and published in October 1945. — George C. Marshall, Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, 1 July 1943 to 30 June 1945, to the Secretary of War (report dated 1 September 1945), reprinted in Biennial Reports of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army to the Secretary of War, 1 July 1939-30 June 1945 (Washington: Center of Military History, CMH Pub 70-57, 1996), opening of the report, p. 104 [Source](https://archive.org/details/biennialreportso0000unit) 2. > “There is no easy way to win wars when two opponents are even remotely well matched. There is no easy way to safeguard the nation or preserve the peace. In the immediate years ahead the United Nations will unquestionably devote their sincere energies to the effort to establish a lasting peace. To my mind there is now greater chance of success in this effort than ever before in history. Certainly the implications of atomic explosion will spur men of judgment as they have never before been pressed to seek a method whereby the peoples of earth can live in peace and justice.” — September 1, 1945 · Statement — From Marshall's discussion of the lessons of the war and the effect of atomic weapons, rocket attack and air power on national defence. The report was released shortly after the surrender of Japan. — George C. Marshall, Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, 1 July 1943 to 30 June 1945, to the Secretary of War (report dated 1 September 1945), reprinted in Biennial Reports of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army to the Secretary of War, 1 July 1939-30 June 1945 (Washington: Center of Military History, CMH Pub 70-57, 1996), closing discussion of the future of warfare, pp. 111-112 [Source](https://archive.org/details/biennialreportso0000unit) 3. > “The appearance of an unusually effective enemy weapon, or of a particularly attractive item of enemy equipment usually provoked animated public discussion in this country, especially when stimulated by criticism of the Army’s supposed failures to provide the best. Such incidents posed a very difficult problem for the War Department. In the first place, the morale of the fighting man is a matter of primary importance. To destroy his confidence in his weapons or in the higher command is the constant and intense desire of the enemy.” — September 1, 1945 · Statement — Marshall explains why the Army was reluctant to discuss publicly the shortcomings of its weapons during the war. The passage comes from the report's discussion of weapons and public criticism of the Army. — George C. Marshall, Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, 1 July 1943 to 30 June 1945, to the Secretary of War (report dated 1 September 1945), reprinted in Biennial Reports of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army to the Secretary of War, 1 July 1939-30 June 1945 (Washington: Center of Military History, CMH Pub 70-57, 1996), p. 194 [Source](https://archive.org/details/biennialreportso0000unit) 4. > “It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piece-meal basis as various crises develop. Any assistance that this Government may render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere palliative.” — June 5, 1947 · Speech · Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University — Marshall, then Secretary of State, spoke to Harvard alumni and honorary-degree guests after the commencement lunch. The speech became the public statement of the European Recovery Program. — George C. Marshall, remarks at Harvard University, 5 June 1947 (State Department handout version of 4 June 1947), George C. Marshall Foundation [Source](https://www.marshallfoundation.org/the-marshall-plan/speech/) ## Often attributed, not verified These words circulate under George C. Marshall’s name but could not be traced to a source. They are listed so readers can check them, not as George C. Marshall’s words. - > “We are preparing an offensive war against Japan.” — Unverifiable Usually said to come from: Marshall, off-the-record briefing for a small group of reporters, 15 November 1941; often cited, with a further passage about bombing Japanese "paper cities", in Pearl Harbor revisionist literature. — Found only in secondary and revisionist books and websites that rely on reporters' notes of the closed briefing, not on a transcript. No primary text or scholarly edition reproducing the notes was found; not published.