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Thesis

French

ID: <

10670/1.0pmsyu

>

Where these data come from
Truman, faith-based diplomacy and ambiguities of the Marshall Plan in France in the Early Cold War

Abstract

President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) claims in 1946 that the U.S. should advance a "faith-based" diplomacy to encourage the spiritual reconstruction of a “dechristianized” Europe .To stand in the way of a Marxist and Godless Soviet Union, it has to begin with France, seen as the spiritual stone arch. More than in any other nation, the Marshall Plan brings a financial, economic and military support, willing to conquer hearts and minds. Many key governmental agencies are involved in this time period, while American churches engaged in aid relief are rediscovering France as a new mission territory. Usually strongly influenced by the religious conviction of the Presidents, "Faith-based policies” supporting Foreign policies are reinforced on the ground by the engagement of private voluntary organizations (PVOs). Formalized in 1998 by President Clinton as a tool in Foreign policy in the enactment of the Act on International Religious Freedom, this approach justifies the tenacity of missionaries from 1945 to the present day in a secular and catholic France. Encouraged by the Fourth Awakening, most American missions, mainstream Protestant churches, new religions like NRM (Mormonism, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc...) and Evangelicals, welcome this mixed opportunity: a comeback for a few denominations already presents in the 19th century and for others a chance for a fresh beginning. Although the business of "nation building”, the reshaping of the economic and cultural life of France, is perceived by the American public opinion as one of the most disappointing of the post-war, a deeply transformed French society will later emerge. The overlapping of American public and private organizations, of American churches and missionaries lay the groundwork for the radical transformation of a French monolithic religious landscape. Without doubt this can be traced to this short and critical experimental period of the Early Cold War.

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