First and foremost, a great deal of Europe's success would not have happened without its initial aid from the United States. After helping destroy so much of the continent, the U.S. pumped billions and billions of dollars back into the European economy through The Marshall Plan. It was named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who said "The world of suffering people looks to us for leadership. Their thoughts, however, are not concentrated alone on this problem. They have more immediate and terribly pressing concerns where the mouthful of food will come from, where they will find shelter tonight, and where they will find warmth. Along with the great problem of maintaining the peace we must solve the problem of the pittance of food, of clothing and coal and homes. Neither of these problems can be solved alone. (DeLong)"

In the first two post-World War II years the U.S. contributed through this plan, about four billion dollars a year to relief and reconstructi

Governments began regulating their economies, which was a total change from years before. The laissez-faire policy was gone. This was done out of fear of an economic bust shortly after the boom, resulting in massive and devastating unemployment. John Maynard Keynes, a British economist and theorist, helped push the new economic tendencies of Europe. Keynes fully believed that if everyone was employed with good wages, then more products would be consumed, thus production of these goods and products would increase. Various countries, wanting to attain the highest point of economic growth possible, implemented long term economic plans. These plans funded sectors of the economy that would promote growth. Great Britain was the exception. They firmly believed in the laissez-faire economy, and it wasn't until 1961 that they adopted a long-term plan (Wegs, 69-70).

West Germany is slightly different from their French neighbors. West Germany did not engage in long term planning, rather they chose short term planning. Heavy regulation and intervention and close ties with German banks is how the government helped West Germany flourish in the 1950s. The Deutsche, Dresdner, and Commerz Banks controlled nearly 60 percent of the industrial shares in West Germany. The banks worked with the industries to repel bad competition and regulate output, preventing overproduction. West Germany's production of the Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW enabled them to have a strong hold on the European automobile market. In the 1960s, one third of Europe's largest corporations belonged to West Germany, truly solidifying their resurgence (Wegs, 75-76).

Italy, though it started slow, had an astounding economic resurgence in the 1950s and early 1960s. It was second only to West Germany's economic recovery (Wegs, 78). Italy's north half and southern half however were as different as night and day. The growth was restricted to just the north for quite some time. Southern Italy remained an underdeveloped place. A major problem with this was that the peasant farmers from the south migrated north to get industrial jobs, leaving agricultural production to suffer. Italy had to import more food than it produced (Wegs, 73). Even in the 1970s, the EEC was still pumping money in to southern Italy. It's interesting to note though that this vast difference of wealth and mass concentration of industry and banking was what propelled Italy to such great industrial surge. Italy became a major producer of home appliances (refrigerators) and cars (Fiat) in the 1960s (Wegs, 78).

Better methods of transporting and shipping leads to better trade. Trade restrictions that were imposed all over Europe were loosened dramatically. France and Germany started a free trade alliance, eliminating tariffs. Germany trades their coal for French made steel. The European Payments Union helped ease the exchange rate problem. The European Agricultural Agreement enabled the exchange of agricultural products amongst European countries, eliminating tariffs. All of this foreign trade after 1949 stimulated individual income and foreign sales thereby causing economic growth (Wegs, 67). Free trade was the best thing that Europe could have possible done for itself. One of the reaso

Some common words found in the essay are:
Western Europe, Marshall Plan, Europe Keynes, West Germany, Labour Party, Commonwealth Wegs, Germany Austria, Agricultural Agreement, Italy It's, None Mini, marshall plan, west germany, marshall plan aid, plan aid, wegs 67, free trade, economic growth, economic recovery, european countries, western europe, wegs 66,
Approximate Word count = 2201
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)