The Marshall Plan
After the devastating effects of WWII, Europe's economic and social conditions where in shambles. The personal suffering and internal upheavals threatened chaos. There was a lack of coal, steel, electrical power, railroad cars, locomotives, trucks, oil, and grain. All of the West European countries suffered political instability. This was the Europe, Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, saw when he attended a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Moscow on March 1, 1947. In this meeting, which was called to ease tensions, Secretary Marshall became disillusioned over the chance of cooperation with the Soviet Union. After a stormy interview with Joseph Stalin, Secretary Marshall knew that Stalin meant to profit from Europe's maladies. Marshall was convinced that the only hope for Europe's recovery lay in the United States. He could see the United States needed to help Europe, not only for moral reasons, but also it was in the interest of the United States in order to curb communism and Europe was the United States biggest customer. On June 5, 1947 Secretary Marshall delivered his classic speech at Harvard University, thus st
The Marshall Plan was set up for a limited period of four years (1948-1952). The money given by the United States included money for loans. The European countries, however, were not given the money as a gift; they had to pay for it in local currency, which was then deposited by the government in a counterpart fund. This money could be used by the ERP countries for further investment projects. One of the main requirements was for the European countries to come up with a plan of how to collaborate and organize the recovery. For this reason the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) was created. Germany was not an original member, but the organization realized that Europe needed Germany as much as Germany needed Europe and The Federal Republic of Germany was admitted. The Marshall Plan was an example of how the strong should help the weak and both sides can benefit. Besides rehabilitation of the European countries, The Marshall Plan sparked a new spirit of cooperation and mutual help among Western nations. For the United States, The Marshall Plan represented the new responsibilities of the leading world powe
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Approximate Word count = 765
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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