Marshall Plan
In the spring of 1947, the atmosphere in Europe was unstable and tense. World War II left behind misery, unemployment and a housing crisis. The cold weather intensified the severe economic and social dislocation that plagued the continent following the long and destructive war. At the same time, all of the West European countries suffered political instability. The political situation was equally serious. The communist parties, particularly in France and Italy, were growing in size. They held enormous demonstrations, which paralyzed the streets. Something had to be done both from the humanitarian perspective and also to stop the rapid spread of communism westward. Secretary of State George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) was optimistic about the future of Europe and spoke on June 5, 1947, at Harvard University (Sibley 1998). He outlined what would become known as the Marshall Plan. The Secretary's words were plain in his speech, but his message reached far beyond the audience that was in place at Harvard University. Marshall mentioned that the Truman Administration's policy was "directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos," and that the European nations should coo
The Truman administration followed their own interests confidently and without outside help, in terms of the creation of the program. They could work either with United Nations (UN) or the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) rather than through a nationalistic and American directed association. But they chose to create and enforce their own program by opening the participation to every European country. Since the United Nations counts the Soviet Union as a Security Council member, the Truman administration probably have considered the possibility of a Soviet disruption of the program in case of cooperation with the United Nations. As a consequence, United States chose to legalize an organization that she could control directly (Robertson 1966). The United States had a massive self-interest in the success of the plan both economically and politically. And over the years of the European Recovery Program, United States benefited from the plan by developing valuable trading partners and reliable Western European allies. Americans were afraid of the reoccurrence of the 1930's financial difficulties and unemployment problem after World War II. U.S. manufacturers needed European markets because a financially powerful Europe would be America's best customer, as it had been before World War II. In terms of political stability in Europe, without the existence of the European Recovery Plan, the spread of communism would speed up in Europe, and in order to stop the expansion of it, Americans needed Europeans with them. Given its objectives, the Marshall Plan was one of the most successful foreign aid programs in world history. Without a doubt, individuals like George C. Marshall, Harry S. Truman and George F. Kennan played principal roles in the creation and the application of the program. However, the national level is crucial in terms of the causes of the event. The change in the foreign policy of the United States Government, the persuasiveness of the architects of the program, both on congress and on the nation, and the change in the American people's economic nationalism to the more global economic perspective led to the creation of the plan. In his speech, Marshall left the door open to participation by all, including the Soviet Union and Germany, and so there would be no reappearance of the harsh peace of Versailles. For the first time Europeans would have to act as a single economic unit. And the United States would deal with their questions of how much aid, for what purposes is necessary for the enforcement of the program. The program whose official title was "European Recovery Program" was aimed at (1) increasing production; (2) expanding European foreign trade; (3) facilitating European economic cooperation and integration; and (4) controlling inflation" (Origins of the Marshall Plan). The Marshall Plan transferred around $13 billion in aid from the United States to Western Europe in the years from 1948 to 1951. The United States donated the aid to the following countries: Austria, Belgium-Luxemburg, Denmark, France, Germany (Federal Republic of), Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (Including Trieste), Netherlands, Norway, Po
Some common words found in the essay are:
Marshall Plan, War II, Soviet Union, United Government, Plan Soviet, United Truman, USA Republican, France Italy, Europe Fossedal, Europe Bernstein, marshall plan, soviet union, world war, truman administration, world war ii, war ii, spread communism, foreign policy, western europe, future europe, european recovery, change foreign policy, bidault issued invitation, spread communism westward, george catlett marshall,
Approximate Word count = 2128
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
