Western Europe: The Marshall Plan

Marshall Plan - The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, channeled over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe between 1948 and 1951.

The Marshall Plan is also known as The European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan). The plan involved Europe

After the war most of Europe was destroyed, cities were left in ruins and many factories were hit really hard. Many people didn’t have anywhere to go so they ended up in refugee camps funded by the United Nations. Many transportation routes were hit by airstrike merchant ships were destroyed and many small towns and villages that were not hit hard were isolated due to the airstrikes destroying major road and modes of transportation. The U.S decided to implement the Marshall plan that was officially called the European Recovery Program. This was a plan for the U.S to help aid Europe by giving them economic support so they could start to rebuild the European economies at the end of World War II and to stop the spread of communism. The plan started in April 1948 and lasted for four years. During these years the U.S started to rebuild war torn cities, remove trade obstacles, modernize industry and helped to make Europe self-reliant again.

The Marshall Plan was one diplomatic attempts that the U.S. made prescribed from the Truman Doctrine. The plan was a pledge promising to provide economic assistance to any European country wanting to participate. Its goal was to rebuild and solidify the economic and democratic systems of the European

Following the war, Marshall made a plan to rebuild and restore stability to Europe. Marshall’s European Recovery plan, or the Marshall plan, was all about the aid of self help, not doing everything for them. The initiative to rebuild came from participating countries, not the US. The plan established the Economic Cooperation Administration which provided 13.3 billion dollars to the participating countries. Although Marshall tried to include the Soviet Union in all this, Moscow rejected the plan, thereby excluding them from the arrangement. The objectives were to increase productivity, stimulate economic growth, and to promote trade. All of these goals were realized by December 31, 1951, when the aid ended. The Marshall plan was one of the most successful foreign policy initiatives in United States history, and led to a strong NATO alliance.

The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion in economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, make Europe prosperous again, and prevent the spread of communism. The plan required a decreasing of interstate barriers, a dropping of many petty regulations constraining business, and encouraged an increase in productivity, labor union membership, as well as the adoption of modern business procedures.

The Marshall Plan was created with more of an intention to directly help the countries in Europe with problems that developed from and after World War II. It provided food, fuel, and money totaling to about $13 billion across four years while creating positive relationships with countries in Europe to fight against communism. Not only did the European countries benefit, but the United States also benefitted because of an increase in trade. Together, the Marshall Plan and the Policy of Containment worked together to prevent the domino effect from developing in

Source G is an extract from ‘The Unfortunate Legacy of the Marshall Plan’ written by Walter Coffey from 1941-1945. The source is describing how many critics argued that the Marshall Plan was drawn up simply to ensure that European markets stayed open for U.S. Exports. If Europe was left to its own efforts then it wouldn’t remain open to American business in the same way as the past and this would negatively impact on American trade and business. The Marshall Plan was the predecessor to many American foreign aid programs for the future. The programs consist of government-to-government contributions with no guarantees they will actually go toward helping those most in need. Therefore, source G is critical of Marshall Plan.

In 1948, the wounds from most devastating war in human history were still fresh. Whole word was laid to waste, specially Europe. Entire cities had been reduced to rumbles. Infrastructure had been left in shambles and economy was in complete in disarray. The Europe had been divided in eastern and western bloc. At this time, the United States of America came up with a plan to save Europe from total collapse. Officially, this plan was named as The European Recovery Program, although it is popularly known as Marshall Plan in honor George C. Marshall. Officially it was stated that the purpose of the plan is to help rebuild Europe, give humanitarian aid, reestablish economy to bring Europe back on its own feet. Although this plan was meant to help

The Marshall Plan is a plan proposed by George Marshall to help Western Europe recover from damages from World War I. It increased US exports to Europe and ended the threat of communism in Western Europe.

Following World War II, Europe’s economy was extremely damaged especially in Western Europe. Bombs had destroyed cities, railroads, ports, and communication networks (The Earth and its Peoples, page 851). Employment was becoming hard to find and citizens struggled financially. The United States feared a Communist takeover of Europe, so they decided to help with the reconstruction of Europe. George C Marshall established the Marshall Plan in 1947. This program was set up to help rebuild western Europe following the war. By 1961, over $20 million

In 1946, Churchill delivered speech at the University of Zurich at which he advocated for a “United States of Europe”. He was convinced that, following the Second World War, only a united Europe could guarantee peace. The ills of “nationalism and war-mongering” had damaged the continent long enough, and his goal was to eliminate them ("Winston Churchill: calling for a United States of Europe"). “We must build a kind of United Sates of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make life worth living,” Churchill concluded. With this plea, Churchill became one of the first champions for European integration and became a driving force for the concept and a fighter for its cause.

It successfully started economic recovery, meeting its main goal of ‘restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.’ The plan is named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who announced it in a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947. The Marshall Plan could  be seen as a decisive moment of the Cold War. A different plan might have affected the result of the countries of Eastern Europe. The Marshall Plan can be seen as a defensive reaction or an offensive action against communism

Marshall Plan was also invoked in the third world, global poverty, American inner cities, the Balkans, the Middle East, and, finally, Iraq. It can be said that "Marshall Plan" has become a metaphor for any very large scale government program that is designed to solve a specific social problem.

You have done a very good at explaining exactly what the Marshall Plan is. In the article that I chose, it discusses the effects of the Marshall plan. The Marshall Plan was not to only brace the economic recovery of Europe, but to tie in other states to the U.S. economy. The Marshall Plan increased European industrialization and brought a lot of money into area. The doubt of communist growth and things being destroyed, Congress decided to pass the Economic Cooperation Act which approved funding that would eventually lead to big bucks and would lead to the rebuilding of Europe. Today, the Marshall Plan is looked at as the most successful foreign aid program that has ever happened in history.