Why marshall plan

Furthermore, it is unlikely that the U. Congress would have been willing to fund the plan as generously as it did if aid also went to Soviet Bloc Communist nations. Increasingly, the economic revival of Western Europe, especially West Germany, was viewed suspiciously in Moscow. Economic historians have debated the precise impact of the Marshall Plan on Western Europe, but these differing opinions do not detract from the fact that the Marshall Plan has been recognized as a great humanitarian effort.

Secretary of State Marshall became the only general ever to receive a Nobel Prize for peace. Post-war Europe was in dire straits: Millions of its citizens had been killed or seriously wounded in World War II , as well as in related atrocities such as the Holocaust. Many cities, including some of the leading industrial and cultural centers of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, had been destroyed.

Reports provided to Marshall suggested that some regions of the continent were on the brink of famine because agricultural and other food production had been disrupted by the fighting. In fact, it could easily be argued that the only world power not structurally affected by the conflict had been the United States.

The reconstruction coordinated under the Marshall Plan was formulated following a meeting of the participating European states in the latter half of Notably, invitations were extended to the Soviet Union and its satellite states.

However, they refused to join the effort, allegedly fearing U. The Marshall Plan provided aid to the recipients essentially on a per capita basis, with larger amounts given to major industrial powers, such as West Germany, France and Great Britain.

This was based on the belief of Marshall and his advisors that recovery in these larger nations was essential to overall European recovery. Still, not all participating nations benefitted equally. Nations such as Italy, who had fought with the Axis powers alongside Nazi Germany, and those who remained neutral e.

In all, Great Britain received roughly one-quarter of the total aid provided under the Marshall Plan, while France was given less than one fifth of the funds. Interestingly, in the decades since its implementation, the true economic benefit of the Marshall Plan has been the subject of much debate. Indeed, reports at the time suggest that, by the time the plan took effect, Western Europe was already well on the road to recovery. And, despite the significant investment on the part of the United States, the funds provided under the Marshall Plan accounted for less than 3 percent of the combined national incomes of the countries that received them.

This led to relatively modest growth of GDP in these countries during the four-year period the plan was in effect. Politically, however, the legacy of the Marshall Plan arguably tells a different story. Given the refusal to participate on the part of the so-called Eastern Bloc of Soviet states, the initiative certainly reinforced divisions that were already beginning to take root on the continent.

The agency also, allegedly, financed an anti-communist insurgency in Ukraine, which at the time was a Soviet satellite state. As the designer of the plan, George C. Still, efforts to extend the Marshall Plan beyond its initial four-year period stalled with the beginning of the Korean War in Marshall Plan nations were assisted greatly in their economic recovery. From through European economies grew at an unprecedented rate.

Trade relations led to the formation of the North Atlantic alliance. Economic prosperity led by coal and steel industries helped to shape what we know now as the European Union. It was compiled by Mr. Vaughn Gary. Skip to content. George Catlett Marshall Support Subscribe. Aid to Europe From through , the United States was already assisting European economic recovery with direct financial aid. The European Recovery Program Sixteen nations, including Germany, became part of the program and shaped the assistance they required, state by state, with administrative and technical assistance provided through the Economic Cooperation Administration ECA of the United States.

Results Marshall Plan nations were assisted greatly in their economic recovery. Chronology with excellent coverage of the committees established by President Truman and House of Representatives to analyze the initial report of the Committee of European Economic Co-operation and study the impact on the U. Excerpts from U. Pages of Introduction and Chronology of the Marshall Plan from June 5 — November 5, list the membership of the three committees.

Blueprint for Recovery by Michael J. Hogan — Article published on the U. Embassy website in Germany celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. The article, by the former editor of Diplomatic History, reviews the origins of the Marshall Plan, why the plan succeeded, and lessons learned. Marshall Foundation, Donovan from the U. Reflections on the Marshall Plan by Henry A. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Emergency Foreign Aid: Hearings. Washington: GPO, Committee on Foreign Relations.

Interim Aid for Europe: Hearings. European Recovery Program: Hearings. Department of Commerce. Foreign Aid by the United States Government, Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States, The key published American documents for any study of the Marshall Plan. See especially volumes 2 and 3 for this year. Economic Cooperation Administration. Country Data Book: [country]. The ECA issued one of these extremely useful books for each of the sixteen countries participating in the Marshall Plan.

Report to Congress. These thirteen quarterly reports June 30, June 30, are valuable for their statistics and descriptions of Marshall Plan activities. New York: Norton, A magisterial account of the postwar years by the former Secretary of State who was one of the principal architects of U.

Adenauer, Konrad. Memoirs, Translated by Beate Ruhm von Oppen. Chicago: Regnery, The foremost German statesman of the postwar period, Chancellor between and The book was generally poorly reviewed, but has some valuable material. Attlee, Clement R. As It Happened. New York: Viking, The British Prime Minister who replaced Churchill in and was the head of government during the Marshall Plan years. A dry, but occasionally useful account. Bidault, Georges.

Translated by Marianne Sinclair. New York: Praeger, Bohlen, Charles E. Witness to History, Ernest Bevin, Foreign Secretary, New York: Norton, Clay, Lucius D.

Decision in Germany.