Marshall Plan

[marwatone]

Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan is also called the European Recovery Plan. It was enacted by the US in 1947 as a way to help rebuild Europe after World War II. The genius behind the plan was George C.Marshall, who was at the time the US Secretary of State. On June 5, 1947, in a commencement address at Harvard University, George Marshall first called for American assistance in restoring the economic infrastructure of Europe. Credited with preventing famine and political chaos, the plan later earned General Marshall a Nobel Peace Prize.William Clayton and George Kennan are also credited with writing the majority of the Marshall Plan.

Though part of the Marshall Plan was meant to help the badly damaged Europe recover from WWII, the other part of the Marshall Plan was meant to prevent communism from gaining a stronghold in war torn countries. Certain countries either refused aid or received very little aid. Japan, for example, did not receive aid. Aid was offered to the USSR but was refused.
West Germany received some aid under the Marshall Plan. The UK and France received the most aid, over 200 million each. Other countries receiving funds for reconstruction were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. For the most part these countries represented the allied relationships formed during WWII. However, some countries, like Italy, were part of the Axis forces during the war.

In total the US government spent 13 billion US dollars (USD) from 1948-1951. Some of this money spent was considered part of Germany’s debt, since much of the destruction was the result of German invasion and bombing of certain countries. The US was fortunate to have very little damage since it entered the war late, and the contiguous states were largely untouched by the war.

The Marshall Plan did succeed for the most part. It did spur significant economic recovery in countries receiving aid. It is also considered the beginning step toward forming a union of the European Countries. This goal was considered important to the US in the prevention of future multi-national European wars.

The Marshall Plan abruptly ended in 1951 when the US became involved in the Korean conflict. As well, Republicans had gained control of the house and senate in 1950, and many of them disapproved of the plan. With fewer funds to allocate toward European recovery, the Marshall Plan was officially disbanded. There were efforts to extend the plan, but Republicans quickly voted down such efforts.

Though the Marshall Plan succeeded in helping to restore some economies, it could not stem the takeover of communism in certain countries.