The Marshall Plan

In class today, we talked about the Marshall Plan some.  This is an approximate summary of what Mr. Stewart told us, supplemented by a few outside sources.  Hope it helps!

The Marshall Plan was established on June 5^th, 1947.  Also known as the Economic Recovery Program, its goal was stated to be to assist the European countries in the post-war world by helping to fund the recovery of any European nation that wanted help.  There was a second motive behind this, and that was to increase the confidence in a democratic and capitalist form of government.  The United States was worried that with the expansion of the Communist Party in Europe, the western countries would also eventually come under Stalin’s control.  The U.S. government hoped that by reminding the European nations how well capitalism worked, they could strengthen their alliance with the remaining democratic countries in Europe.  This is evident in the “advertising” the Americans put on their “donations” to Europe.  Everything was stamped with a reminder that it was the benevolent Untied States’ actions that were providing Europe with the necessary materials and funding.  The United States also improved their image in Europe by extending this offer to their new enemies, the Soviet Union.  Of course, the government knew that Stalin would reject their offer of help, so they had nothing to lose by putting up the pretense that they were trying to help all European nations recover from the war.

            Despite the hidden agenda of the Marshall Plan, its stated goal of assisting the European nations in post-war recovery was actually fairly thorough.  The Untied States decided to completely revive Germany, because it was determined that the best way to get all of Europe back on its feet was to help all the countries involved in the European economy, which most definitely included Germany.  The Untied Nations also extended a hand in humanitarian aid to many in Europe.  This program was pushed through the UN by the United States, who also paid for almost all of its expenses.  The donated funds of the United States helped the European countries to purchase the necessary items (from the Untied States, of course) needed for post-war recovery.

            Overall, the Untied States’ Marshall Plan was fairly successful.  Not only did it actually provide economic recovery and stability to the western European nations, it helped the Untied States in its more complex goals to contain the Soviet Union.  By increasing the popularity of the Untied States and its economic and political ways, the Marshall Plan safeguarded against the possibility of Stalin taking power in all of Europe, limiting Soviet power to the East.