We explain what the Marshall Plan was and how was its application. In addition, its consequences.
What was the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan is the name by which the European recovery program announced by George Marshall, The then US Secretary of State, in a speech delivered at Harvard University on June 5, 1947.
The Marshall Plan It had the objective of promoting the recovery of the European economy in particular of the countries of Western Europe, after the destruction and economic problems caused by World War II (1939-1945). The plan It was based on the economic aid from the United States to the countries that agreed to be part of the program.
The United States government sought to generate economic stability conditions that allow European countries to pay US imports. I was also looking for Strengthen political stability to strengthen democratic institutions, extend market freedom and stop the advance of communism .
The Marshall Plan was converted into law on April 3, 1948, under the presidency of Harry S. Truman, and It was applied on seventeen countries for four years, which contributed to the economic growth of Western Europe . The greatest receptors of funds were the United Kingdom, France and Western Germany.
The financial aid of the Marshall Plan was also offered to the Soviet Union and the countries under its influence in central and eastern Europe, but they rejected it . This fact left the difference that characterized the cold war between the western bloc, under American hegemony, and the eastern block, under Soviet hegemony.
Frequent questions
What was the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan was an economic recovery program sponsored by the United States government to promote the reconstruction of the European economy after World War II. It was proposed by the US Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947 and implemented in Western Europe between 1948 and 1952.
How was the Marshall plan implemented?
The Marshall Plan was US $ 13,000 million that had to be distributed among European countries that agreed to be part of the plan. The program was applied between 1948 and 1952 with the coordination of an agency created by European governments: OEC (European Economic Cooperation Organization).
What countries participated in the Marshall Plan?
The financial aid of the Marshall Plan was offered to almost all the countries of Europe but the Soviet Union and the countries under its influence rejected it. The countries that effectively participate in the Marshall Plan were: West Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
What were the consequences of the Marshall Plan?
The application of the Marshall Plan favored economic growth and industrial recovery of Western European countries, which during the years of application increased its gross national product between 15 % and 25 %. It also allowed the increase in US imports in Europe and the consolidation of democratic institutions. In geopolitical terms, the plan reinforced the separation between the western or capitalist block, under the influence of the United States, and the eastern or communist block, under the hegemony of the Soviet Union.
The historical context
After World War II, much of Europe had been devastated due to human and material losses. The government of The United States feared that poverty and unemployment encourage the advance of communism in Western Europe . In this context, on June 5, 1947, the Secretary of State, George Marshall, delivered a speech at Harvard University in which he proposed the creation of an economic aid program for European governments.
Given the European crisis and the financial impossibility of buying American products, this aid plan demanded for its application prior coordination among European countries. For this, a conference in Paris met between June and July 1947, after many doubts, the Soviet Union attended. The Soviet government soon declined the offer to participate in the Marshall Plan and forced its satellite countries to do the same on the argument that the plan was an instrument of American imperialism.
Despite the campaign of European communist parties against the plan, sixteen countries accepted US aid and met at a conference in Paris in September 1947.
The conference had a triple objective:
- Prevent European insolvency that would have negative consequences for the US economy (crediting of European countries and exporting products and raw materials),
- Prevent the expansion of communism in Western Europe,
- create stability that favored the implementation and maintenance of democratic regimes.
The application of the Marshall Plan
The Prague coup of February 1948, executed by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, increased the fear of communism in Western countries and It precipitated the approval by the United States Congress of the Marshall Plan in April 1948. That same month the OEC (European Economic Cooperation Organization) was created to distribute and specify the aid.
It is estimated that in total The Marshall Plan was a help of $ 13,000 million between 1948 and 1952 . The seventeen countries that were part of the plan They were: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Western Germany. The success of the plan was essential for economic recovery industrial development and consolidation of democratic regimes in Western Europe.
The implementation of the Marshall Plan too contributed to mark a separation between the countries of the western block which were under the hegemony of the United States, And the Eastern Block countries which remained under the supervision of the Soviet Union.
Francisco Franco's Spain, which did not meet any democratic requirement, was excluded from the Marshall Plan what made the process of economic recovery slowly in that country, which had not participated in World War II but had been affected by the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
Who was George Marshall?
George Marshall was an American general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Army (1939-1945), Secretary of State (1947-1949) and Secretary of Defense (1950-1951).
As a professional military, He was the head of US operations during World War II . Winston Churchill called him “the true victory organizer.”
His appointment as Secretary of State in 1947 It was the reflection of the hardening of the American position towards the Soviet Union. That year President Harry S. Truman formulated the Truman doctrine of containment of communism.
In a speech at Harvard University in June Marshall himself announced the European recovery program better known as Marshall Plan. This plan was successful and placed the basis of European economic recovery after World War II and NATO formation (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Marshall retired for health reasons in 1949 but was summoned as Secretary of Defense by Truman in 1950 to rebuild the US army due to the burst of the Korean war. He definitely retired in 1951 and, two years later, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the Economic Aid Plan.
Marshal Plan Speech, Harvard University
June 5, 1947
(…) I don't need to tell you, gentlemen, that the world situation is very serious (…). When considering what is needed for the rehabilitation of Europe, the physical loss of lives and the visible destruction of cities, factories, mines and railways were correctly estimated, but in recent months it has become clear that this visible destruction was probably less serious than the dislocation of the entire fabric of the European economy (…).
The truth of the matter is that the needs of Europe for the next three or four years in food and other essential products from abroad, mainly from the United States, are so superior to their current ability to pay that it has to receive additional substantial assistance or face an economic, social and political deterioration of a very serious nature.
The remedy consists in breaking the vicious circle and restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole. The manufacturer and the farmer throughout large areas must have the capacity and will to exchange their products for coins whose continuous value does not doubt.
Apart from the demoralizing effect on the world in general and the possibilities of disorders as a result of the despair of affected people, the consequences for the United States economy should be evident to all. It is logical that the United States does everything to help return to normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability or assured peace. Our policy is not directed against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, despair and chaos. Its objective must be the recovery of an economy that works in the world in a way that allows the appearance of political and social conditions in which there may be free institutions. I am convinced that such help should not be provided to droppers as the different crises develop. Any help that this government can provide in the future must provide a cure before a simple palliative.
Any government that is willing to help the recovery task will find full cooperation, I am sure of it, by the United States government. Any government that maneuver to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect our help. Moreover, governments, political parties or groups that try to perpetuate human misery to benefit from it politically or otherwise, will find the opposition of the United States.
It is already evident that, before the United States government can advance much more in its efforts to relieve the situation and help the European world to initiate its path to recovery, there must be some agreement between the countries of Europe regarding the requirements of the situation and the part that these same countries will take to give the appropriate effect to any action that can be undertaken by this government. It would not be appropriate or effective for this Government to unilaterally elaborate a program aimed at putting Europe standing economically. This is the issue of Europeans. The initiative, I think, must start from Europe. The role of this country must consist of a friendly help in the elaboration of a European program and in the subsequent support for this program to the extent that we are practical to do so. The program should be a joint program, agreed by several European nations, but for all.
An essential part of any successful action by the United States is that the people of the United States understand the character of the problem and the remedies that must be applied. Political passion and prejudices should not intervene. With forecast, and with the will of our people to face the enormous responsibility that history has clearly put on our country, the difficulties that I have outlined can and will be overcome. (…)
George Marshall
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References
- Aldcroft, DH (2003). History of the European economy 1914-2000. Criticism.
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Marshall Plan. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Carpentier, J. & Lebrun, F. (Dirs.) (2006). Brief history of Europe. Alliance.
- Pogue, FC (2022). George Catlett Marshall. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Powaski, Re (2000). The Cold War: the United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. Criticism.
