How much credit can America's Marshall Plan take in post-war European reconstruction?

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How much credit can America’s Marshall Plan take in post-war European reconstruction?

When studying post war European reconstruction, one of the most debated issues is over the extent to which the subsequent development and current political and economic posture of Western Europe may be ascribed to American influence.  The American hand in post-war reconstruction was clearly important, but its exact impact remains contested. The spectrum of the debate ranges from a belief that 'American dollars saved the world' to one which holds that Europe's recovery was well underway and American aid was marginal. The traditional argument has been that American influence was of very great importance.  However this position suffered a sustained assault in the 1980s, from a minimalist position asserted by Alan Milward and a school of historians under his influence. Milward argued that economic recovery would have occurred in Western Europe pretty much as it did had the Marshall Plan never existed, and that European integration was a pragmatic policy initiated by the European nations to do collectively what they were unable to do satisfactorily for themselves.  In this essay I will look at American policies for reconstruction and just how far the Marshall Plan can take credit for the recovery of Europe.

Immediately after the war, the USA attempted global approaches to world economic problems.  She helped create the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at Bretton Woods and other international organisations.  America hoped that her wartime alliances would last and that loans to individual countries would be enough to restore prosperity.  However America became concerned with Europe in 1947 when communist threats developed in Greece, Italy and France and post-war recovery faltered.  Although most countries were making a recovery by 1946, it was not a balanced recovery and by late 1946 it was becoming clear that full employment and productivity was not achievable.  By 1947 most European countries had developed serious payment deficits with the USA and were running short on credit.  Contemporary authors confirm a painful pressure on resources which could have wrecked the recovery and led to widespread social collapse if left alone.  

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On 12th March 1947 President Truman, in response to the failing economies in Europe and the communist insurrection in Greece, gave a speech which became the Truman Doctrine declaring: ‘I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure.  Truman was petrified by the idea that a domino effect would soon wreck havoc in Western Europe and that eventually communism would also find its way across the Atlantic and penetrate northern America. The prevailing attitude was that communism means a dark future for ...

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