The Marshall Plan and the Containment Policy
In January 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman appointed General George Marshall as Secretary of State. Marshall met with Stalin to come up with a cooperative solution to rebuild Germany, but weeks of negotiation to build an economically self-sufficient Germany proved futile. In June 1947, Marshall announced a comprehensive program of American aid to all war-torn European countries. The plan came to be known as the Marshall Plan and was designed to rebuild and industrialize European countries, as well as remove trade barriers.
It also fit rather nicely in the U.S. policy of containment, the American government’s effort to control the spread of communism. It was hoped that if the countries of Europe established stable governments and developed flourishing economies, they would be better positioned to resist adopting the communist system of government. During the four years that the plan was operational, 13 billion dollars of economic and technical aid was given to enable the recovery of European countries.
The offer of assistance was also extended to the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe, but was rejected by Stalin. He was afraid of American political, cultural and economic influence creeping into the Soviet Eastern bloc of nations and did not permit any of these countries to accept Marshall Plan assistance. Tensions built and fuelled the Cold War. Although not directly attributed to the Marshall Plan, Western Europe experienced its fastest period of industrial and agricultural growth, from 1948 to 1952. These countries experienced a significant increase in their standard of living and even if historians did not credit the Marshall with initiating the revival in Europe, most believed it certainly helped the recovery that was underway after the war.
There was some criticism of the Marshall Plan by economists who believed that it hindered the transition to the free market by keeping alive current, failing systems. Others described it as a form of American imperialism. And some critics in Congress believed that America was giving too much aid to Europe. However, many believed it was vital to the reconstruction of post-war Europe, and recently, former U.S. President Bill Clinton stated, “You have to have a positive strategy to make more partners and fewer terrorists. Harry Truman and George Marshall took a little bit of our money to build a world that had more friends and better enemies. Foreign assistance is national security -- not charity. The Marshall Plan saw it that way and we have to do the same today.”
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Poster for the Marshall Plan