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Between 1948 and 1951, the United States contributed more than $13 billion dollars (nearly $100 billion at present-day U.S. conversion rates) of economic and technical assistance toward the recovery of 16 European countries which had joined in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC, forerunner to today's OECD) in response to Marshall's call for a joint scheme for European reconstruction.
After six years of war much of the European continent was devastated. Battles had been fought throughout the continent, covering a far larger area than in the First World War. The economies of the region were ruined, millions were homeless, and the destruction of agriculture had led to conditions nearing starvation in much of the continent. Many of the continent's greatest cities, including Warsaw and Berlin were in ruins, and others, such as London, were severely damaged. Especially damaged was the transportation industry as railways, bridges, and roads had been heavily targeted by airstrikes, while many merchant shipping boats had been sunk. None of these problems could be easily fixed, as the nations engaged in the war had exhausted their treasuries in its prosecution.
The one country whose infrastructure had not been significantly harmed was the United States. It had entered the war later than most European countries and had only once been significantly attacked during the conflict. The American gold reserves were still intact as was its massive agricultural and manufacturing base.
Originally, it was hoped that little would need to be done to rebuild Europe. It was hoped that Britain and France, with the help of their colonies, would quickly rebuild their economies. By 1947 there was still little progress, however. Drought in 1947 and a cold winter in 1947-48 aggravated an already poor situation.
One of the strongest motivating factors was the beginning of the Cold WarThe Cold War (c. 1945- 1991) was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of nations practicing different ideologies and political systems. On one side was the Soviet Union and its allies, often referred to as the E. The American government had grown very suspicious of SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 actions and concerned about possible communist domination of Europe. In both France and ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer the poverty of the post-war era had provided fuel for the communist parties who had seen significant electoral success.
The American government of Harry Truman began to be aware of these problems in 1946. The emerging doctrine of containmentThis article is about foreign policy. For containment in mathematics, see Set. Containment refers to the foreign policy strategy of the United States in the early years of the Cold War. The policy was first laid out in George F. Kennan's famous long teleg argued that the United States needed to substantially aid non-communist countries to stop the spread of Soviet influence.
An early concept of the plan had been presented by US Secretary of State James F. ByrnesJames Francis Byrnes ( May 2, 1879 April 9, 1972) was a confidante of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and at one point was suggested as his running mate for Vice President. He served in the House of Representatives from 1911 to 1931, and in the United during a speech held at the StuttgartStuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany and has about 600,000 inhabitants June 2004 . Overview Stuttgart Germany, capital of Baden-Wurttemberg state (pop. 11 million, 36,000 square kilometers) and the Administrative District of Stuttgart (p Opera House (Germany) on September 6, 1946. In addition, General Lucius D. Clay asked industrialist Lewis H. Brown to inspect post-war Germany and draft " A Report on Germany" in 1947, containing basic facts relating to the problems in Germany, with recommendations for reconstruction.
The first substantial aid went to Greece and Turkey in January of 1947, who were seen as being on the front lines of the battle against communist expansion. In February Britain desperately requested aid from the States to shore up their economy.
The main alternative to large quantities of American aid was to take it from Germany. This notion became known as the Morgenthau plan, named after US Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr.. It advocated extracting massive war reparations from Germany to help rebuild those countries it had attacked, and also to prevent Germany from ever being rebuilt.
This plan was rejected, however, as many drew parallels between German dissonance due to reparation claims following World War I and allowing for the rise of Nazism. By April 1947 Truman, Marshall and Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson were convinced of the need for substantial quantities of aid from the United States.
The final plan was announced by Marshall at a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947 where he outlined the US government's preparedness to contribute to European recovery.
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