The Marshall Plan

Thesis sentence
I will focus on the reasons the USA had to launch the plan and why some European countries refused it. I will also explain how did the then political representatives of Czechoslovakia view the Marshall plan and what implications it had on other European countries which took part in it.

Introduction
In 1945, Germany surrendered and the worst world conflict, known as World War II, was over. Hitler was defeated and the danger from this side was drown away. The damages the war had caused were of great extent. Europe's agricultural and coal production had nearly stopped, and much of the population was threatened with starvation. The Europeans also lacked money, which would enable them to purchase new materials and machine tools to help restore their shattered economies. As Secretary of State George Marshall said, the war had resulted in economic chaos in Europe and the situation needed to be remedied to end “poverty, desperation and chaos”. This was one of the reasons that led the USA to help the devastated European countries.

Reasons the USA had to launch the Marshall plan
European Recovery Program (ERP), commonly known as the Marshall Plan, was United States programme of financial assistance that helped to rebuild European countries devastated by World War II. The USA had four main reasons to launch the plan:
1) Europe had been a large market for American goods, and without a prosperous Europe, the United States might have suffered a severe economic depression. 2) Without American aid, Western Europe might succumb to communism. 3) Western Europe appeared open to influence by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which the United States was beginning to see as its main rival. 4) West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany) had to be rebuilt as a buffer against Soviet expansion; European fears of their World War II enemy would lessen only if the Germans were integrated into a larger Europe.
Each of these main reasons had its importance but probably the most important

reason was the policy of “containment” – an idea how to stop the Soviet Union’s communism from spreading to other countries. During this period, Truman (1945 – 1953) was the president of the USA. The fact is that the European Recovery Programme was an expensive one. The Congress of the United States appropriated about 17 billion dollars (according to another resource it was 13-14 billion dollars) in aid.

To whip up American support for this US policy, Truman overstated the Soviet threat to the United States. In turn, the Americans wanted to destroy communism because they saw it as a dangerous disease.

The Marshall Plan
In the summer of 1947, the government of President Truman put forward a scheme that it hoped would help Europe’s people and also make communism less appealing to them. The scheme was called the Marshall Plan. On 4 July 1947, the governments of France and Great Britain addressed a joint invitation to 22 European countries, asking them to participate in the work of an organisation for European economic co-operation. Its principal task was to establish a programme to reconcile the assets and the needs of Europe. The French Minister also sent an information letter to the Soviet authorities, which had refused the plan from political and economic reasons. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey accepted the invitation. These 16 countries met in Paris conference on 12 July 1947 and several months later the USA started its plan. Millions of dollars’ worth of American food, raw materials and machinery started to pour into western Europe. The Marshall Plan in Czechoslovakia
On 4 July 1947, the invitation to participate in the work of an organisation for European economic co-operation was sent to Czechoslovakia. Many politicians saw the plan as a great offer and opportunity and as a solution of the economic problems. Although communist politicians did not agree with the plan, Minister Masaryk saw it in a positive way and the president was for the participation in it. The problem was that Czechoslovakia was under the influence of the Soviet Union and the relationship between

them was very strong. Czechoslovakia ensured the Soviet Union that it would not do anything what could be seen as a step against it. On 9 July 1947, the Czechoslovak delegation (Gottwald, Masaryk, Drtina) met Stalin and Molotov (Foreign Minister) in Moscow. The Soviet Union’s final standpoint to the Marshall Plan was rejecting and advised Czechoslovakia to reject it too. The day after, on 10 July, the Czechoslovak government meeting was very dramatic and discussion heated. The issue was whether to accept the invitation to Paris or not. Finally, Czechoslovakia refused it and continued in its heretofore policy.

Implications on European countries which took part in the Marshall Plan
By the time the Marshall Plan ended in 1952, western Europe was back on its feet and beginning to prosper.

Western Europe's economic and security situation changed dramatically as a result of the Marshall Plan. It was Europe's great step forward. It saved the continent from economic ruin and laid the foundations of later prosperity. Almost two thirds of Marshall aid went to four countries: nearly one quarter to Britain, one fifth to France, and one tenth each to Italy and West Germany. Another result was that countries of western Europe were saved from the influence of the communist Soviet Union and Stalin’s plans to convert Europe to communism were not realized.

Conclusion
What would be the situation in Europe if the USA did not decide to help the European countries damaged by the war? Would it be easy for them to recover by using their own effort? Who knows: but the fact is that the USA helped western Europe in one of the worst period of their existence and the European Recovery Programme fulfil its plan.

Used literature:
An Outline of American History
An Illustrated History of the USA
Československo v letech 1945 – 1948
Internet Documents


tomas mihalciak.