Title: Why Marshall Plan was so important | Op-eds – Gulf News
Headings: Why Marshall Plan was so important
Why Marshall Plan was so important
Content: As Marshall hammered home in his speech, without urgent US aid, Europe would “face economic, social and political deterioration of a very grave character”. Subsequent congressional trips to Europe in fall 1947 brought the acute suffering home to members of Congress sceptical of American internationalism on such a large scale, converting several to support the plan. n 2. The Marshall Plan was one piece in the larger Cold War puzzle. Although Truman administration officials believed true peace would come only once Europe was rebuilt and the region was set upon a solid path for the future, fears of growing Communist and Soviet influence in Western Europe also were a motivating factor. The Cold War was in full swing by 1947, with the Truman Doctrine announced in March, and US aid to Greece and Turkey dispatched to combat internal struggles against communist forces. Key Western European nations such as Italy and France had large left-leaning political parties. US officials feared that continued economic stagnation would lead to socialist and Communist victories in upcoming elections, leading to Soviet partners in the heart of Western Europe. These officials believed that by shoring up the economic base of these nations - providing citizens with livelihoods based on the Western democratic model — voters would reject leftist parties at the polls. This is indeed what took place.