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Content: THE MARSHALL PLAN (1947)
THE
MARSHALL PLAN (1947)
On June 5, 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall spoke at Harvard
University and outlined what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Europe,
still devastated by the war, had just survived one of the worst winters
on record. The nations of Europe had nothing to sell for hard currency,
and the democratic socialist governments in most countries were unwilling
to adopt the draconian proposals for recovery advocated by old-line classical
economists. Something had to be done, both for humanitarian reasons and
also to stop the potential spread of communism westward. The United States offered up to $20 billion for relief, but only if
the European nations could get together and draw up a rational plan on
how they would use the aid. For the first time, they would have to act
as a single economic unit; they would have to cooperate with each other. Marshall also offered aid to the Soviet Union and its allies in eastern
Europe, but Stalin denounced the program as a trick and refused to participate. The Russian rejection probably made passage of the measure through Congress
possible. The Marshall Plan, it should be noted, benefited the American economy
as well.