The Marshall Plan: Rebuilding Europe After World War II

DID YOU KNOW? On December 9th, 1961, SS Colonol Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes in Israel. In a now-celebrated speech delivered at the Harvard University commencement in 1947, newly appointed American Secretary of State George C. Marshall described the colossal rebuilding task that Europe faced following World War II. "Europe's requirements are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character," Marshall declared. This speech marked the official beginning of the Economic Recovery Program (ERP), better known as "The Marshall Plan." Before his historic speech, Marshall had hoped all of Europe would embrace his ideas. On March 1st, 1947, he attended a meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow, in the hope of addressing the suffering of the European people. But following a private and contentious interview with Joseph Stalin, Marshall realized that the Russian dictator meant to profit from Europe's devastation rather than seek a program of healing and reconstruction. Disgusted, Marshall returned to America determined to lead the recovery efforts himself. Under Marshall's guidance, 16 European countries (absent the Soviet Union and areas under its control) drew up a proposal for the planned reconstruction and presented it to the US government in September 1947. Over the six years during which the Marshall Plan was formally in operation, Congress appropriated $13.3 billion in aid. In April 1948, the European nations receiving the aid formed the European Economic Cooperation (forerunner of the EEC). Countries were allowed to use the aid as they deemed necessary, with most earmarking the funds for housing, transportation, and industry. The Marshall Plan would prove to be an extraordinary success. By 1949, less than five years after World War II, the agriculture, industry, and foreign trade of most of the participant countries were at or near prewar levels, and industrial production in some was actually 15 percent above.