Domestic Crises in Europe Assignment

Running head: HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
In the history of Europe, the World War 2 brought out the most destructive events
following tremendous loss of life, property and a complete economic downfall. With more than
millions of death, business structure and economic atmosphere of Europe was completely
disrupted. The import and export business of Europe in different continents and countries got
completely disrupted and many overseas holdings had to be sold off in order to pay for the war
imports. Capital of the country went alarmingly down and Europe needed a complete
restructuring of its economy and infrastructure. The domestic crises in Europe led America seep
into the United Nations milieu in order to find out solution for Europe’s pathetic condition,
thereby, Marshall Plan came into being. However, Marshall Plan is controversial regarding its
results and success. The respective paper seeks to find out the reasons behind the controversies
and criticism of Marshall Plan and whether the Marshall Plan was seriously successful for
Europe or not. The paper is in an essay format.
When the American government came into terms to reconstruct the Western Europe post
World War 2 by using one of the most influential economic and foreign policy that became a
“near about” success in the contemporary times, little did the world know about the might of
Marshall Plan. The idea of the Marshall Plan was to recover the Western Europe which would on
the other hand, help the nation resist Soviet subversion and impulses of the local communist
parties that have been powerful in the European countries such as France and Italy.
Nevertheless, it is evident that the United States found a big opportunity in Marshall Plan. She
saw that through Marshall Plan, the USA would be able to protect its vital political and economic
interests in Europe1. The Tripartite conference that was held in the month of June in 1947
between France, England and Russia made the Marshall plan come into shape. The Marshall
1 Forbes.com.(2012). Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/briandomitrovic/2012/05/22/its-time-for-
europe-to-learn-from-its-past/#23707e101139

2HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
Plan, which is also called European Recovery Plan, can be defined as an initiative taken by
America which was passed in the year 1948 to provide foreign help and assistance to the
Western part of Europe. The United States of America invested more than $ 12 million in the
respective program to the economic institutions and factors of Western Europe after the end of
World War 2. The customary and basic aim of the Marshall Plan was to rebuild and restructure
war affected areas of Western Europe, remove unnecessary and draconian trade barriers,
modernizing the industrial sectors, improving the living standards and prosperity of Europe and
also completely guarding the continent from the ideology or activities related to communism2.
The Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program had made it possible to instill in the minds of
the Europeans adoption of modern ways and procedures in business and economic purposes in
order to regain their economic stability yet again.
The results of the Marshall Plan were completely outstanding if observed. In almost four
years after the Marshall Plan was implemented and executed, Europe gained most of its
economic prowess and stabilized itself as far as financial infrastructure was concerned. The
output of the Western Europe increased by 32 per cent, where agricultural output increased by 11
per cent, industrial output increased by 40 per cent, leading to a high growth standard of the
nation.
However, there are criticisms and controversies regarding the credibility of the Marshall
Plan or European Recovery Programs. The Laissez Faire criticism of Marshall Plan was put up
by a number of economics experts and economists.3 It was criticized under the grounds that it
eliminated central planning and restoring a market economy in Europe, especially in the
2 Grabas, Christian, and Alexander Nützenadel. Industrial Policy in Europe after 1945. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014.
3 Mansoor, Jaleh. Marshall Plan Modernism: Italian Postwar Abstraction and the Beginnings of Autonomia. Duke
University Press, 2016.

3HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
countries that were guided by fascist economic policies. The Marshall Plan had subsidized the
current, failing systems of the economy of Europe at the backdrop of transition of European
economy into a free market economy, according to certain economists. Another criticism that
Marshall Plan received was from an economist named Henry Hazlitt where he argued that
economic reforms in a country are brought about by accumulation of capital, savings of financial
resources and means and private enterprises. Seldom is economic reform brought about by large
cash subsidies. Generally speaking, Marshall Plan has actually not been that much successful as
it was presented in the academics and popular culture. The Marshall Plan is a debatable issue
because there is no correlation between the amount of aid received and the speed of recovery of
Europe thereafter. Certain revisionist historians and conspiracy theorists suggest that the main
aim of America in helping Europe with monetary fund was to re-establish and re-inforce
American economic imperialism and it was also a shrewd attempt of America to gain control
over the western part of Europe similar to the Soviet controlled Eastern Europe in the economic
arena. 4The famous intellectual Noam Chomsky quoted that the Marshall Plan “set the stage for
large amounts of private U.S. investment in Europe, establishing the basis for modern
transnational cooperation”. An economist named Tyler Cowen has said that the countries of the
European continent that received the most of the financial resources of Marshall Plan were the
countries that grew the slowest between 1947 to 1953, while those who received the least
financial resources grew the most. Therefore, the credibility of Marshall Plan was contradictory
and paradoxical at the same time.
In the history of Europe, no battles and wars except World Wars had ever brought such
deadly outcomes in the economic and political sectors to them. World War 2 was one of the
4 Báger, Gusztáv, and Peter Pázmány. "The Relevance of Marshall Plan Today." International Journal 2, no. 7 (2013).

4HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
reasons why Europe had faced such acute shortage of food, finances and law and order.
European continent saw a fiendish disruption of society and order as millions of lives were lost,
the economic and business arena was completely disrupted, law and order became an anecdote
for the Europeans. The Marshall Plan, which was built by the American government to restore
the European nations of its economy and political stability was indeed successful in its venture,
however, it has certain controversies at the same time. When the capital of the European
countries went alarmingly down and Europe needed a complete restructuring of its economy and
infrastructure, Marshall Plan came at rescue The respective paper concludes by finding out the
reasons behind the controversies and criticism of Marshall Plan and whether the Marshall Plan
was seriously successful for Europe or not. The paper is in an essay format.