THE EUROPEAN RECOVERY PROGRAM (ERP)
The Marshall plan: How did it help to reconstruct Europe… and to unravel a
division which lasted 40 years.
Starter : What do you remember about the beginnig of the
Cold War in Europe and the Berlin Blockade specifically ?
1.
Russia took huge reparations from the eastern zone of occupied Germany. Britain, France and America...
...stopped the Russians taking reparations from the three western zones.
...stripped western Germany of industrial plant and machinery.
...tried to improve conditions in their zones.
2.
In January 1947, Britain and America united their zones. What did they call the new zone?
Bizonia
Trizonia
Dizonia
1.
Why did the London Conference of 1948 create tension about Germany?
The Russians threatened to blockade Berlin.
Russia was not invited.
The Russians demanded reparations from the western zones.
2.
What event prompted Stalin to impose the Blockade?
The US Congress approved $17 billion of Marshall Aid.
America, Britain and France introduced a new currency into the western zones.
America, Britain and France announced that they wanted to create a new country of West Germany.
3.
How long did the Berlin Blockade last?
138 days
318 days
813 days
4.
How many flights came into Berlin during the Blockade?
275,000
2.75 million
27,500
1.
What was the name of the US General who thought that if West Berlin fell, West Germany would be next?
General MacArthur
General Patton
General Clay
2.
What was the name of Berlin's main airport?
Brandenburg Gate
Reichstag
Templehof
3.
Which of the following was not a result of the Berlin Blockade?
The western Allies set up NATO
The Communists built a wall between east and west Berlin
Germany was divided into FDR and GDR
4.
What do the letters NATO stand for?
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Northern Alliance Treaty Organisation
North American Treaty organisation
In 1947, two important events occured:
firstly, President Truman warned the American Congress that it was America's job to
contain Communism (By 1947, Greece was one of the few countries in Eastern
Europe that hadn't turned communist and the British told Truman they could no
longer afford to keep their soldiers in Greece) - this became known as the Truman
Doctrine - and secondly, General George Marshall came up with a plan to help
Europe recover from the war using American money - this became known as the
Marshall Plan.
April 1945 -- German city of Nuremberg
lies in ruins during the closing weeks of
World War II.
Increasingly numbers of people in Western
Europe believed Communism might hold a
viable solution for rebuilding their war-torn
worlds. Democratically elected leaders
feared that continued economic failure
would result in Communism sweeping
across the continent. (© AP Images)
Marshall and Truman asked Congress for $17
billion to fund the European Recovery
Programme nicknamed the Marshall Plan - to
get the economy of Europe going again.
Congress at first hesitated, but agreed in
March 1948 when Czechoslovakia turned
Communist.
http://photos.state.gov/galleries/usinfophoto/39/Marshall_Plan_60_Year_Legacy/1.html
Secretary of State George C. Marshall
Harvard University
June 5, 1947
Speech
Marshall Plan.
http://www.marshallfoundation.org/library/MarshallPlanSpeech.html
http://www.mconway.net/page20/files/112388d580fd722fe1aaf896c3d42e451.html
European Recovery Program (ERP).
From April 1948 to June 1952.
More than $13 billion invested
Committee of recipient nations
Economic and political cooperation
British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, speaking September 19,
1946, in Zurich: “We must build a
kind of United States of Europe."
CARE is a nongovernmental relief
organization
CARE originally stood for
Cooperative for American
Remittances to Europe
Saint Lorenz Church (1945/1965)
American ambassador to France,
Jefferson Caffrey.
Harbor of Bordeaux, May 10,
1948.
8,800 tons of wheat aboard.
France received a total of $2.3
billion in Marshall Plan aid, the
second-largest assistance package
to any country.
French farmer using a US tractor sent under the Marshall Plan
Most (70 per cent) of the money was used to buy commodities from US suppliers: Of the
$13 billion in Marshall Plan funds, $3.4 billion was spent on raw materials and semimanufactured products; $3.2 billion on food, feed and fertilizer; $1.9 billion on machines,
vehicles and equipment; and $1.6 billion on fuel.
(Left) Marshall Plan funding helped the Vespa Piaggio plant near Pisa, Italy, boost
production of its motor scooters. (Right) Vespa celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006.
In 1947, Vespa production was 2,500 scooters, and customers had to wait months for
delivery. Production jumped to 10,000 scooters in 1948, then 20,000 scooters in 1949 and
60,000 scooters in 1950.
Austrian electrical engineers study a
new generator in Schenectady, New
York, circa 1949.
As part of its technical assistance
program, the Marshall Fund paid for
more than 3,000 Europeans to make
six-month visits to U.S. industries to
learn new techniques.
At the time, the northern European
electric grid mainly used hydropower
from the Pyrenees, Alps and Tyrol and
distributed energy in a grid that
naturally link Germany, Austria, France
and the Benelux countries. Electrical
production was a high priority and was
one of the cross-border enterprises
which helped tie together European
nations.
Workers rebuild a road in Palermo, Sicily, circa 1949.
An aspect of the Marshall Plan was to import bulldozers, trucks and other equipment to
help clear and repair war-damaged areas.
In a larger sense, the Marshall Plan was aimed to reconnect broken trade patterns
throughout Europe.
Bavarian artist Christiane Horn views her
larger-than-life sculpture of George Marshall,
unveiled in 1998 at the George C. Marshall
European Center for Security Studies in the
Alpine town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany.
Marshall died in 1959.
George C. Marshall is the only career soldier
ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,
which he received in 1953 for the Marshall
Plan.
“The ruling gang of American imperialists
has taken the path of open expansion, of
enslaving weakened capitalist countries. It
has hatched new war plans against the
Soviet Union. Imitating Hitler, the new
aggressors are using blackmail.”
GM Malenkov, a Soviet politician, speaking
in 1947 about the Marshall Plan. Andrei
Zhdanov echoed this opinion
The cartoon, which was published in Czechoslovakia in 1949, was drawn
by the team of Russian artists: 'Kukriniksy'.
The title is ‘Marshall’s Plan in practice’. General Marshall holds guns, and
harnesses labelled ‘for the French’ and ‘for the Germans’.
1. What were the Marshall plan’s goals? (3 to 4 expected
ideas, think about economy as well as politics)
2. How did these goals have been achieved?
3. To what extent European countries are in debt to the
Marshall plan?