To What Extent Did The Marshall Plan

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Recommended: Effects of World War II on the economy of the United States

A. Plan of the Investigation As World War II came to a close in 1945, European nations were left physically destroyed and economically impaired; they had poured their money into the war at the expense of their local economies. This investigation will examine the question: “in what ways did the Marshall Plan cause the economic unity of Europe after World War II?”. In this context, economic unity will be defined as the extent to which European countries pooled their resources, traded with one another, and aided each other’s economies in order to increase productivity and income. This investigation will utilize secondary sources to examine how the Marshall Plan promoted trade, resource, and financial aid organizations such as the OEEC and ERP, how the Marshall Plan’s aid of individual nations allowed them to be able to trade with neighboring nations again, and how the Marshall Plan created a …show more content…

This strictly divided Eastern Germany, as part of the post-war agreements between the US and the USSR. The US worked to pull France, Italy, and Eastern countries away from communism (Hixson). In 1948, The Marshall Plan led to the blockade of Berlin (Provan), which noticeably separated Western and Eastern Europe (Hixson). While Western European economies thrived and unified, those of Eastern European nations (under the communist control of the USSR) slowed down dramatically and did not interact internationally (Provan). The Soviet Union denied Marshall Aid to all of the countries in the Eastern Bloc (Carson). Stock notes that soon after the announcement of the Marshall Plan, Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia and neighboring Eastern Bloc countries in 1948. Wilson states that by 1952, the US and Western European nations allied together against the USSR and its communist regime

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