Marshall Plan - the first confrontation between the western and eastern blocs

The states of post-war Europe, which survived the fierce battles of World War II, in 1947 had a number of natural questions. First of all, they concerned the restoration of the affected cities, economic systems, the demobilization of the military, the transfer of industry to a peaceful track. Significantly less damage to the war brought them overseas ally - the United States. However, even here there were problems that needed to be addressed. Before this state, the question of the demobilization and organization of the personal lives of soldiers was no less acute. In addition, military production had to be curtailed and re-qualified in accordance with peaceful conditions. But in which markets would these goods come true? If pre-war Europe was an excellent trading partner with solvent citizens, now the continent was in ruins, and local consumers could hardly provide the necessary demand for imported goods. Recovery was beneficial to everyone. And the result of the coincidence of goals was the plan of Marshall. Briefly, he was named because it was a set of economic measures proposed by US Secretary of State George Marshall.

The essence of the Marshall Plan

The first features of the project were discussed in July 1945 at a conference in Paris. Initially, the Marshall Plan included the participation of Eastern European states. After all, the main destruction of the war occurred precisely in the eastern part of Europe. Compared to Warsaw, Prague and Krakow, Brussels and Paris seemed to be quiet places untouched by the war. However, the eastern outskirts of Europe was already dependent on the Soviet government. And Soviet leaders feared that such assistance would increase US influence on these countries and weaken the popularity of social parties in them. Actually, for these reasons, all the states of the socialist camp took a proud position and refused to help. It is interesting to note that the Marshall plan could not be extended to the Union itself, since the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks denied the budget deficit and the existence of any significant problems. The help of a potential opponent was abandoned, having opted for shock work. It is interesting that the revival of the USSR really did not yield to the European one in its pace, even if it was mined at the cost of hard work.

Project implementation

The Marshall Plan eventually spread to eighteen countries in Britain, the Scandinavian Islands, Western, Southern and Central Europe. This economic program has become one of the most successful (of its kind) in all of human history. In a very short time, the Marshall Plan allowed to restore the destroyed economies of European states, making these countries prosperous and influential players in the global geopolitical arena. For all these benefits, it should also be noted that the success of the program to a large extent predetermined the dominance of the United States in the Western world. For example, a vivid example of this fact was the permanent supremacy of the state in the military-political bloc, created several years later. This bloc has become NATO.