Europe and America in the Cold War against the USSR

Europe and America in the Cold War Against the U.S.S.R.

Without the implementation of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, Europe's landscape would have looked very different in the first decade following World War II, and even today, many European areas would not be as prosperous.

Following World War II, Greece and Turkey were prime for the potential to fall under communism and Soviet rule, thus the $400 million in military and economic aid granted under the Truman Doctrine helped to fend off communism and, as Truman believed, prevented an inevitable domino effect throughout the region (Truman pp). Without this aid, Greece and Turkey would have resembled many of the Eastern European countries during the first decade after the War that did fall under communism, however it is not likely that communism would have succeeded for long, therefore, these countries would most likely look similar as they do today (Truman pp).

Most of Europe was devastated by the War, including the local economies, agriculture, railways, bridges, roads, and a large number of merchant shipping boats (Marshall pp). Moreover, there were millions of people who had been left homeless (Marshall pp). As a direct result of the Marshall Plan, Europe experienced, during the first four years following World War II, the fastest period of growth in its history (Marshall pp). Without the implementation of the Marshall Plan, European recovery would have proceeded at a snail's pace, leaving many struggling for decades, and others vulnerable to communism (Marshall pp).

Without the Marshall Plan, within the first decade following the War would most likely have seen France and Italy under communist rule (Marshall pp). The probability of this was great due to the fact that widespread poverty in the post-war era provided fuel for conversion to the communist agenda (Marshall pp).

When Secretary of State George C. Marshall spoke at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, and outlined what would become known as the Marshall Plan, not only did Europe stand in devastation due to the War, but it had just survived one of the worst winters on record (Marshall1 pp). The European nations had nothing to sell for hard currency, and the democratic socialist governments in most countries were unwilling to adopt the draconian proposals for recovery advocated by old-line classical economists (Marshal1 pp). Therefore, something had to be done, for humanitarian reasons and also to stop the potential westward expansion of communism (Marshall1 pp).

The United States offered up to $20 billion for relief, but only if the European nations could unite and draw up a rational plan on how they would use the aid (Marshall1 pp). For the first time in history, they would have to cooperate with each other and act as a single economic unit (Marshall1 pp). Although Marshall also offered aid to the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe, Stalin denounced the programs as a trick and refused to participate, however the Russian rejection probably made the passage of the measure through Congress possible (Marshall1 pp).

It should be noted that the Marshall Plan also benefited the American economy, because the money would be used to buy goods from the United States that had to be shipped across the Atlantic on American merchant vessels (Marshall1 pp). The Marshall Plan worked and by 1953, the United States had pumped in some $13 billion into the European economy, and Europe was once again standing on its feet (Marshall1 pp). Furthermore, the Plan included West Germany, which was thus reintegrated into the European community (Marshall1 pp). It should also be noted that under the Marshall Plan, all aid was economic and did not include military aid until after the Korean War (Marshall1 pp).