Marshall Plan
Plan devised by the United States to financially support those European countries that had been devastated after the Second World War. In this article we will make you aware about Who Created the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan was a plan devised by the United States that sought to financially support those countries in Europe that had been totally devastated after World War II and did not have the financial availability to recover.
The name of the project comes from George Marshall , secretary of state at the time, who proposed this initiative.
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Who Created the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan was created by the United States from 3 clear objectives:
- Avoid European insolvency as it would have brought terrible consequences to the North American economy.
- Prevent the spread of communism .
- Create an economic structure that will benefit the formation of democratic regimes .
It has been given the name of the Marshall plan because it was the US Secretary, George Marshall, who proposed the project during a conference in 1947 in Paris .
Marshall received a Nobel Peace Prize for developing this plan.
Benefits obtained by the United States
By improving conditions in the countries affected by World War II, the United States would eliminate the trade barriers that existed at that time and, in addition, could modernize its industrial model , which would make the continent more prosperous.
For the execution of the plan, the United States contributed more than 20,000,000 dollars for the supply of food, fuel and raw materials; As a result, many European countries began to invest in the American industrial market.
Although the plan was aimed at the European states, the states of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were also invited to participate , on the condition that they change the external controls of their economy and align themselves with the European market, a factor that was emphatically rejected.
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Consequences of the Marshall plan
Some of the consequences unleashed by the Marshall plan include the following:
- The economies of all participating countries prospered and exceeded prewar levels, with the exception of the Federal Republic of Germany .
- Western Europe grew exponentially to the point of considering this project as one of the drivers of European unification.
- Institutions were created in charge of coordinating the economy of Europe.
- The plan received some criticism since it did not favor certain places , but this was due to the fear that certain countries felt when believing that they would become a dependent state of the United States.