Impact Of The Marshall Plan

By implementing the Marshall Plan, the United States boldly departed from its isolationist past, paving the way for a new era of U.S. foreign diplomacy that would leave a lasting impact on the world for decades to come. Launched in 1948, the Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program (ERP), aimed to provide economic aid to European countries whose economies were devastated in the aftermath of WWII. The Marshall Plan’s impact, however, extended far beyond mere economic recovery. As a spearhead of U.S. economic diplomacy, the Marshall Plan signified the U.S.’ departure from its historical belief in maintaining isolation and served as a symbol of America’s ascendance as a global hegemon in international politics. Despite often

Kennan released the “Long Telegram,” which not only added fuel to the growing fire of fear, but also convinced the U.S. that an economic response in Europe was necessary. Within the Long Telegram, Kennan outlines some of the post-war Soviet objectives, describing the Soviet Union’s expansionist and aggressive intentions towards the West and the inevitable conflict between both sides. Kennan also emphasized the extreme importance of a strong and persistent resistance against the Soviet Union. He stated that the Soviet Union is “highly sensitive to logic of force. For this reason it can easily withdraw — and usually does when strong resistance is encountered at any point.” He believed that by maintaining a firm, united stance against the Soviet Union, a country could force its retreat. Furthermore, in his view, an economic approach was the most effective way to combat the Soviet Union’s communism, as the world needed to see the benefits and success of capitalism. By showcasing the advantages of capitalism, such as economic growth and individual liberty, countries would be more likely to embrace this ideology, instead of the communism a lot of countries were shifting towards within Europe. Kennan’s warnings about Soviet communism sparked much debate and were influential in shaping the foundation on which the Marshall Plan would eventually be built: anti-communism. In fact, through his telegram, and the article “X” later published in the

and its allies. After the Soviet Union made clear objections to the Marshall Plan, the U.S. came to the realization that it no longer needed to disguise the true nature of the plan as a multilateral effort. Instead, it was actually beneficial to highlight the anti-communist nature of the proposal. U.S. officials had already realized that “anticommunism was a far more effective rallying cry than their prosaic arguments for multilateralism.” By building the Marshall Plan on a foundation of anticommunism, the U.S. recognized that it could not only unite itself and its allies, but it could also garner support from the American public and its political leaders. In terms of international relations, the growing influence of the Soviet Union would cause Eastern European countries to unite against the common threat, eventually culminating in the formation of NATO. For now, however, the anti-communist banner proved to be an effective unifier, as evidenced by the congressional debate on the British loan of 1945. Within the U.S. specifically, “Anticommunism was the crucial agent that brought together Republicans and Democrats on the size, timing, and nature of the Marshall Plan.” In fact, the only reason that Congress passed the $400 million aid package to