Western Europe After World War 1 Economic Analysis

The economies of Europe after World War two were in shambles. Many countries were either in debt form fighting the war or had no economies form the devastation of war on the large scale it was carried out. As a result, most nations had to recover their economies from the shambles to one which could involve itself in the new global economy. In my opioon this recovery was primarily helped by the Marshall plan, foreign troops spending money, and less competition in the market. With Eastern Europe under the direct control of the Soviet Union, the countries under their control “could not trade” with any Western nation, especially ones currently occupied by the Westerner Allied forces. (217) This meant, for the Countries in Western Europe, they would have a significant less number of potential compensators for selling their products in the market. Accompany this thinking is the establishment of the EEC, or the European Economic Community. This partnership meant that products from other nations in the group were not “taxed nor tariffed” when traded between partner nations. (216) These consisted of

After the war, had ended the troops stationed in each country stayed. This was primary due to the increase tension of a new war breaking out between the Western Allies and the Soviet controlled East. As these troops were paid in “US dollars”, which had a “large purchasing power” in still recovering Western Europe, they spent their money. (220) With no real place to deposit the money, in most countries they did not have banks able to transfer money to US banks. Because of this few soldiers kept their money, meaning they were spending their money in “local villages” nearby where they were stationed. (218-219) As the influx of profits streamed into the local villages, the economy of all nations under the control of the Western Allies grew from the