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The Marshall Plan
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Below is one of our free research papers on The Marshall Plan. If the term paper below is not exactly what you're looking for, you can search our essay database for other topics.
The Marshall Plan
Although the idea of European integration was an ideal adopted by European intellectuals from the beginning of the twentieth century, the success in the actual launching and development of the project is a achievement that must be attributed to the policy and aid of the United States. World War II left Europe in a state of complete crisis. More than 30 million lives were lost during the war, cities lay in ruins, and as a result of violation of agricultural lands and people, food supply remained dangerously short. After barely surviving the Nazi threat, Europe was now faced with the threat of Soviet communism and expansion. This new threat divided the continent into pro-Western and pro-Soviet spheres, and some started to look towards communism to save them from total destruction and to progress towards rebuilding and restructuring of the post-war economy. European states were trying desperately to mend the damages of the war without having to resort to communist or socialist methods. However, the results lay short of expectations for capital was very limited and shortages of basic resources such as coal and steel restrained production. In addition, in many European countries such as France and Italy, the deterioration of the economy led to serious political problems, such as the undermining of the governmental authority. The only logical choice for Western European states, given that they did not desire to give in socialism or communism, was t...
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