Marshall essays

Europe Without Truman/Marshall essays What would Europe look like 10 years after the end of World War II and today without the implementation of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan? In order to truly determine what Europe would have looked like 10 years after the end of World War II and today without the implementation of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, we would have to borrow a time machine from H.G. Wells. Upon our successful arrival, at a date prior to March of 1947, we would have to sabotage history to the extent that the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were never implemented. Since time travel is purely fictional and not yet possible, we need to find another method of determination. The next best method would be to look at the intent of the two programs and examine some of their successes. In doing that, we might gain some insight of what Europe might look like in either time period. The end of World War II in 1945 left Europe devastated. Farms, cities, factories and railroads were tattered or destroyed. The European economy was at a point of hopelessness and the peoples belief in the democratic system had eroded. The Europeans were steering their ships on a course towards communism. America had to act quickly if it was to prevent Europe from collapsing into the grips of communism. In March of 1947, Harry S. Truman implemented the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine was to provide assistance to any country threatened by communism through military and economic aid. This was followed in June of 1947 by George C. Marshalls implementation of the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan would provide billions in economic aid to Europe. The economic aid was intended to be used for new equipment and raw materials. The objective was clear, assist Western Europe in recovering quickly and defeat the spread of communism. By implementing these two programs the economy and industry of Europe was restored to near, at, or above pre-war ...