Between 1948 and 1951, the Marshall Plan delivered an unprecedented $12.3 billion in U.S. aid to help Western European countries recover from the destruction of the Second World War, and forestall Communist influence in that region. The Marshall Plan: A New Deal for Europe examines the aid program, its ideological origins and explores how ideas about an Americanized world order inspired and influenced the Marshall Plan’s creation and execution. The book provides a much-needed re-examination of the Plan, enabling students to understand its immediate impact and its political, social, and cultural legacy. Including essential primary documents, this concise book will be a key resource for students of America’s role in the world at mid-century.
Contents
Series Introduction
Acknowledgements
Time Line
1. A New Deal for the World: American Plans for the Post-World War II Order
2. The World America Made: Towards the Marshall Plan, 1945–1947
3. Creating the European Recovery Program, 1947–1948
4. The Marshall Plan in Action and the Emergence of European Unity, 1948–1951
5. Epilogue: The Marshall Plan and Memory
Documents
Bibliography
Biography
Michael Holm is Lecturer in History at Boston University.
Pulling it away from the realm of myth, Holm returns the Marshall Plan to its vital and complicated place in history. He traces its roots in US hopes for a stable globe during the Great Depression and World War II, its emergence as part of the rush of the early Cold War, and its lasting impact on Europe, the US, and the world. With lucid prose and pointed analysis he explains the scope of this critical enterprise while advancing some fresh interpretations.
- David Ekbladh, author of The Great American Mission: Modernization and the Construction of an American World Order, 1914 to the Present (2010)
