Age of Extremes of Europe

Marshall Plan

Shaping the Course of Economic Development of 20th Century Europe

In 1914 , Europe was a civilized , prosperous , mostly content place . Then following an assassination in an obscure capital of an obscure Balkan province , it suddenly started blowing itself up and tearing itself down . It is a story of international politics crossing the line into world madness and collective suicide (Axelrod 2000

The first major European and international event to happen in the twentieth century , the First World War was crucial in shaping many fundamental aspects of the 20th century

history . The international political scene after the war became completely different from the one before the war . Britain , which was the world 's foremost superpower until then , started to decline , and America began to rise (pbs .org , 2004 Also , the road to Second World War started in the First World War

Although the First World War has had tremendous impact in reshaping the political paradigm in Europe , it was the Second World War , or to be more precise , certain events that happened after the Second World War , that had the most direct influence in creating the affluence of Europe and driving its economic progress in the latter part of the twentieth century . I believe that the Marshall Plan , implemented in the aftermath of the Second World War , to be the most important event in shaping the course of economic development for Europe in the 20th century

The Second World War wreaked unmitigated havoc on most of the European countries . America decided to put into action a systematic , purposeful and results-driven policy of economic aid and intervention . The Marshall Plan has helped the European economies to unclog the supply bottlenecks in industry , and has boosted the reconstruction of capital equipment and infrastructure . Involving over a hundred billion dollars in today 's money , it was a massive undertaking primarily , though not exclusively of a philanthropic , humanitarian nature the success of the Marshall Plan put Europe back on track and brought the modern world as we know it into being

Despite the pessimism that seemed to prevail in the aftermath of war the fact is that the European economy had not been quite demolished rather , it was only severely damaged by the war . It is an enormous tribute to England 's industrial and technological prowess that it was returning to a pre-war rate of production within 2 - 2 1 /2 years of war And by 1947 , some of the other European countries too were approaching their pre-war production capacity . However , that was not enough

In spite of the gargantuan wartime ravages , the crucial problem in post-war European context was not the dearth of industrial expertise or raw materials , or even basic infrastructure . What countries such as England and France needed most was a massive infusion of capital , and this started pouring from the United States of America - in the form of the Marshall Plan . Europe was definitely set on the road to a dramatic recovery

Starting from July 1947 , a massive amount...