Editing Marshall Plan (section)

==Effects and legacy==
[[File:Marshall Plan poster.JPG|thumb|One of the numerous posters created to promote the Marshall Plan in Europe. Note the pivotal position of the American flag. The blue and white flag between those of Germany and Italy is a version of the [[Free Territory of Trieste|Trieste]] flag with the UN blue rather than the traditional red.]]

The Marshall Plan was originally scheduled to end in 1953. Any effort to extend it was halted by the growing cost of the [[Korean War]] and rearmament. American Republicans hostile to the plan had also gained seats in the [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1950|1950 Congressional elections]], and conservative opposition to the plan was revived. Thus the plan ended in 1951, though various other forms of American aid to Europe continued afterward.

The years 1948 to 1952 saw the fastest period of growth in European history. Industrial production increased by 35%. Agricultural production substantially surpassed pre-war levels.{{sfn|Grogin|2001|p=118}} The poverty and starvation of the immediate postwar years disappeared, and Western Europe embarked upon an unprecedented two decades of growth that saw standards of living increase dramatically. Additionally, the long-term effect of economic integration raised European income levels substantially, by nearly 20 percent by the mid-1970s.{{sfn|Badinger|2005|pp=50–78}} There is some debate among historians over how much this should be credited to the Marshall Plan. Most reject the idea that it alone miraculously revived Europe, as evidence shows that a general recovery was already underway. Most believe that the Marshall Plan sped this recovery, but did not initiate it. Many argue that the structural adjustments that it forced were of great importance. Economic historians [[J. Bradford DeLong]] and [[Barry Eichengreen]] call it "history's most successful structural adjustment program."{{sfn|DeLong|Eichengreen|1993|pp=189–230}} One effect of the plan was that it subtly "Americanized" European countries, especially Austria, through new exposure to American popular culture, including the growth in influence of Hollywood movies and rock n' roll.{{sfn|Bischof|Pelinka |Stiefel |2000|pp=174–75}}

The political effects of the Marshall Plan may have been just as important as the economic ones. Marshall Plan aid allowed the nations of Western Europe to relax austerity measures and rationing, reducing discontent and bringing political stability. The communist influence on Western Europe was greatly reduced, and throughout the region, communist parties faded in popularity in the years after the Marshall Plan. The trade relations fostered by the Marshall Plan helped forge the North Atlantic alliance that would persist throughout the Cold War in the form of NATO. At the same time, the nonparticipation of the states of the Eastern Bloc was one of the first clear signs that the continent was now divided.

The Marshall Plan also played an important role in European integration. Both the Americans and many of the European leaders felt that European integration was necessary to secure the peace and prosperity of Europe, and thus used Marshall Plan guidelines to foster integration. In some ways, this effort failed, as the [[OEEC]] never grew to be more than an agent of economic cooperation. Rather, it was the separate [[European Coal and Steel Community]], which did not include Britain, that would eventually grow into the [[European Union]]. However, the OEEC served as both a testing and training ground for the structures that would later be used by the [[European Economic Community]]. The Marshall Plan, linked into the [[Bretton Woods system]], also mandated free trade throughout the region.
[[File:Netherlands 10 gulden Marshall Plan.jpg|thumb|160px|Dutch [[Dutch guilder|10 guilder]] coin commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, 1997.]]
While some historians today feel some of the praise for the Marshall Plan is exaggerated, it is still viewed favorably and many thus feel that a similar project would help other areas of the world. The events of 1947 are thus part and parcel of the larger story of the Cold War. These events played a major role, but it would be a mistake to exaggerate their significance. The bloc system in Europe took years to develop, and the Marshall Plan was just one part of the story.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trachtenberg |first1=Marc |title=The Marshall Plan as Tragedy |journal=Journal of Cold War Studies |date=Winter 2005 |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=140 |doi=10.1162/1520397053326220 |jstor=26925782 |s2cid=57567806 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26925782 |access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> After the fall of communism, several proposed a "Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe" that would help revive that region. Others have proposed a Marshall Plan for Africa to help that continent, and US [[Al Gore|Vice President Al Gore]] suggested a [[Global Marshall Plan]].{{efn-ua|Marshall Plan style proposals for other parts of the world have been a perennial idea. For instance, [[Tony Blair]] and [[Gordon Brown]] have referred to their African aid goals as "a Marshall Plan".{{sfn|African Marshall Plan|2005}} After the end of the Cold War many felt Eastern Bloc needed a rebuilding plan.}} "Marshall Plan" has become a metaphor for any very large-scale government program that is designed to solve a specific social problem. It is usually used when calling for federal spending to correct a perceived failure of the private sector.

[[Nicholas Shaxson]] comments: "It is widely believed that the plan worked by offsetting European countries' yawning deficits. But its real importance ... was simply to compensate for the US failure to institute controls on inflows of hot money from Europe. ... American post-war aid was less than the money flowing in the other direction."{{sfn|Shaxson |2012}} European hot money inflated the US dollar, to the disadvantage of US exporters.