Editing History of France (section)

=== Economic recovery ===
Wartime damage to the economy was severe, and apart from gold reserves, France had inadequate resources to recover on its own. The transportation system was in total shambles — the Allies had bombed out the railways and the bridges, and the Germans had destroyed the port facilities. Energy was in extremely short supply, with very low stocks of coal and oil. Imports of raw materials were largely cut off, so most factories shut down. The invaders had stripped most of the valuable industrial tools for German factories. Discussions with the United States for emergency aid dragged on, with repeated postponements on both sides. Meanwhile, several million French prisoners of war and forced labourers were being returned home, with few jobs and little food available for them. The plan was for 20 percent of German reparations to be paid to France, but Germany was in much worse shape even than France, and in no position to pay.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Footitt |first1=Hilary |title=France, 1943–1945 |last2=Simmonds |first2=John |date=1988 |publisher=Leicester University Press |isbn=978-0-7185-1231-6 |pages=215–227}}</ref>

After de Gaulle left office in January 1946, the diplomatic logjam was broken in terms of American aid. The U.S. Army shipped in food, from 1944 to 1946, and U.S. Treasury loans and cash grants were disbursed from 1945 until 1947, with [[Marshall Plan]] aid continuing until 1951. France received additional aid from 1951 to 1955 in order to help the country in its war in Indochina. Apart from low-interest loans, the other funds were grants that did not involve repayment. The debts left over from World War I, whose payment had been suspended since 1931, were renegotiated in the [[Blum-Byrnes agreement]] of 1946. The United States forgave all $2.8 billion in debt from the First World War, and gave France a new loan of $650 million. In return, French negotiator [[Jean Monnet]] set out the French five-year plan for recovery and development.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wall |first=Irwin M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnS4wOYyuCgC&pg=PA55 |title=The United States and the Making of Postwar France, 1945–1954 |date=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5214-0217-0 |page=55}}</ref> The Marshall Plan gave France $2.3 billion with no repayment. The total of all American grants and credits to France from 1946 to 1953, amounted to $4.9 billion.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1954.zip |title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: August 1954 |date=1955 |publisher=U.S. Bureau of the Census |page=899}} Table 1075.</ref>

A central feature of the Marshall Plan was to encourage international trade, reduce tariffs, lower barriers, and modernize French management. The Marshall Plan set up intensive tours of American industry. France sent missions of businessmen and experts to tour American factories, farms, stores and offices. They were especially impressed with the prosperity of American workers, and the low price of vehicles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuisel |first=Richard F. |title=Seducing the French: The Dilemma of Americanization |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-5200-7962-5 |pages=70–102}}</ref> Some French businesses resisted Americanization, but the most profitable, especially chemicals, oil, electronics, and instrumentation, seized upon the opportunity to attract American investments and build a larger market.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuo |first=Laureen |date=2017 |title=Improving French Competitiveness through American Investment following World War II |journal=Business History Review |volume=91 |pages=129–155 |doi=10.1017/S0007680517000605 |s2cid=157255687 |number=1}}</ref> The U.S. insisted on opportunities for Hollywood films, and the French film industry responded with new life.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Le Forestier |first=Laurent |date=2004 |title=L'accueil en France des films américains de réalisateurs français à l'époque des accords Blum-Byrnes |trans-title=The reception in France of American films by French directors during the Blum-Byrnes agreements |journal=Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine |language=fr |volume=51-4 |pages=78–97 |doi=10.3917/rhmc.514.0078 |number=4}}</ref>

Although the economic situation in France was grim in 1945, resources did exist and the economy regained normal growth by the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fohlen |first=Claude |title=The Fontana Economic History of Europe: Vol.6 Part 1: Contemporary Economies, part 1 |date=1976 |isbn=978-0-0063-4261-8 |editor-last=Cipolla |editor-first=Carlo M. |pages=72–127 |chapter=France, 1920–1970|publisher=Fontana}}</ref> France managed to regain its international status thanks to a successful production strategy, a demographic spurt, and technical and political innovations. Conditions varied from firm to firm. Some had been destroyed or damaged, nationalized or requisitioned, but the majority carried on, sometimes working harder and more efficiently than before the war. Despite strong American pressure through the ERP, there was little change in the organization and content of the training for French industrial managers. This was mainly due to the reticence of the existing institutions, and the struggle among different economic and political interest groups for control over efforts to improve the further training of practitioners.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hill |first=John S. |date=1992 |title=American Efforts to Aid French Reconstruction Between Lend-Lease and the Marshall Plan |journal=[[Journal of Modern History]] |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=500–524 |doi=10.1086/244513 |jstor=2124596 |s2cid=144892957}}</ref>

The [[Monnet Plan]] provided a coherent framework for economic policy, and it was strongly supported by the Marshall Plan. It was inspired by moderate, Keynesian free-trade ideas rather than state control. Although relaunched in an original way, the French economy was about as productive as comparable West European countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mioche |first=Philippe |date=1998 |title=Le Demarrage de l'economie Française au lendemain de la Guerre |trans-title=Restarting the French Economy after the War |journal=Historiens et Géographes |language=fr |volume=89 |pages=143–156 |issn=0046-757X |number=361}}</ref>