Meaning of Marshall Plan - What it is, Definition and Concept

The Marshall Plan was implemented by the United States after World War II to ensure North American economic hegemony , which moved from the first place to a Europe destroyed and indebted by war.of the European reconstruction, the Marshall Plan offered credits to buy goods and services in the United States, with the obligation to later acquire the spare parts of the acquired machinery.

While the Second World War strongly affected the policy of The United States, the human losses were smaller than the European ones, and it was not fought in its territory.Its economy was not damaged, but instead generated an unprecedented economic boom that displaced Europe.

For example, in 1939, 17% of the world maritime trade was owned by the United States, while Europe had 63%.However, in 1945 the United States surpassed the rest of the world not only in the merchant fleet but also in the aeronautical industry.

The post-war destruction of the Soviet Union, Britain and France represented the virtual elimination of potential industrial competitors for the United States in Europe, but the devastating outlook also represented the problem that potential buyers would not be available for their goods and services.

To solve this problem, the government of Harry Truman (president from 1945 to 1953) implemented the Marshall Plan for European reconstruction. Those who signed up for this plan would have financial help through loans and donations to European governments.

The purpose of the plan was to recompose the economic and financial structure of those who were its beneficiaries, mainly Great Britain, France and West Germany, which, as an ideological justification, were part of a «communism containment policy»

With its new world leader situation, the United States regulated the new world economic order: it established the use of the dollar for international trade and an international exchange system called the gold-dollar pattern based on the US dollar, from which the other currencies should be converted.

I also create the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and a International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is a monetary reserve made up of mandatory quotas of its member states (44 countries), in order to grant short credits to countries in deficit.

These agencies laid the foundations of American hegemony at that historical stage of the world.