1) Economic strategic significance
Marshall Plan accelerated the process of economic recovery, development and unification in Western Europe, made Western Europe strong rapidly, and took a step towards the integration of Western Europe. It laid the economic foundation of the capitalist world, strengthened the strength of the capitalist camp headed by the United States, strengthened internal cohesion and consolidated the leading position of the United States in Europe; It also laid a solid economic foundation for realizing the strategic goal of the United States to dominate the world.
Marshall Plan is a key strategy to try to revive the western European economy in the face of the post-war economic depression in western European countries. It aims to provide loans and materials to western European countries to make their economies fully recover. At the same time, through some relevant measures, we will promote the development of the domestic economy in the United States and improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth. Through the implementation of the Marshall Plan, the United States basically achieved its expected dual strategic goals.
From the perspective of Western Europe, according to the reports of the U.S. Agency for Economic Cooperation in 195 1,12, 3 1, the Marshall Plan has come to an end, and * * * spent13/during the implementation of the plan. This money really helped European countries get rid of serious economic difficulties and recover quickly. Europe's gross national product rose from 1947 to1900 million dollars, an increase of 32.5%. The industrial output value of western European countries increased by more than 30% on average, and even reached 365,438+02% in West Germany. Agricultural output increased by 10% compared with that before the war. By 1953, European trade had increased by 40% compared with that before the war. (W. A. Brown and R. Opie: American Foreign Aid, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., 1957, P 18 1) Therefore, the European Economic Cooperation Organization fully affirmed the role of Marshall Plan in a report: "Marshall Aid is blood transfusion, which maintains the weak western European economy and makes. (Quoted from Zhu Tingguang, editor-in-chief: Biography of Famous People in Modern Foreign History, Volume II, China Social Sciences Press, 1984, p. 264)
The Marshall Plan also played a positive role in the reconstruction of the post-war economic order in Western Europe. (1) In the post-war bipolar confrontation environment, Marshall Plan promoted the process of Western European Union and European integration. After the end of World War II, when studying the German issue and European economic reconstruction, the American government began to gradually realize that the union and cooperation in Western Europe is not only the only security mechanism to contain Germany and eradicate German militarism and the threat of war, but also a necessary condition to rebuild Western Europe's economy and restore its competitiveness in the world market, so it actively promoted the union in Western Europe. It has stimulated the emergence of new forms of European cooperation through the European Economic Cooperation Organization, intra-European trade and the European monetary system. These measures help to promote the formation of European integration. For example, during the implementation of the plan, the European Coal and Steel Union and the European Payment Union were established. (2) Marshall Plan laid a solid foundation for the reconstruction of western economic and trade structure and economic order. After the war, many colonies were lost in western Europe, and the terms of trade and foreign trade structure deteriorated. For example, in China, war damage and capital loss are serious, and large-scale equipment renewal is urgently needed, and the proportion of capital goods imports is large. This means paying a lot of dollars, because most of them can only import machinery and equipment from the dollar market, especially the United States. Overseas capital losses are serious, including merchant fleet losses, overseas loans and the sale of overseas assets to support the war. [Refer to charles king Del Berger's "Dollar Shortage" (new york, 1950), p. 147] Therefore, Western Europe can only rely on the American market and import grain, raw materials, fuel, capital goods and transportation equipment. As a result, foreign exchange is even more tense. On the other hand, the population growth, post-war inflation, welfare state policies and British and French troops stationed abroad have all caused great difficulties to the western European economy. Faced with the above situation, the American government is determined to eliminate economic nationalism and economic isolationism and establish an open operation mechanism of western economic trade. Marshall Plan has played a positive role in the recovery and development of investment, production and trade in Western Europe. In addition, it also laid an economic foundation for the operation of the Bretton Woods system and the establishment of the hegemonic position of the US dollar in the world financial system. (See Bi Jian: The Impact of Marshall Plan on Western European Economy, American Studies No.4, 1992).
Marshall Plan also provided a huge space for the economic development of western European countries, and laid the foundation for the remarkable economic growth of western Europe in the following years. The economic miracle of western European countries in the 1950s and 1960s and the sustained economic development in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s were all based on the economic revival in western Europe.
As far as the United States is concerned, the United States has also gained huge economic benefits from the Marshall Plan. This is manifested in: (1) It has opened up a new development path for the overseas penetration and export of the American economy and eliminated the potential crisis of the American economy. According to the statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1947 was145 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 7% of the gross national product. The production capacity of American industry requires that industrial exports account for at least 20% of the gross national product in order to level the gap. (See Long Series of World History after World War II 1947, Part I, Volume III, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1977, p. 93) Through the Marshall Plan, the United States not only prevented Western European countries from reducing their imports due to economic difficulties, but also expanded the overseas market of American goods; It also enjoys the same investment rights and interests as its own residents, weakens the tariff barriers of western European countries and cancels most trade quotas; In this way, the export of the United States has been increased, and the difficulty of economic restructuring within the United States has been alleviated; At the same time, it also strengthened the control and domination of the United States over the economies of western European countries, thus laying an economic foundation for the United States to form an alliance with western Europe politically and militarily. (See Liu Debin: American World Strategy, Heilongjiang People's Publishing House 1989, pp. 66-68). In short, "by implementing the Marshall Plan, the United States has maintained and developed its trade relations with Europe. By stimulating European productivity and accepting a large number of European imports, the cross-export of the United States to Europe has also increased in the following decades. " (Marshall Plan, fact sheet prepared by Policy and Public Affairs Office of European and Canadian Affairs Bureau, May 12, 1997)(2) "Marshall Plan also laid the foundation and left a legacy for transatlantic cooperation between the United States and Europe, American aid agreements to Europe and the support of the two parties in the United States. Since then, this legacy has been guiding the relationship between the United States and Europe and has become a guide to today's Euro-Atlantic economic integration. " (Marshall Plan, fact sheet prepared by Policy and Public Affairs Office of European and Canadian Affairs Bureau, May 12, 1997)