European Recovery Program of 1947: Rebuilding Europe

Emma Bakken & Sydney Melnick Senior Division Group Website

Process Paper We chose the topic of the European Recovery Program (The Marshall Plan) because one of our grandparents served in World War II as part of the D-Day invasion, and were also interested in United States foreign policy, so as we looked further into it, we found that this was a good topic to combine the two ideas. Additionally, we are both in speech and debate, which fueled our interest on the history of United States foreign policy, and how past events have gotten the United States to its position in the international world today. We realized the huge impact the ERP had on not only the fate of Europe, but the future of United States granting aid. In order to conduct our research in the most thorough way possible, we took multiple steps to get there. First, we did preliminary research on what the ERP actually was, as well as the background surrounding it. This entailed watching videos on World War II, reading articles, and checking out books on the Marshall Plan, Cold War, and WWII. As we delved deeper into the topic, we began finding primary documents about other countries reactions, government statements, and the economic expenditures made by the US. Finally, we had to take a look at the events surrounding the Marshall Plan, and what impact it had on bettering Europes economic, social, and political stability. We conducted an interview with a history professor, and found more sources, both primary and secondary. Originally, we had planned on doing a documentary, but upon closer inspection this would not allow us to have the organization or information displayed how we wanted it. We then decided on a website because it had all of the aspects of a project combined into one. We could incorporate text, pictures, quotes, documents, and even videos and audio into one concise presentation. Once we decided to do a website, we created pages and tabs in order to split up our information both chronologically, and in the most visually appealing way possible for the viewer. We added our information under the page that made most sense, and made sure that every piece related back to our thesis, which is the first thing that is seen on the website. Finally, there are many ways in which the Marshall Plan can be related back to the NHD theme of rights and responsibilities. After becoming aware of how devastating the war truly was, the United States felt it was their responsibility and obligation as a country thriving economically to step in and grant aid to Western Europe. One of the goals of this intervention was to prevent communism from spreading across the entirety of Europe, which would completely change the rights that people thought they were automatically given. Since the war had already caused so much damage, the US could not risk communism taking away rights as well. Both rights and responsibilities played a huge role in US involvement through the ERP. (Word Count: 496)