Research Questions

Read this background information and answer the questions following each section. You may use your textbooks, Internet or other media sources and references to complete the task. After you answer each question, cite the source where you obtained your information giving the following information: Author or web site, title of article and date of publication or web listing.

After WWII ended, the war-torn nations of Europe faced famine (starvation) and economic crisis. The United States proposed to rebuild the continent in the interest of political stability and a healthy world economy. The foreign ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union met in Moscow in March and April 1947. They tried to draw up a German peace treaty. The ministers did not cooperate in designing ways to cease the Allies occupation of Germany or unifying Germany. On June 5, 1947, Secretary of State, George C. Marshall first called for American assistance in restoring the economic infrastructure of Europe because he realized that the U.S.S.R. would not cooperate. In fact, The Marshall Plan channeled over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe. This plan restored the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries. The Allies, not including Russia, known as U.S.S.R., unified the German former war zones they controlled. That part was called West Germany with the Soviet controlled part called East Germany. In September of 1949, Western Germany was eligible for Marshall Plan funding.

At the time the United States saw the plan as being generous to Europe. The Soviet Union viewed it as interference and refused to allow Poland or Czechoslovakia from taking part. Some historians believe that The Marshall Plan was not philanthropic but:

1. Saved the U.S. Economy from backsliding into a depression.
   
2. Allowed the U.S. to remake the European economy in the image of the U.S. economy.
   
3. Created a public organization for private companies.
   
4. Gave U.S. companies a place to invest their money.

Research Questions
Who exactly was this George C. Marshall? What would his resume have said that would have the president select him for the office?

What was the evidence that the United States was heading for an economic downturn? Make sure you use employment statistics as one of your criteria.

Find two U.S. companies that participated heavily in the Marshall Plan and briefly describe their impact. Use dollars and cents to prove your selections.

Other historians believe what the U.S. did for the Europeans was true philanthropy because:

1. The U.S. rebuilt European cities.
   
2. The U.S. rebuilt European factories.
   
3. The U.S. provided jobs and income to the European people through these cities and factories.
   
4. The U.S. provided Europeans with goods and services that they could buy.
   
5. The U.S. provided the Europeans with factories to make goods that they could sell.
   
6. It returned to the European people a sense of stability and security.

Research Questions: Use your texts, this reading selection or Internet sources to answer the following.

1. Discover two U.S. private philanthropic efforts in Europe during this period immediately after WWII. Describe those efforts. Clue: refugees from concentration camps, medical aid, children’s programs.
   
2. Give two proofs that Europe became stable and secure.
   
3. Give one reason why U.S. citizens were or were not altruistic in their approach to Western Europe after the War.