#94 - Marshall Plan I

What this episode covers

* One of the greatest pieces of mythology to ever be produced in America is the “Marshall Plan”. * It’s right up there with the idea of glorifying the “Founding Fathers”, who were actually just tax dodgers who orchestrated a bloody coup. * It’s also of course one of America’s greatest pieces of foreign policy. * The Marshall Plan is sold to Americans as the greatest gift mankind has ever received since Jesus died on the cross. * Even today, 70 years later, it’s almost impossible to find analysis of the MP that doesn’t position it as a ‘gift’ or ‘humanitarian aid’. * But the truth is, it was really neither of those things. * The Marshall Plan was completely self serving. * You will often hear it it was about stopping the Soviets from spreading Communism and stopping another World War, and those things are partially true. * But that’s also missing the point. * Both for the U.S. as a whole and, particularly, for Truman. * And it was a genius move. * It was, at the time, the biggest transfer of wealth from the public treasury into the hands of the wealthy during peacetime probably in history. * But nearly nobody understands it. * I’ve been researching this topic for years and the lack of understanding of it blows my mind. * But let’s go back a bit and provide some background. * The European winter of 1946-47 was the worst in a hundred plus years. * widely believed to be the snowiest winter since 1813-14 * Not the coldest, but it was the snowiest winter in a long time. * Known as a “hunger winter" * And of course everyone was still living in the aftermath of war. * The Germans, Brits and Americans had been terror-bombing civilian populations for years. * railways, bridges and roads were blown up, factories smashed, farms and fields ravaged by tank battles and firefights * The war had also forced the old European colonial powers, most notably Britain and France, to begin the painful and, they soon learned, financially costly process of withdrawing from some of their overseas possessions, either as a result of military retreat or simply because they could no longer afford their imperial commitments. * Or because the Americans insisted on it. * Open door policy, free trade, and all that. * Apart from complete destruction of their economies and infrastructure and the deaths of tens of millions of their people, Europe had to contend with something else. * The realisation that they sucked. * At the beginning of the 20th century, European countries prided themselves on their superiority. * But In the space of thirty years the most powerful nations in the history of the world had set upon themselves in two ruinous wars. * They had killed tens of millions of their citizens, injured tens of millions more, and had stripped from each of themselves of the rank of first-class power. * Even Great Britain who was victorious in both wars. * At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a belief in the superiority of European civilization. * Now that seemed like a cruel joke. * Superior civilizations don't elevate warmongers to absolute political power in order to destroy themselves in unremitting industrial warfare. * They don't bombard defenceless civilians, or send conscripted soldiers to certain death in battle after battle, or massacre ethnic minorities, or attempt to commit genocide. * So The conclusion seemed inescapable: the European way of politics had wrought disaster. * So across Europe, people wanted dramatic changes. * And political movements arose to drive those changes. * And most of them were left leaning. * Because these superior European countries had all been capitalist. * Yes, even Nazi Germany. * Nazi Fascism was extreme capitalism. * They believed in private property and a ma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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