Joining nations 1947-1990

JOINING NATIONS

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which offered American financial aid on a vast .scale for the recon– struction of Europe; like the IIW, this plan was conceived in 1947 and carried into effect in 1948 with the founding of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation. It is difficult now to realise how great was the need for the Marshall Plan but to understand its inception and, mutatis mutandis, that of the IIW, it is necessary to recall the conditions pertaining in Europe in 1947. Reference has been made to the prevailing atmosphere of gloom and foreboding; for many Europeans this was exacerbated by the depressing conditions of everyday life. The destruction caused by the war had been on an unparalleled scale because of the mobility of the fighting and the extent of aerial bombardment; only the handful of European countries which had been able to preserve their neutrality escaped damage. In those countries which were the theatres of fierce and prolonged warfare and bombardment, this damage was horrendous, so that large sec– tions of the population spent years of their lives living and working in more or less ruined towns and cities. Naturally, the means of transport had been a principal target for attack and the destruction of ports, railway stations and bridges impeded communications and trade for years after the end of hostilities . The inadequacy of transport was but one of the reasons why virtually all goods were in short supply in Europe in 1947/48. The electricity and gas industries, then largely or entirely dependent on coal and its transport, had similarly been prime wartime targets. Consequently, shortage of power was another impediment to the recovery of industry, much of which faced formidable problems in the rebuilding and re-equipment of factories. However, the most basic shortage was of food; vast tracts of land had been mined and fought over, fertilizers were in short supply and the stock of draught animals on which, before the universal use of tractors, farmers were dependent, had been decimated during hostilities. Finally, five years of war had brought the majority of European countries to the verge of economic collapse and foreign currency was lacking for the purchase of the capital goods and materials required for the re-birth of industry. Against this sombre background, it was a natural reaction of those who had experienced the suffering of two world wars to feel that international co-operation at all levels would help to guarantee future