All of Europe was left devastated by the effects of total war and were in desperate need of economic aid following World War Two. The US provided aid to Europe through programs such as the Marshall plan, which in turn caused some reliance on the US for the European States. There were initiatives taken up by European states to provide for their people such as the beveridge report which suggested the idea of Social Welfare in Britain. Some, like France, attempted to build themselves up to not fall behind in the global picture.
The beveridge report suggests that the European States should move from a warfare start to a welfare state. In this he explains that this means having the government provide for such things as national health care and universal schooling (De Grazia, 339). This idea took hold across Europe following the war as many new leaders began to implement programs that helped the working class and not hinder them economically or socially (De Grazia, 339). This was also a cause for the lack of American corporations appearing in Europe at the time, the corporations did want to deal with the different regulations in Europe.
Frankfurt, Germany
Then came the idea of a common market in which Europe wanted to reinforce ties with the United States (De Grazia, 367). This led to US corporations taking advantage of the loosening of policies and changing the European market landscape. Companies that hadn’t been in Europe before began to appear across the continent. This can be seen in the picture above of Frankfurt with its skyscrapers that would have never been there before the war and were built with the help of American companies needs. The influence of American corporations can bee seen in the disparity between the building, the ones in the forefront are classic German building while the ones in the back are skyscrapers that really stick out. This shows how influential American corporations were in this time and they really took advantage of it. They waited until Europe relaxed their work laws and then swept in for a profit. It was not what the people of Europe deserved after fighting for their rights after the war. In the end, Europeans sacrificed some of their rights so they could get consumer goods that were considered better, even though the middle class wouldn’t have the capability to purchase them for years after.
One of the states that didn’t fall under the same umbrella with social welfare and living under the American wing was France. This can be seen in Alexandre Kojeve’s “Outline of a French Doctrine Policy,” in which he discusses what the believes the French should do following the war. He discusses the creation of a Latin Empire between the French and the Italians in order to prevent the French from falling into the British and German economic and political influence. At the same time kojeve discusses the trade of coal from Alsace Lorraine with Germany and how beneficial that would be to the French. He wants the coal to go through France for use and then be traded to other states, namely Germany (Koje, 37). These two ideas are interesting because one happens, not in the way that Koje wants, while the other doesn’t get much attention. His idea of trade with Germany over the coal resources in Alsace lorraine is what the European Coal and Steel Community was based on. It gave the French less control over the products that came out of the area but was an agreement over the use of the areas resources. This would later lead to the European Union as well, so Koje almost created an idea that would last for decades. His idea of a Latin Empire never came to fruition though and France did fall under the economic wing of Britain and Germany. Britain and Germany would come to dominate the EU and thus the French fell to what Koje was trying to avoid.
This period of reconstruction caused new ideas to appear in Europe that would have never been considered before the war. A European agreement on trade to avoid war and an understating of what was best for the middle class. Although Europe did fall under American consumerism during this time, they were still able to create new programs that benefitted all people on the continent.
I don’t see your argument in this post. I see more of a grocery list of important facts from the reading. While I think you did an excellent job explaining these things I would have preferred to see a clearer thesis statement.
I think it’s interesting you bring up the Beveridge report, I agree that this was an extremely moment for the use of welfare in Europe. I find it interesting that the policies developed by some Western European countries to protect the welfare of their citizens would later develop into ideas related to capitalism and free markets.
Do you see this new American influence in Europe through commerce and industry as the U.S. taking advantage of the weakened Europeans? Did they really have no choice in the matter? I feel like you are taking away some of the agency of the Europeans in your description of the U.S. gaining an industrial presence there. Of course it is understandable that, in a situation like this where a nation is offering aid to another nation in great need, there is an imbalance of power at work but I still think it is unfair to view all of Europe as a weak, helpless conglomerate with leverage or say in their fate.