The Marshall Plan as the Beginning of European Integration: How the Americans Steered the Europeans towards Integration

Abstract

The Marshall Plan was brought into life to rebuild Europe after World War II (WWII). It is, therefore, mostly known for its main goal: European recovery. However, the Americans had another goal besides stabilizing the European economy. They wanted to integrate Europe. In this thesis, I will be discussing the European integration process from 1947 till roughly 1950. It is well known that the Americans had a big influence on post-war Europe through the Marshall Plan and thus on Europe economically, but to what extent did they contribute to the European integration process? A large amount of literature has been written about the Marshall Plan and the American involvement, and many authors touch upon the subject of European integration. In this thesis, however, I will solely focus on this question by giving an analysis of how this post-war time frame has been significant for the European integration process. By discussing the main American ideas behind the Marshall Plan, but also through a proper analysis of the events and policy decisions, I hope to sketch a clear image of the American involvement in Europe at that time. I will try to determine how successful the Americans were in using the Marshall Plan to encourage European integration.