As a result, support for Communist governments began increasing. Communism was taking hold. The harsh winter in 1947 only increased people’s misery and support for communism. In Czechoslovakia, the 1946 elections gave Communists 40% of the vote. In October 1945, French Communists get 5 million votes (largest by any party); in 1946 Communists get 29% of the vote. In Italy the communists/socialists get 40% of the vote. The equation for communist support was simple; vote communist and get 1,500 calories per day of food or vote for democracy and get 1,000. Furthermore, capitalism was blamed for the war, for Fascist governments and for the high unemployment of the 1930s. At the same time Stalin worked to support the spread of communism. Stalin’s goal was to maintain control over Eastern Europe and from that, he reasoned, communism as an eventual spread would bring revolutions to Western Europe. To accomplish this goal, Stalin worked to ensure his candidates were being elected throughout Eastern European. Overall, people struggled for survival and lost faith in their governments to protect them. In part to stop the spread of communism and to promote a functioning capitalistic economy (that also hoped to prevent the problems that created the Great Depression and the economic chaos that allowed extremist leaders to come to power) drastic measured were needed.In March 1948, the United States Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act, and the American government developed the Marshall Plan. The objective of the Marshall Plan was the revival of the Western European economy and the sustainability of this economy that would allow for the functioning of Western-style free market economics and the social conditions that would limit the support for communism. The requirement was that it had to be a jointly developed plan by Europeans. It would also stop the dollar drain from Western Europe that would promote trade with American countries. As a result, $13 billion dollars went to Western Europe (much smaller counterpart for Asia).

Figure 5: Marshall Plan

Aid recipients paid for what they received in their local currency with the American manufacturer receiving funds from the Marshall Plan. British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin compared the Marshall Plan to a “lifeline to sinking men” but others noted that it served to promote American interests and worked to redevelop Europe while ignoring other regions of the world. To further promote world trade and stability, new organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were born at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The IMF describes itself as “an organization of 187 countries (as of July 2010), working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty.” In contrast, the World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs with the goal of the reduction of poverty.

The United Nations was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, with the aim to stop wars between countries and to provide a platform for dialogue. It allowed for all countries to have a voice in the General Assembly but remained highly exclusionary as the world powers of France, United Kingdom, United States and eventually China have veto power at the Security Council. The organization contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions, including preventing famine, establishing an international court of justice and peacekeeping endeavors. The United Nations has been attacked for having limited power in the Cold War, failing to prevent genocide and being corrupt.

Furthermore, for the first time in recent history, European countries agreed to combine their economies. Germany and France realized that a mutual dependence would work to prevent conflict by making any conflict impossible, would help overcome the problems of nationalist that often lead to war and speed up the economic recovery of the region. Identifying areas of mutual interest and concern, six countries (France, Germany–happy to be included in this new international body–Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) pledged to work together and gave control over select areas to an international body. As a result, the European Coal and Steel Community was formed. It was a six-nation international organization serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union.

The continental experience of invasion, occupation and liberation fostered a determination to work towards unity. The Treaty included the declaration that the ECSC was “a first step in the federation of Europe”. In 1957, ‘the Six’ member states took the further step, with the Treaty of Rome, of creating the European Economic Community through which West Germany integrated its economy with its Western European neighbors. The Franco-German partnership was to be the engine of this European project, a relationship in which German economic power was harnessed to French political leadership. Trade between member states grew rapidly to their mutual benefit.

Figure 7: The Eastern Bloc