Research On How France Accepted The Marshall Plan

Due to the important strategic position,French participation meaned a lot to the Marshall Plan.It was far from a smooth process that France accepted the Marshall Plan,and French harsh policy towards Germany is one of the main obstacles.The paper focuses on how France adjusted its policy towards Germany in order to participate in the Marshall Plan,while studying the responses of the other political factions in France to the Marshall Plan,trying to draw the outline of French accepting the Marshall Plan.The paper is mainly divided into three parts.The first part introduces postwar French efforts for seeking American aid and its harsh policy towards Germany.For this two appeals,France diplomatically favored the United States after the failure in Moscow foreign minister conference,while expelling communist ministers from the government.These are the preludes of French acception of the Marshall Plan.The second part is the main part of the paper.After the Marshall speech at Harvard University,France and the United States had different understandings of the Marshall Plan.The United States attempted to use the Marshall Plan as a tool for the Franco-German reconciliation,but France regarded it as means to continue suppressing Germany.In the European economic recovery consultation meeting,France tried to continue limiting the German industrial level.But under the pressure from countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom,France was forced to abandon its harsh policy towards Germany,by which the obstacle of French participation in the Marshall Plan was finally wiped out.In July 1948,as French national assembly approved Economic Cooperation Agreement between the United States of America and France,France officially joined the Marshall Plan.The third part discusses the responses of PCF(Parti Communiste Francais)and the Gaullists to the Marshall Plan.The PCF’s opposition against the Marshall Plan led to failure.The Gaullists were in favor of the Marshall Plan,but their effect was limited.The view of the paper is that in spite of PCF’s strongly opposition against the Marshall Plan and the domestic anti-Germany atmosphere,Ramadier government and Robert Schuman government accepted the Marshall Plan,while giving up French harsh policy towards Germany.It was objectively beneficial to European economic recovery and European integration,thus it is praiseworthy.