| This work is framed around the intersection of domestic and international politics. It is centered on the motivation and actions of individuals in the Truman Administration in 1947--48, with regard to the initiation and advocacy of the European Recovery Program to Congress and the general public. It is based on significant archival research in State Department, Defense Department, Department of the Army, Office of the Military Government (U.S.) in Germany, and Congressional documents, together with oral histories and papers of the principal participants. Other original sources include recently declassified U.S. intelligence and Soviet documents. Previous scholarship on the period is examined and compared to the findings. The result is an interesting case study of a salient event in political history, and a new look at a critical period in the development of the Cold War. The process of consideration, which occupied some nine months, itself caused modifications in both the program and its justification. It was presented originally as a rational, non-ideological response to misery, fear and despair in an economically crippled Europe. By the end of the process, it was primarily viewed as a weapon against communism and the Soviet Union, perhaps the only viable weapon available. The state of the American military forces found here is incompatible with suggestions of a preponderance of power, the development of a national security state or reliance on atomic weapons in this period. As much as anything, however, this is a study of political leaders struggling to adapt to a radically new situation in Europe, developing an effective solution and then working very hard to get it approved by the first opposition Congress since 1930. Several other goals were being pursued concurrently with the restoration of Europe: the Army had to be relieved of the occupation costs, a growing shortfall in recruitment had to be solved, the Air Force and Navy lobbied privately for increased funding, and the White House staff sought to get Truman reelected. These interacted and contributed to the final approval of the legislation in March 1948. |
