ABSTRACT
So ran the opening paragraph of an outline report covering the early FO documentation on the Marshall Plan, or Economic Recovery Programme (ERP). Earlier documents in this volume have shown how the economic problems faced by the British government had become acute during the first half of 1947, although ministerial and official opinion differed as to their urgency and on the way to deal with them. The difficulties faced by European governments, compounded in some cases by political instability, had also become steadily more pressing and intractable since the beginning of the year, exacerbating the polarisation of Europe into eastern and western spheres of influence. This process had been regarded with increasing alarm by the United States Government, and a growing awareness of the need for American engagement if there were to be any hope of stopping or reversing the trend. The only hope for Western Europe seemed to lie with the richest and most powerful nation in the world. But how should American help be sought or given, and on what conditions?
