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This article assesses the impact of Marshall aid on the economy and politics of Britain in the 1940s. It draws on recent literature on the domestic policies of the Attlee government and on the general impact of Marshall aid on Western Europe, together with the notion of the 'shortage economy' developed by Kornai. The central argument is that the deployment of Marshall aid primarily to maintain British consumption levels derived not from a governmental disregard for the importance of reviving investment and industrial output, but from a realistic appreciation of the economic and political consequences of trying to hold consumption down to an excessively austere level.

George C. Marshall's "Harvard Commencement Address" provides a broad focus to properly examine the construction of a foreign policy speech for this historical period. Significant primary documents are considered relating to Marshall's speech that have been previously ignored by other researchers. This expanded rhetorical analysis reveals how carefully foreign policy speeches are crafted and then justified to a number of different audiences.

David Ellwood shows how the US fought for the hearts and minds of the people of Europe with an Americanised vision of their future. When, in the summer of 1947, [...]

The Marshall Plan, so-called after its architect, US Secretary of State General George C. Marshall, confirmed the United States' new role as self-appointed guardian angel of the Western world, bringing [...]