The Marshall Plan—Saving Europe Rebuilding Austria: The European Recovery Program—The ERP Fund—The Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation by Günter Bischof and Hans Petschar

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Marshall Plan—Saving Europe Rebuilding Austria: The European Recovery Program—The ERP Fund—The Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation by Günter Bischof and Hans Petschar Laura A. Detre Günter Bischof and Hans Petschar, The Marshall Plan—Saving Europe Rebuilding Austria: The European Recovery Program—The ERP Fund—The Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation. Vienna: Christian Brandstätter Verlag, 2017. 333 pp. Seventy years ago, the American secretary of state, George Marshall, gave a speech that would have a profound impact on both the U.S. and Western Europe. This address would lead to the creation of the Marshall Plan, a vast program for rebuilding postwar Europe and an important milestone in the developing [End Page 103] Cold War. In recognition of the anniversary of that address, Günter Bischof and Hans Petschar have produced a massive text examining the impact of Marshall Plan programs on Austria. This is a large, glossy book with many high-quality photographs. On the surface, this might seem like an odd choice; the Marshall Plan was a U.S. government program and typically we do not think of economic policy as the most photogenic topic, but in this case the outcome of the program is eminently visual. Bischof and Petschar begin, logically, with images of Austria in 1945, showing the destruction left after the war, and then they illustrate the earliest programs to aid Europe in the postwar period, such as the distribution of CARE packages. The focus then shifts to depicting the most prominent figures in the creation of the Marshall Plan, including Secretary of State George Marshall, whose 1947 speech at Harvard University laid the foundation for the program that would eventually bear his name. Marshall recognized that it was in the United States' interest to invest in the rebuilding of Europe and that reconstruction had been hampered by infighting between the Allies. His Harvard commencement speech marked the beginning of a major project, but there were still hurdles to be overcome. Austria, perhaps more than any other country in postwar Europe, exemplified those barriers to rebuilding. Most countries fell clearly into the sphere of interest of either the Americans or the Soviets. Some, such as Yugoslavia, followed a more independent path, but they were exceptional. Germany, while jointly occupied, was increasingly divided by occupation zones and would soon become two independent countries. Austria is the only place where all four Allied powers were present and where the country was not sharply divided by that occupation. It was because of this proximity to the Soviets that Austria argued to the Americans that they constituted a "special case." As Bischof and Petschar note, the Austrian government explicitly said that their case was unique in that they had lost the ability to trade with their Eastern neighbors. This view of Austria as exceptional regarding the Marshall Plan is consistent with the overall view of postwar Austrian governments. There was a near-consensus among Austrian politicians that they were the first victims of Nazism, that the Soviets were using the occupation to achieve retribution for the war, and that the Western Allies, led by the United States, were moving too slowly to rebuild an independent Republic of Austria. The government of Leopold Figl was eager to sign on to the Marshall Plan, but not everyone involved in Austrian politics shared their enthusiasm for working closely with the Americans. Bischof and Petschar show that [End Page 104] Austrian Communists resisted the idea of the Marshall Plan, arguing that it would allow the United States to dominate the Austrian economy and ultimately undermine the country's independence. Communists within Austria joined the Soviets in denouncing the plan and focused their attention on undermining it. The Marshall Plan, of course, varied depending on which of the sixteen countries in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, or OEEC, one focuses on, and Austria was arguably one of the countries most transformed by the program. Initially the Marshall Plan supported the rebuilding of heavy industries, such as the United Austrian Iron and Steel Works, known in Austria as VÖEST. Later, the tourism industry benefited from Marshall Plan money. As the authors note, initially government officials were reticent...