THE ROLE OF THE ECONOMIC COOPERATION ADMINISTRATION (ECA) IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE AFTER WORLD WAR II

Abstract

The Marshall Plan was implemented by the United States of America in Western Europe between 1948 and 1951. Given that it became an effective programme for restoring the economies of seventeen European countries destroyed by the Second World War and a model for imitation, it is advisable to analyse the experience of its implementation from the perspective of using it to restore the Ukrainian economy after the Russian-Ukrainian war. The purpose of the article is to analyse the management of the implementation of the Marshall Plan by the Office for Economic Cooperation and the effectiveness of this process. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study are the scientific works of leading foreign and Ukrainian scientists. The methods of critical and scientific analysis, scientific generalisation and systematisation, induction and deduction were used in the study of scientific problems related to the peculiarities of foreign aid provision and the expediency of creating a separate government agency for this purpose in the post-war period. The article examines a number of internal and external factors that influenced the effectiveness of the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), including the constructive purpose of the plan that the ECA was to administer, the shift in emphasis from economic reconstruction to military security, prior substantive training, staffing, balance of functions, direct management, regional representation and missions in countries participating in the reconstruction programme, relations with Congress and citizens' groups, and public information. It is concluded that the creation of a separate government agency to administer the implementation of the Marshall Plan was appropriate, as the efficient organisation and separation of management from existing government departments allowed for flexibility, less bureaucracy and the attraction of highly qualified staff. The study of the experience of the ECA is useful for Ukraine in view of the prospect of implementation of the programme of recovery of the Ukrainian economy, and the creation of a separate governmental body for this purpose is also advisable in Ukraine in order to ensure its flexibility, efficiency and faster response to the needs and actions of partners and donors of foreign assistance, taking into account the influence of factors that may reduce or increase the efficiency and limit the possibilities of such an institution.