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A Communist Critique of the Marshall Plan
As the Marshall Plan became established, communist opposition grew. Criticism was especially strong in November 1949, after Paul Hoffman, head of the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), spoke to the Council of the European Economic Cooperation Association. Addressing the representatives of the countries involved in the Marshall Plan, Hoffman suggested creating a united western European market based on elimination of customs barriers and tariffs.
By promoting European economic integration, the ECA laid the foundation for the founding of the European Economic Community in the 1950s and for today's European Union. The French paper L'Humanité reacted like many other communist publications, claiming that "After disorganizing the national economies of the countries which are under the American yoke, American leaders now intend conclusively to subjugate the economy of these countries to their own interests." In this cartoon from the Soviet paper Izvestiya, Hoffman, shown as a stereotypical fat capitalist, attacks the sovereignty as well as the tariff barriers of Marshall Plan countries with a club of dollars.
"The American Bludgeon in the Solution
of Market Problems."
Izvestiya, November 3, 1949.
Averell Harriman Papers, Manuscript Division (7)
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