Stabilizing Influence and the Liberated European Consciousness

The Marshall Plan transforms the European economy more to the lines of American consumer capitalism – mass advertising, massive corporations, mass production, and mass profit. The plan, as well as American dominance in European affairs, and the general impact/reception of Americanization is a hotly contested issue. In your opinion is the overall impact of Americanization a good thing, or bad thing?

With the implementation of the Marshall Plan , war-torn Europe was granted the necessary economic means and support with which to begin the rebuilding process. At the same time, Western Europe was also influenced on socio-political level by American ideals of democracy and modernity, a contribution to European culture that was accepted and received as an inevitable by-product of the United States new role on the world-stage. The Marshall Plan opened the economy of Europe up to the elements of mass consumerism and popular culture which were rapidly defining post-war America, a situation which proved to be extremely advantageous for the opportunistic Capitalism of the United States. However, despite the less than altruistic motives of the U.S. in rebuilding and reshaping Europe, the Americanization of the western portion of the continent proved to be a stabilizing and unifying influence.

As emerging political parties struggled to find their voices in the chaotic political aftermath of the Second World War, the infusion of American ideals of democracy caught hold of the European consciousness. Political leaders such as de Gaulle and Adenauer were capable of reflecting on the past of European politics and recognized the need for a strong democratic presence within the nation; a presence that would be willing to fight tooth and nail for legitimacy and power just as much, if not more, than the political fighters of the totalitarian regimes. The threat of the Communist east loomed large over Western Europe, its leftist ideology snaking throughout the democratizing west like inky tendrils, promoting the support of rising Communist and movements. Unwilling to trade one dictator for another, the constant presence of American consumer products, American corporate influence and American money served as a tangible anchor for emerging moderate democracies to grasp onto, keeping them from being swept away in the same manner of the late 20’s and early 30’s.

Americanization also changed the consciousness of Europeans in terms of understanding and recognizing the world beyond Europe. The Second World War had broken the back of rampant nationalism which had been so prevalent in the first half of the century. Younger generations of Europeans, fully influenced by the infusion of Americanism, understood the differentiation between being a nationalist and having national pride. This break with tradition is clearly seen in the mass student movements and protests of 1968. Young Europeans recognized the need to challenge the status quo and shake things up, hopefully for the betterment of not only themselves, but for future WORLD generations as well. As Brose states:

for all of the diverse issues that mobilized European students, opposition to the escalating fighting in Southeast Asia served as a common stimulus to action. Young people who had watched older siblings or parents campaign for nuclear disarmament of protest French oppression in Algeria focused their anger on the new colonial oppressor; earlier efforts to “ban the bomb” faded in significance as nuclear weaponry came to be seen more as a “symptom, not a cause” of everything wrong with world capitalism and western hegemonic politics.

Americanization had come full circle. Europe had rebuilt itself to a point economically, socially and politically that it could now vehemently question and oppose the influence that had granted it the right to do so. Violent revolution was no longer a necessary form of addressing concerns with the state. Stabilized democracy, where none had really resided before, opened doors for the new Europe. At the same time, the student protests of 1968 helped Europeans to view themselves as accountable members of not only the greater European community, but the world community as well.