3) The Making of the Western Bloc

The US's motives for creating their 'empire' should be questioned. They had a big military that the Europeans needed assistance from, as well as a good economic situation which the Europeans also needed to rely on, and they used a massive amount of propaganda. The Europeans may have also been trying to make the US part of Europe.

Lundestad's idea that their supposed 'empire' was also created through invitation is slightly contradictory as, if this was the case, was it really an empire? There was no imposition of the US socio-economic model and no insistence on obedience. The term 'hegemony' might be a better word to use. John Krige stated that the western bloc was a 'co-production of hegemony' (2006) where local elites actively encouraged US hegemonic influence. But, both Lundestad and Krige seem to agree that the creation of the western bloc was a two-way process.

The US was the dominant power, but their power was strengthened through cooperation, and so they had the edge over the Soviet Union.

The Marshall Plan that became active on the 3rd June 1948 vaguely aimed to offer help to Europe, and thus the European Recovery Program (ERP) was developed. But in February 1948, the Czechoslovak Coup took place which effectively led to the bloc-building and Stalinisation. It is likey that it is this event that worried Congress into approving the plan.

The official ERP objectives were to increase production, expand foreign trade, enhance internal financial stability, and foster European economic cooperation. But, the unofficial objectives were to deal with the 'dollar gap' (more imports than exports, wanted to give them money to help this so they could buy raw materials), western European communism, the German question, and influence the Soviet satellites.

Between 1948 and 1951, the US gave $12.6 billion to 17 countries which 'oiled' their already existing recovery. They were helping and nurturing Europe which led to a subsequent easing of austerity measures.

The overriding US goal did seem to be dealing with western European communism. The aid they were providing could be used as a means of pressure as the Soviets were completely unable to compete. This led the Marshall Plan, therefore, to be a contributing factor to the development of the Cold War.

The German question, though, was the factor that worried most people. West German recovery was very important, especially as a way of competing with the Soviets. The introduction of the new currency, the 'Mark', spurred the West German economy onto its recovery. But, despite the rearmament of western Europe being very important to protect their borders, the rearmament of West Germany was a very controversial subject, especially to the French. So, the US wanted to influence the French attitude towards Germany. They were very much in favour of the creation of a West German state in 1949, but there was still only European economic cooperation, not integration.

The US also gave a genuine offer of the Marshall Plan to the Soviet satellite states. Their first aim was to pull the satellites away from the Soviet Union, but when this failed because Stalin didn't allow them to participate, their second aim was to provoke frustration in eastern Europe and increase the attractiveness of western Europe. This did have very long-term success, but Stalinisation and the creation of the GDR did immediately follow.

The only protection western Europe could claim following the Second World War was the US atomic bomb. There was a need to 'entangle' the US in the defence of Europe and it was Europe who wanted a military alliance with the US, thus supporting Lundestad's thesis. But, the worry was, that if the atomic bomb was used to defeat invading armies, it would also lead to the destruction of Europe. The US's help was much needed.

At this point, the UK were the only remaining military power in western Europe. But, this meant the other western European countries were looking at Britain for military assistance who just weren't strong enough to help them all. Their military was very over-stretched. Britain realised that a US commitment was essential, and soon it became a requirement that the US consider a defence commitment.

The French approached Britain for a defence treaty that led to the Dunkirk Treaty of the 4th March 1947. Initially, it was officially aimed at Germany, but unofficially it increasingly became aimed at the Soviet Union. Without a US backing, Britain were unwilling to extend the treaty to other western European powers. But, after the collapse of the London Council of Foreign Ministers Conference in December 1947, continued pressure from western European countries, and the belief that the threat to western Europe came from communism within, they turned to the US for help. But, they would only help if the Europeans organised themselves. So, the signing of the Brussels Treaty took place on the 17th March 1948 between Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

The Brussels Treaty agreed on mutual action in the event of aggression against any of the signatories, defence coordination was necessary, there would be a limited British commitment to the defence of Europe, and without US backing, the signatories wouldn't be in a position to withstand an attack by the Red Army. The 'Entangling' alliance aimed to fix this. The 'ERP-model' stated there would be European coordination in partnership with the US, and a 'final push' was required concerning the Berlin Blockade.

The Berlin Blockade was Stalin's gamble to force the west to reverse its German policy. The introduction of the Mark, and the question of whether to introduce it to West Berlin triggered it. On the 24th July 1948, the Soviets made the decision to cut off West Berlin from the western zones of Germany. He aimed to force the west to abandon its plans for West Germany, but if this failed, then he wanted to force the western powers to leave Berlin and create an East German satellite state. Berlin desperately needed supplies, but the Anglo-American airlift that took place between July 1948 to May 1949 was successful and he eventually called the blockade off.

During the Berlin Blockade, events could have quite easily escalated and led to a hot war. Changing strategy was thus very important. It also exposed the vulnerability of western Europe to a Soviet attack and the flaws in Anglo-American air and maritime strategy. But, there was an increasing US willingness to directly contribute to the defence of western Europe. Pentagon negotiations soon began (22nd March - 1st April 1948) where British, US and Canadian officials conceived the basis of the future Atlantic Treaty (without the 'untrustworthy' French).

The Berlin Blockade succeeded in bringing sceptical US senators on board. The Vandenberg Resolution of the 11th June 1948, authorised the US to enter alliances with non-American powers. Months-long negotiations followed concerning US commitment, the scope of who should be involved (they were considering extending the Brussels Treaty to include the other Atlantic countries like Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and Canada), and US military assistance. They also needed to decide whether to provide food or weapons, and whether to use bilateral or multilateral military assistance (they decided on bilateral with some multilateral character). On the 4th April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington. Its members were the US, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the UK.

Less than a year later, the Korean War broke out panicking Europe and making it think it needed to work on its defences. On the 6th October 1949, the Mutual Defence Assistance Act was signed.

NATO was created to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down. Germany was allowed to be integrated into NATO to keep an eye on them, but this had to be done gently to not antagonise the other members. West Europe's perception of NATO was as a security guarantee against the Soviet Union and the resurgent Germany. The FRG was officially created on the 23rd May 1949 but they had limited sovereignty. Konrad Adenauer, the leader of the FRG, aimed to make the FRG trustworthy to the other Europeans and show their clear alliance with the western bloc.

Adenauer was pro-western, anti-communist, and aimed to eliminate the ages-old Franco-German rivalry. But he was fearful of a western deal with the Soviets to unify and 'neutralise' Germany. He strongly advocated West European political and economic unity, and a military alliance with the US. On the 22nd November 1949, he signed the Petersberg Agreement with the UK, France and the US. On the 18th April 1951, he signed the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty.

The Korean war scare and subsequent strengthening of western defence led NATO to decide to create an integrated military force under centralised command (a European army), and extended the (US) security guarantee to the FRG. The Supreme Headquarters Allied Europe (SHAPE) made these decisions. The US sent military reinforcement to Europe, and in return asked for Germany rearmament, but the French were concerned. It was believed that Stalin had started the Korean War to divert Europe's attention to Asia, leaving them open to attack. Europe agreed to the rearmament of Germany as there was no other choice, but they had to be careful of worrying people. The Pleven Plan was created where there would be a military European integration and restrictions would be placed on German military strength.

The European Defence Community (EDC) was thus created and was signed on the 27th May 1952 by France, the FRG, Italy and the BeNeLux. It was a step towards European integration and successfully enacted a double containment of Germany and the Soviet Union. The accompanying accords (Bonn conventions) recovered some of Germany's sovereignty, but there was a Soviet proposition for a unified and neutral Germany to prevent the EDC. But, soon, there was a disintegration of the French 'Third Force' coalition, and in August 1954, the French National Assembly rejected the EDC treaty.

This led to collateral damage as the US had hoped for an integrated and strong Europe. The FRG's quest for independence was put on hold, there was a potential shift in German popular opinion in favour of a deal with the Soviets, and there were west European fears of a US military withdrawal. But, Eden stepped in and extended the Brussels Treaty to the FRG and to Italy. Then, following an intergovernmental conference in London, the British committed to 4 divisions on the continent to win over the French, and the Germans had to promise to limit the size and weapons of its armed forces. This extension of the Brussels Treaty was signed on the 23rd October 1954. In May 1955, the Western European Union (WEU) was signed. This restored the FRG's national sovereignty, and they were admitted into NATO.

After this, Britain's influence on European affairs began to decrease.

The Southern Flank refers to the countries in the Mediterranean. Italy was one of the old major powers in Europe and was of geo-political and strategic importance, but the Italian Communist Party (PCI) began to strengthen and the country soon became a major early Cold War battleground. In the very close elections of April 1948, there was covert US funding to the opposition, the Christian Democratic Party (DC). They also threatened that they would excluded Italy from the Marshall Plan if the communists won. The DC won an absolute parliamentary majority and this marked a beginning of the continuous and extensive meddling by the US in Italian politics.

There was a civil war taking place in Greece, and the British withdrawal helped to trigger the Truman Doctrine. Greece basically transformed into a de facto US protectorate. After the defeat of the communists here, Greece could still be used as a springboard into the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. But, in 1952, Greece joined NATO along with Turkey.

Spain was a 'fascistised' state, but they did have anti-communist credentials. It became a base for the defence of Europe in case of Soviet troops overrunning the FRG and France.The US wanted Spanish NATO membership, but this was blocked by France and the UK. So, the Bilateral Treaty was signed between Spain and the US in September 1953 which offered Spain American economic aid and military assistance in return for access to the Spanish naval and air bases. So, Spain were also a de facto member of NATO.