Read Online France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy and the Quest for Leadership in Europe, 1944-1954 by William I. Hitchcock - Free Book Online
Authors: William I. Hitchcock
Tags: History, Western, France, 20th Century, Europe, Political Science, Modern, test, Security (National & International)
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coordination among governments established a pattern of activity. He insisted that the effort to prioritize French needs work in parallel with an overall coordination of French supply missions abroad, in particular in Washington, in London, and to the Allied armies. To this end, he asked the CEI to create an Import Commission, wherein decisions about supply could be made "without each decision being subject to ratification by the entire government." Monnet sought a free hand to establish with the Americans an overall import program, and was given such authority in mid-August 1944. 46 When the lend-lease package was agreed to in February 1945, it was largely due to the effort Monnet had made in persuading the Americans that the resources would be well and efficiently used, not just for reconstruction but, more important at the time, for pursuing the war effort.
The United States, however, terminated the lend-lease deal in August 1945; it was bound to do so by the terms of the agreement. The French international economic position was far too weak for the government to carry out a recovery program without external aid. The prospect of this aid ending galvanized support around those officials especially Monnet who could develop some kind of new aid program with the United
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States. At a time when the French government had no direction or leadership with regard to reconstruction or postwar planning, the imminent crisis of losing American aid worked to concentrate the mind.
Monnet was in a better position than anyone in the French cabinet to deal with the Americans about securing aid. He had established a reputation in both the American and French administrations as a valuable gobetween, one who, when necessary, could circumvent bureaucratic bottlenecks and pull the appropriate strings. Above all, Monnet knew that for France to transform the wartime supply program into a peacetime one, specific plans would have to be drawn up and presented to the Americans. The principle of planning, as Monnet envisaged this term, was therefore developed during international negotiations on aid to France. Only by developing clear and coherent economic objectives could France secure the international aid necessary for recovery. 47
The link that Monnet made between French recovery and the economic activity of the larger world reflected the guiding principle of his economic philosophy. Unlike Pierre Mendès France, whose monetary policy alienated many cabinet colleagues, Monnet focused less on monetary issues and tried to frame his ideas in an international context. The "reforms of structure" that Mendès France sought and that occupied a central place in the resistance's "revolutionary" ideology were less important in Monnet's conception than the reform of economic behavior. Monnet believed that France's objectives should be simply to increase production and stimulate exports in order to pay for the flood of imports that reconstruction would require. He was largely uninterested in the political implications of economic policy, and in this lay the key to his success. By framing his ideas in the language of productivity rather than of social justice, his ideas escaped the political backlash that previous plans had encountered. Indeed, he was able to avoid the stigma attached to exponents of planisme such as André Philip and Mendès France by offering his plan as a strategy for recovery and renewed economic health. Thus, Pierre Mendès France could say that "Monnet, a liberal by temperament, was certainly anti-planiste ." 48
In building political support for an integrated recovery plan, Monnet went first to the top. In November of 1945, as discussions were ongoing in Washington over a loan from the Export-Import Bank to allow France to pay for goods ordered through the now defunct lend-lease agreement, Monnet sent to Gaston Palewski, de Gaulle's private secretary, a memorandum he knew would cross the general's desk. France's
The United States, however, terminated the lend-lease deal in August 1945; it was bound to do so by the terms of the agreement. The French international economic position was far too weak for the government to carry out a recovery program without external aid. The prospect of this aid ending galvanized support around those officials especially Monnet who could develop some kind of new aid program with the United
Page 31
States. At a time when the French government had no direction or leadership with regard to reconstruction or postwar planning, the imminent crisis of losing American aid worked to concentrate the mind.
Monnet was in a better position than anyone in the French cabinet to deal with the Americans about securing aid. He had established a reputation in both the American and French administrations as a valuable gobetween, one who, when necessary, could circumvent bureaucratic bottlenecks and pull the appropriate strings. Above all, Monnet knew that for France to transform the wartime supply program into a peacetime one, specific plans would have to be drawn up and presented to the Americans. The principle of planning, as Monnet envisaged this term, was therefore developed during international negotiations on aid to France. Only by developing clear and coherent economic objectives could France secure the international aid necessary for recovery. 47
The link that Monnet made between French recovery and the economic activity of the larger world reflected the guiding principle of his economic philosophy. Unlike Pierre Mendès France, whose monetary policy alienated many cabinet colleagues, Monnet focused less on monetary issues and tried to frame his ideas in an international context. The "reforms of structure" that Mendès France sought and that occupied a central place in the resistance's "revolutionary" ideology were less important in Monnet's conception than the reform of economic behavior. Monnet believed that France's objectives should be simply to increase production and stimulate exports in order to pay for the flood of imports that reconstruction would require. He was largely uninterested in the political implications of economic policy, and in this lay the key to his success. By framing his ideas in the language of productivity rather than of social justice, his ideas escaped the political backlash that previous plans had encountered. Indeed, he was able to avoid the stigma attached to exponents of planisme such as André Philip and Mendès France by offering his plan as a strategy for recovery and renewed economic health. Thus, Pierre Mendès France could say that "Monnet, a liberal by temperament, was certainly anti-planiste ." 48
In building political support for an integrated recovery plan, Monnet went first to the top. In November of 1945, as discussions were ongoing in Washington over a loan from the Export-Import Bank to allow France to pay for goods ordered through the now defunct lend-lease agreement, Monnet sent to Gaston Palewski, de Gaulle's private secretary, a memorandum he knew would cross the general's desk. France's
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