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The U.S. gave substantial help to everyone in Europe, not just Germans. The Soviet occupation zone, as well as Finland and Yugoslavia, would have none of it, b

The U.S. gave substantial help to everyone in Europe, not just Germans. The Soviet occupation zone, as well as Finland and Yugoslavia, would have none of it, because U.S.S.R. was hostile to it. The largest recipients of Marshall Plan aid were the U.K. (26 %) and France (18 %), with West Germany third at 11 % of total aid amount in this plan. So claiming that financial help went to Germany instead of Germany's victims is, in my opinion, disingenuous. There were also other American aid programs besides the Marshall Plan.

taway_1212 10y ago
By Germany's victims I mean for example Poles, who fought on the allied side against the Germans and were later conveniently abandoned to become a part of Stalin's empire. Poland suffered losses far beyond the material (although in this area they were still greater than France or UK's) - Germans and Soviets both had executed targeted plans to murder educated Poles (imagine large percentage of people with bachelor or higher degree being rounded up and executed - that's far bigger blow than even destruction of many cities and factories). No help was extended though. Polish elites' philosophy was that, although our country is occupied and we can no longer contribute weapons and other material goods to the war effort, we can still contribute blood (by fighting both on both Eastern and Western fronts, as well as organizing a massive military resistance in Poland). It turned out to be extremely naive on our part, as at the end we got discarded like an used tissue.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  Marshall Plan was offered to Poland by the U.S. but not accepted by the U.S.S.R. so the Poles were left without. I can't blame the Americans for that. (I'm Finnish, and we also got none of it, for same reason: Soviets. Edit: However, there was some more covert aid, such as the ASLA program which converted an old loan from 1919, which Finns had been paying back throughout the Winter War, into university scholarships for Finnish students.) Edit: And yes, the Polish suffered particularly badly between Germany and Soviets. But the Germans/Nazis were not the only ones responsible for that. We know of Katyn Forest, we know of the fate of the Warsaw Uprising where Soviet advance deliberately stopped, allowing Nazis (this time I'd really use that word) to crush the independent Polish resistance.
  - taway_1212 10y ago
    The Marshal Plan offering was actually a bluff by the US - they knew that the USSR would never accept it on priciple, so they took the free good PR and offered it anyway. The bigger point here though is that Poland didn't just magically end up being ruled by Stalin (via local proxies). Allied forced gave it up to him in part of a political deal, even though 200,000 Polish soldiers fought on the Western front with an idea of returning to free Poland after the war. (actually, upon hearing of this betrayal, dozens of Polish military officers committed suicide).
    - ptaipale 10y ago
      Sure, but they gave the help to practically anyone who could receive it. The agreement on Oder-Neisse line was indeed not due to magic, it was due to geography and military power. The alternative? Let Patton have his way, and once Germany had surrendered, ally immediately with the Wermacht and attack the exhausted Soviet troops to force a downfall of the other mustached dictator, using the atom bomb if necessary? That wouldn't have gone down too well in the public opinion in the U.S. -- or Britain or France for that matter. Even today, there's still a Stalingrad, in the Paris metro...

taway_1212 10y ago

By Germany's victims I mean for example Poles, who fought on the allied side against the Germans and were later conveniently abandoned to become a part of Stalin's empire. Poland suffered losses far beyond the material (although in this area they were still greater than France or UK's) - Germans and Soviets both had executed targeted plans to murder educated Poles (imagine large percentage of people with bachelor or higher degree being rounded up and executed - that's far bigger blow than even destruction of many cities and factories). No help was extended though. Polish elites' philosophy was that, although our country is occupied and we can no longer contribute weapons and other material goods to the war effort, we can still contribute blood (by fighting both on both Eastern and Western fronts, as well as organizing a massive military resistance in Poland). It turned out to be extremely naive on our part, as at the end we got discarded like an used tissue.

ptaipale 10y ago
Marshall Plan was offered to Poland by the U.S. but not accepted by the U.S.S.R. so the Poles were left without. I can't blame the Americans for that. (I'm Finnish, and we also got none of it, for same reason: Soviets. Edit: However, there was some more covert aid, such as the ASLA program which converted an old loan from 1919, which Finns had been paying back throughout the Winter War, into university scholarships for Finnish students.) Edit: And yes, the Polish suffered particularly badly between Germany and Soviets. But the Germans/Nazis were not the only ones responsible for that. We know of Katyn Forest, we know of the fate of the Warsaw Uprising where Soviet advance deliberately stopped, allowing Nazis (this time I'd really use that word) to crush the independent Polish resistance.
- taway_1212 10y ago
  The Marshal Plan offering was actually a bluff by the US - they knew that the USSR would never accept it on priciple, so they took the free good PR and offered it anyway. The bigger point here though is that Poland didn't just magically end up being ruled by Stalin (via local proxies). Allied forced gave it up to him in part of a political deal, even though 200,000 Polish soldiers fought on the Western front with an idea of returning to free Poland after the war. (actually, upon hearing of this betrayal, dozens of Polish military officers committed suicide).
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    Sure, but they gave the help to practically anyone who could receive it. The agreement on Oder-Neisse line was indeed not due to magic, it was due to geography and military power. The alternative? Let Patton have his way, and once Germany had surrendered, ally immediately with the Wermacht and attack the exhausted Soviet troops to force a downfall of the other mustached dictator, using the atom bomb if necessary? That wouldn't have gone down too well in the public opinion in the U.S. -- or Britain or France for that matter. Even today, there's still a Stalingrad, in the Paris metro...