Molotov Plan

{{Short description|Soviet Union aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe}}

File:The Molotov Plan versus the Marshall Plan.webp

The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. It was called the "Brother Plan" in the Soviet Union and can be seen to be the Soviet Union's version of the Marshall Plan, which, for political reasons, the Eastern European countries would not be able to join without leaving the Soviet sphere of influence. However, the Molotov Plan cannot be considered a Soviet response to the Marshall's initiative, as the Soviet plan antedated the American by about two years, because it started operating the Eastern Europe as early as 1945.{{Cite journal |last=Berger |first=Morroe |date=1948 |title=How the Molotov Plan Works |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4609251?origin=crossref |journal=The Antioch Review |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=17–25 |doi=10.2307/4609251 |issn=0003-5769}} Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov rejected the Marshall Plan (1947), turning the Molotov Plan into the Soviet-sponsored economic grouping which was eventually expanded to become the Comecon.[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/molotov/ "CNN Cold War - Profile: Vyacheslav Mikhaylovic Molotov"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219114634/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/molotov/|date=19 December 2008}}{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Cj |date=1976 |title=The Comecon: catalyst for economic cooperation in Eastern Europe |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23905548 |journal=The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=315–335 |issn=0010-4051}}

File:Molotov on Paris Peace Conference, 1946.jpg

The Molotov Plan was symbolic of the Soviet Union's refusal to accept aid from the Marshall Plan, or allow any of their satellite states to do so because of their belief that the Marshall Plan was an attempt to weaken Soviet interest in their satellite states through the conditions imposed and by making beneficiary countries economically dependent on the United States (officially, one of the goals of the Marshall Plan was to prevent the spread of Communism). The plan was a system of bilateral trade agreements which also established Comecon to create an economic alliance of socialist countries.[http://www.pinkmonkey.com/studyguides/subjects/worldhis/chap17/w1717201.asp "World History Study Guide - 17.2 The Cold War between 1945 and 1947"]. This aid allowed countries in Europe to stop relying on American aid and therefore allowed Molotov Plan states to reorganize their trade to the Soviet Union instead.[http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/128-5-130.shtml "A Look back at the Marshall Plan"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215083735/http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/128-5-130.shtml|date=15 December 2007}} The plan was in some ways contradictory because while the Soviets were giving aid to Eastern Bloc countries, at the same time they were demanding that countries who were members of the Axis powers (many of them Eastern Bloc countries themselves or a predecessor to an Eastern Bloc country) pay reparations to the Soviet Union. Thus, the Soviet Union has been receiving regular payments from Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Finland, setting up a payment plan of $900 million over 8 years.

The Molotov's program had set multiple objectives for itself. The maximum aims that were set were to obtain economic control over Europe, to adapt the European economy to its own, and to convert them into a market for the Soviet surpluses. The minimum aims consisted of establish governments that are friendly, at least, to the Soviet Union. The technique that the Soviet government was using was a network of trade agreements. Between 1945 and 1947, USSR has concluded eleven important agreements with its satellites. Those were mostly trade agreements with which USSR was sending the raw material and food (such as grain, coal, cotton, and metals) and receiving the manufacturing goods and equipment for its industries. When it comes to Germany, one other Soviet goal was to seek retributions from it, seeking for hundreds of millions of dollars from East Germany's economy and having the Red Army living off of the land it occupying, avoiding using its domestic resources. Because of the high casualties and losses during World War II, the Soviet Union was not repenting about taking what it can in Germany.