In late May 1946, a huge crowd at Orly Airport welcomes home Léon Blum, negotiator extraordinary of the French Republic in the United States, on his return from Washington where, on 28 May, after 11 weeks of negotiations, the Blum–Byrnes Agreement is signed which, in addition to the Lend-Lease arrangements, provides for the purchase by France of surplus American goods and for a loan for the reconstruction and modernisation of France.

The French Socialist, Léon Blum, was the former President of the French Council and briefly French Foreign Minister. Here, he places the Marshall Plan in a broad European context, and suggests that the United Nations Economic Committee for Europe, established in March 1947, should be responsible for its practical organisation.

On 2 July 1947, in an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Monde, René Courtin, founder of the French Council for a United Europe, emphasises that, despite financial aid from the United States, most of the efforts to achieve economic recovery must be made by the French people.

On 24 July 1947, Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board, writes a secret detailed note to Georges Bidault, the French Foreign Minister, concerning the implications of the Marshall Plan for French policy on Germany and on Europe.

‘Priority!’ On 26 July 1947, in connection with the implementation of the Marshall Plan, French cartoonist Claude Garnier illustrates France’s fears regarding an overly rapid economic reconstruction of post-war Germany. Queuing up to get on the ‘prosperity, revival and abundance’ bus, decorated with the stars of the US flag, France, represented as a young Marianne wearing a Phrygian cap, emphasises to the bus conductor that the countries that suffered German aggression during the Second World War should be given priority for the granting of Marshall Plan aid. On the other side of the bus, ‘Gretchen’, symbolising Germany — a young girl with braids, a Bavarian hat with a feather and military boots — shouldn’t expect preferential treatment and must wait her turn for US aid.

‘The American wall.’ On 4 October 1947, the cartoonist Woop portrays the efforts of the US President, Harry Truman, and his Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, to implement the Marshall Plan for the economic and financial reconstruction of European countries ravaged by the Second World War.

On 12 October 1947, in an article published in the French Communist daily newspaper L'Humanité, Benoit Frachon, General Secretary of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), condemns the American stranglehold on the French economy resulting from the implementation of the Marshall Plan.

On 6 November 1947, in the French daily newspaper Le Populaire, Léon Blum, former President of the French Council of State, defends himself against accusations made by Maurice Thorez, Secretary-General of the French Communist Party, who criticises him for having served American imperialism by accepting financial aid from Uncle Sam.

On 10 December 1947, the French newspaper L’Action vehemently refutes the argument that the French economy needs the Marshall Plan to ensure its recovery.

On 18 April 1948, Jean Monnet informs French Foreign Minister Georges Bidault of the American view of the Marshall Plan and of the progress in negotiations in which he is involved in the United States on the issue of supplying France with food products originating in the USA.

In April 1948, Jean Monnet is involved in negotiations in Washington concerning the distribution of material and financial aid to Europe under the Marshall Plan. In this letter written on 18 April 1948 and addressed to Robert Schuman, President of the French Council, he describes the mood of his US colleagues and ends by emphasising the need for a European federation.

On 5 May 1948, in connection with the implementation of the Marshall Plan, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Tageblatt questions the capacity for recovery of the French economy.

On 28 June 1948, in Paris, Georges Bidault (centre), French Foreign Minister, accompanied by René Mayer (right), French Finance Minister, and Jefferson Caffery (left), US Ambassador to France, sign an agreement for temporary financial aid amounting to 522 million dollars, granted under the Marshall Plan by the United States to France for the winter of 1948–1949.

On 28 June 1948, Georges Bidault (centre), French Foreign Minister, and Jefferson Caffery (left), US Ambassador to France, sign an agreement for financial aid granted under the Marshall Plan by the United States to France.

On 28 August 1948, French Prime Minister André Marie resigns, bringing about the fall of his government. One week later, on 6 September 1948, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the consequences of the French governmental crisis on Anglo-American efforts to reconstruct post-war Europe.

On 15 September 1948, French strikers take to the streets of Paris to demonstrate against the Marshall Plan for economic aid to Europe on the grounds that it is an anti-Communist tool.

On 15 December 1948, in an article published in the newspaper L’Aurore, Gilles Gozard, French MP for the Allier département, emphasises the importance of the US aid granted to France under the Marshall Plan.

In 1949, the US aid granted under the Marshall Plan reaches its destination. The photo shows a cargo of tractors delivered to the port of Le Havre, France.

On 16 June 1949, the French daily newspaper Combat comments on the schedule for economic and social recovery published by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT).

On 6 December 1949, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité criticises the Marshall Plan on the basis, in particular, of statistics which illustrate the economic situation in France.