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FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam

The Making of Europe. Visions of Europe in the American Marshall Plan Film Productions (1948-1954)

Awarded: NOK 2.9 mill.

The research project on the Marshall Plan (MP) film propaganda campaign in postwar Europe 1948-1954 sought to establish how the US administration promoted its ?grand vision? of Europe and how the Europeans responded to these propaganda efforts. The aim was to generate a clearer understanding of the complex process of cultural transfer between the USA and Europe and the role of propaganda in the early Cold War, as well as to add new knowledge to the early history of European integration by shedding light on the role of the US government in the European unification process. The investigation of the planning, production, distribution and reception of MP films across Europe revealed the extent to which the information programme was driven and shaped by the varying political, economic and cultural dynamics of 17 European countries. By analysing the difficulties the American information officers encountered in their work promoting the Marshall Plan and its goals in these countries, the project sought to explain which factors affected the transfer of ideas. One source of difficulty was intra-organisational, i.e. there were problems between the policy planners at the headquarters and the information staff on the ground. Another problem concerned the lack of participation from national European institutions, as well as competition between the body administering the MP, and the State Department and US military, which also engaged in propaganda. The biggest challenge, however, was to win over the Europeans audiences, which was a prerequisite for implementing the changes necessary to achieve the MP goals. Although the film screenings attracted considerable interest, the films? immediate impact, indicated e.g. by a decline in votes for the communist party, proved disappointing. Popular attitudes were not as easily swayed as the US administration had hoped. In particular, the MP goals of European integration and productivity encountered considerable resistance from certain sections of the European population. Although the lack of success was often blamed on powerful communist propaganda, the study shows that the heterogeneous economic conditions and disparate political and social constellations in the participating countries were the key obstacles to the US propaganda effort. In addition, Europe proved to be culturally much more diverse than the Americans had anticipated, even though they had consciously hired European filmmakers. The information officers, as the study reveals, were under pressure to adapt the American vision of a future Europe to the preferences and interests of the Europeans. This was necessary for the US to win European support and make the Communist (or any other alternative) political model for Europe look less appealing. A middle way had to be found between tailoring the films to the preferences of national audiences and pursuing an efficient propaganda strategy that was based on producing films with a wide appeal. In demonstrating how the US propagandists sought to promote the American vision of a future Europe, the project shows how this vision was both adapted and to some extent ?nationalised?. In so doing, it also contributes substantially to the early history of European integration. A second important achievement is that it reveals the considerable degree of pragmatism among the information staff, thereby highlighting the gap between official rhetoric and practice. The third major finding concerns the subject of cultural transfer. The study gives valuable insight into the interplay between the transmitters and recipients of propaganda by showing how the film makers and information officers responded to factors such as the acute scepticism against European integration demonstrated by sections of the population. By employing a strongly symbolic language ? the symbols of the ship and the stream were used frequently ? the films implicitly illustrate the linkages between European countries and the benefits of European cooperation. Yet the information units did not merely change their strategies. They also adopted the policy goals to the interests of national and regional audiences, giving precedence to specific themes, even if this meant subordinating major policy goals. The study thus demonstrates how the European recipients indirectly influenced US policies and strategy. The Europeans emerge as active agents rather than as passive bystanders in the ideological battle between the two superpowers. The results clearly demonstrate that the fault lines in the Cold War ran not only between the great powers vying for predominance, but also between European and US interests. By showing how US foreign policies were not just influenced by the ideological antagonist, but also by the public responses of individual European nation states, the study provides new insights into the complex mechanics of the Cold War and thereby hopes to stimulate new research on the limits of cultural and political hegemon

The project is the first one to analyse the visual constructions of Europe in the Marshall Plan films and to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the planning and organization of the film campaign and its impact on European audiences. Adopting a transnat ional perspective, the project will make an important contribution to our knowledge of the early history of European integration and will shed new light on the transnational cultural exchange after the Second World War. The aim is to investigate how the medium of film helped to promote the idea of a united Europe - long before its political realisation. Analysing the films that were produced to support the European Recovery Program (ERP, often referred to as the Marshall Plan), the project wants to deter mine how Europe was conceptualised, and how this vision was sold to the public across Europe. Around 250 documentaries and shorts were produced under the aegis of the US between 1948 and 1954 as part of a massive publicity campaign to support the Europea n Recovery Programme ERP (commonly known as the Marshall Plan). The Economic Cooperation Administration ECA commissioned film makers from different European countries to produce films that should promote the Marshall Plan and the European idea; the films were dubbed and exhibited in other European countries, raising questions about the circulation and exchanges of images and symbols of Europe. Combining the analysis of the visual and narrative constructions of Europe with a thorough investigation of the p lanning, production as well as the distribution and reception of the films will help us to understand how the audiences made sense of Europe and their place within and how cultural practices travel across boundaries. Due to its transnational perspective a nd interdisciplinary design, the project will be of great benefit to the Faculty of Arts and the Department of History; it will strengthen its international standing and enhance its expertise in European history.

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FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam