"So what do you think we should do now? In the event that the countries of Western Europe develop and the communist forces weaken, the capitalist camp will also increase, and we will probably face more troubles. Molotov frowned and said to Manturov.

"Before we can figure out a way, we first have to understand the current situation in Western European countries." Manturov continued: "After the defeat of Germany in 1944, although the capitalist countries of Western Europe were no longer under the brutal rule of the German fascists, the destruction of agriculture by the war led to a sharp decline in grain production in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and other Western European countries, and there was a large-scale famine.

Not only did these countries not produce enough food, but their government reserves were depleted during the war, and they simply could not afford to import enough food from abroad to cope with the famine.

When the government is unable to solve the problem of famine, these Western European countries can only pin their hopes on financial assistance from the United States, and when they receive financial assistance from the United States, they are likely to use the money to import grain from foreign countries first, increase their own food supply, and solve the problem of famine.

Before the Second World War, the food production of Western European countries was actually insufficient to supply their needs, so their food supply was largely dependent on the surplus grain exported by the capitalist countries of Eastern Europe (e.g. Poland).

But now all of Eastern and Central Europe has come to our side, ideologically opposed to the capitalist countries of the West. Even if our socialist brothers were willing to export grain to the capitalist countries of Western Europe, they would not import it from us, because for them there was a better option - to import grain from the United States. ”

In fact, in addition to Western Europe, there were also famines of varying degrees in socialist countries such as Greece, Germany, and Norway. However, thanks to the aid of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, the scale of the famine was quickly brought under control, agricultural production began to recover, and the goal of food and clothing for all was no longer far away.

However, the situation in the Netherlands was not so good, and the Dutch people had been starving since the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940.

In 1944, a large-scale famine broke out in the Netherlands (presumably due to the arrival of the Allies that brought the Netherlands a second war devastation), and Audrey Hepburn, who lived in the Netherlands and would become a famous Hollywood movie star in the future, had to feed on tulip bulbs and drink plenty of water to fill her stomach. Chronic malnutrition contributed to her thin figure later in life (which is the main reason why she was not plump enough).

Even if the Netherlands received food aid from the Allies, this did not mean that they no longer suffered from famine, and there were still a large number of Dutch people who continued to suffer from famine because they did not receive aid.

By the end of 1946, there was a rare cold winter in northwestern Europe, and the capitalist countries of Western Europe, such as Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, lost their grain harvests, which caused a greater famine in Western European countries, which were already in a state of food shortage.

In the three years from 1944 to 1947, with the exception of Britain, a country whose homeland was not greatly damaged, famines of varying degrees occurred in the rest of the capitalist countries of Western Europe, among which the Netherlands and Belgium were the most severely affected, and even France was not spared.

In contrast, the famine in Eastern Europe, which lasted less than half a year and affected far fewer people than Western Europe, was less serious, and by 1947, when the Soviet Union had basically achieved national food and clothing, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and other Western European countries were still in a state of famine, and it was not until the United States provided them with assistance that they had money to buy food from the United States, and the food shortage problem gradually lifted.

Of course, in addition to grain, the European capitalist countries that received US aid will also use this money to buy some industrial production equipment and raw materials for the development of their own industries, and according to Manturov's "historical experience", the vast majority of the industrial equipment and raw materials purchased by the Western European countries are imported from the United States.

This means that the large amount of financial aid provided by the United States to Europe will actually return to the Americans, especially the American bourgeoisie represented by the US Government, and after the development of the Western European economy, it will gradually become a major export market for the United States, providing a good market for American enterprises.

So in the end, the biggest beneficiary of the Marshall Plan was actually the American bourgeoisie, and the U.S. government not only did not lose money in the end (American companies made more profits, and the government income tax naturally increased, and in the end, these extra taxes could of course make up for the expenses of the Marshall Plan), but also extended its sphere of influence to the European continent.

"So what should we, the Soviet Union, do? It is unlikely that the United States will be able to stop the United States from providing large sums of aid to European countries, and no matter what we do, the Americans will have to give the money away, and no one can stop it except the American bourgeoisie and the Congress, which represents their interests.

Since this aid will be delivered to the Western European countries in any case, the economic recovery of the Western European countries will also inevitably happen, and what we need to do is to reduce the impact of the US aid program on the communist forces in Western Europe, and at the same time, we must prevent the countries of the socialist camp from switching to the Western camp or accepting some conditions that deviate from the Marxist road because they want to receive American aid.

If we want to avoid such an attitude in the socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, then we must also develop a similar economic aid program to help our socialist brothers in Europe tide over economic difficulties.

This will not only strengthen the relations between the socialist countries of Europe and the Soviet Union, but also improve their economic situation and improve the quality of life of their citizens. When the quality of life of the people in the socialist countries of Europe improves, so does the support of the socialist regimes.

However, it is not enough to improve the living conditions of the people, we also need to do a good job of propaganda and ideology in order to effectively increase the people's satisfaction with the socialist regime.

On the contrary, if we do not do our ideological work well and allow the media to spread negative rhetoric, no matter how good the living conditions of the people are, as long as they can accept these negative narratives, they will start to feel dissatisfied with the government.

Of course, such a situation rarely happens in our country or in other socialist countries, after all, the state's propaganda and educational institutions are in the hands of the party, and all reports and all speeches must conform to the party's line before they can be openly penetrated into the ears of the people.

But the situation is different in Western European countries, which advocate so-called 'freedom of the press' and have little control over the media and speech. The best way to minimize the blow to the local Communist forces is to start with their media......8)