On 29 June 1944, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomes participants at the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) Monetary Conference for the establishment of a new international monetary system.

On 1 July 1944, Henry Morgenthau Jr, US Secretary of the Treasury, outlines the issues to be discussed at the International Monetary Conference opening in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire).

On 20 July 1944, the first Commission created by the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) Conference gives a positive assessment of the work relating to the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On 20 July 1944, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, delegates from 44 countries sign agreements which establish the gold exchange standard and make the US dollar the only reserve currency convertible into gold.

On 21 July 1944, the second Commission created by the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) Monetary Conference adopts a report relating to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

On 21 July 1944, during the Bretton Woods Conference, the report by Commission III outlines measures to strengthen international financial and monetary cooperation.

On 22 July 1944, in his closing address, Henry Morgenthau, Jr, US Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Bretton Woods Conference, welcomes the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

In 1944, at the close of the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) monetary conference, John Maynard Keynes, renowned international economist and financial adviser to the British Treasury, gives a speech in which he emphasises the urgent need to set up an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

On 7 March 1945, Henry Morgenthau Jr, US Secretary of the Treasury, outlines the economic and political importance of the Bretton Woods Agreements in an address to the Committee on Banking and Currency of the House of Representatives in Washington.

On 26 July 1945, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the US Senate’s ratification of the Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement and describes the dominant role of the dollar and the United States in the new international monetary system.

On 26 January 1949, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports that the United States has set out along the road towards economic prosperity.

On 5 June 1947, George Marshall, US Secretary of State, delivers an address at Harvard University, Massachusetts, in which he offers considerable economic assistance to all war-weakened European countries.

On 5 June 1947, Harvard University, Massachusetts, welcomes the US Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, who delivers an address in which he proposes economic and financial aid for European countries in return for closer European cooperation.

On 5 June 1947, the US Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, gives an address at Harvard University, Massachusetts, in which he offers the countries of Europe economic and financial assistance in exchange for closer European cooperation. George C. Marshall is in the centre, holding a hat and talking to Second World War hero, General Omar Nelson Bradley.

On 6 June 1947, the Luxembourg newspaper Luxemburger Wort examines the speech made the previous day by US Secretary of State, George Marshall, at Harvard. It draws a parallel between US aid designated for Europe and Soviet attempts to establish a Balkan federation.

On 6 June 1947, the day after the US Secretary of State, George Marshall, gives his address at Harvard, the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant speculates on the implementation of the United States’ programme of aid for Europe.

On 10 June 1947, the German daily newspaper Die Welt considers the implications and application of the future programme of reconstruction aid proposed by George Marshall, US Secretary of State.

On 18 June 1947, in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, French diplomat André François-Poncet outlines the difficulties faced by Europe in responding to the proposal put forward by the American Secretary of State, George Marshall.

On 2 July 1947, Joseph M. Jones, Special Assistant to the US Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, describes the role that he played in preparing the address given by Mr Marshall on 5 June 1947 at Harvard University.

Map showing the European countries which, under the Marshall Plan, are offered US material aid for reconstruction, those which accept the aid and those which reject it, and those which, on 16 April 1948, in Paris, decide to establish the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

On 7 November 1947, the French weekly publication La Tribune des Nations reports on the statement by Virgil Jordan, President of the National Industrial Conference Board in the United States, in which he emphasises the dangers of the Marshall Plan for the economic and industrial fabric of America.

On 21 November 1947, the American ‘Friendship Train’, loaded with food donations from US citizens destined for a war-torn Europe, leaves New York on a freighter down the Hudson River.

On 24 November 1947, in an article published in the French Socialist daily newspaper Le Populaire, Jim Carey, Secretary-General of the Congress for Industrial Organisation (CIO), defends the Marshall Plan against the criticisms levelled against it by certain European trade unions.

On 26 November 1947, estate agent Ray Moseley shares his concerns with US President Harry Truman about the financial aid provided by the United States to European countries at the expense of American households. In his reply, dated 1 December 1947, Harry Truman points out that most European countries have been devastated by the war and urgently require US economic aid.

On 19 December 1947, US President Harry S. Truman delivers an address to Congress on the issues involved in the economic reconstruction of Europe; he also outlines the aid provided by the United States for the purpose of getting the European economy back on its feet.

On 7 January 1948, in connection with the debates in the US Congress on the approval of the Marshall Plan, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the impatience of European countries with regard to the US financial and economic aid.

On 8 March 1948, faced with the threat of the Soviet bloc, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the efforts made by Georges Marshall, US Secretary of State, to gather around him the countries of Western Europe, thereby forming a united front against the dangers of Communism.

‘The wolf and the little goats. A fairytale yesterday — and today?’ In March 1948, referring to the Marshall Plan, German cartoonist Lang illustrates the solidarity binding the countries of Western Europe, which are uniting to protect convalescent Germany from the Soviet threat.

On 3 April 1948, US President Harry Truman, signs the law creating the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) whose role is to manage the programme of material and financial aid granted to European countries by the United States.

On 5 June 1947, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposes economic and financial aid to all European countries. Sixteen will accept the European Recovery Program (ERP) or Marshall plan.

On 9 April 1948, the US President, Harry Truman (right), appoints Paul Hoffman (left) as Administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) tasked with allocating the funds provided by the Marshall Plan.

On 21 April 1948, the Belgian liberal daily newspaper La Dernière Heure publishes the provisional figures for the financial aid allocated by the United States to the European countries under the Marshall Plan for aid to Europe.

In July 1948, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the economic aid provided by the United States under the Marshall Plan and emphasises the importance of European reconstruction.

In August 1948, British cartoonist Ernest Howard Shepard emphasises the role played by Paul Hoffman, Administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), which was responsible for distributing the funds provided under the Marshall Plan for the economic reconstruction of Western Europe.

On 29 November 1948, the US President, Harry S. Truman (left) meets with George C. Marshall, Paul Hoffmann and Averell Harriman in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the implementation of the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe.

On 14 January 1949, George Marshall, US Secretary of State, writes a letter to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, in which he recognises the role of France in the reconstruction of post-war Europe.

On 30 October 1952, George C. Marshall grants an interview to Harry B. Price in which the former US Secretary of State outlines the origins of the Marshall Plan and describes the important role played by George Kennan and Arthur Vandenberg in drawing up the European Recovery Program (ERP).

Dans ses Mémoires, Harry S. Truman, ancien président des États-Unis, évoque les raisons de la mise en place d'une aide économique américaine en faveur de l'Europe au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Series of posters promoting the benefits of the Marshall Plan for US economic aid in several of the European countries receiving the aid.

In this interview, Leo Tindemans, former attaché in the Economic Affairs Service of the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture, refers to the US economic aid given to European countries after the Second World War through the Marshall Plan funds.

In this interview, Hans-August Lücker, former President of the Bavarian Chamber of Agriculture and, in this capacity, author of a memorandum concerning the use of Marshall Plan aid for agriculture, recalls the need after the Second World War to make agriculture a competitive and profitable sector of the economy as part of a social market economy.

On 16 April 1948, in Paris, representatives of the 16 European States that have accepted the US aid provided under the Marshall Plan sign the Convention establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) which will enter into force on 1 July 1948.

On 16 April 1948, in Paris, the representatives of the 16 European States that have accepted aid under the Marshall plan sign the Convention establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which is to enter into force on 1 July 1948. Georges Bidault, French Foreign Minister, initials the Convention on behalf of France.

On 16 April 1948, at the Château de la Muette in Paris, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, signs the Convention establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

Signed on 16 April 1948 in Paris by representatives from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and by the French, British and American commanders-in-chief of the Occupation zones in Germany, the Convention creating the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation enters into force on 1 July 1948.

On 24 August 1948, the Italian Government sends to the French Government a memorandum in which it emphasises the important role to be played by the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which is seen as an essential force for European unification.

Signed on 16 October 1948 in Paris by the representatives of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Swtizerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom, by the Commanders-in-Chief of the French, British and US occupation zones in Germany and by the Commander of the British-US zone of the Free Territory of Trieste, the first Agreement for Intra-European Payments and Compensations aims to establish a regional payments system in order to encourage intra-European trade.

On 30 December 1948, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) publishes its progress report on the issues arising from the economic reconstruction of post-war Europe.

On 30 December 1948, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) publishes its Interim Report on the European Recovery Programme that focuses on the economic situation in Austria.

On 30 December 1948, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) publishes its progress report on the economic recovery programme in the Benelux countries.

On 30 December 1948, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) publishes its progress report on the economic recovery programme in Italy.

On 30 December 1948, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) publishes its progress report on the economic recovery programme in the United Kingdom.

Robert Marjolin, Secretary-General of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), records a message in the Paris studios of ‘Voice of America’, to be broadcast from the New York studio on the first anniversary of the Marshall Plan in April 1949.

On 29 October 1949, the Italian newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera considers the future of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) and stresses the importance of coordinating national economic policies across Europe.

On 20 December 1949, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool speculates on the action of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in favour of European economic integration.

On 1 February 1950, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk welcomes the appointment of Dirk U. Stikker, Dutch Foreign Minister, to the post of ‘political mediator’ of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

‘The Stikker Plan.’ On 11 February 1950, Roc, the Dutch cartoonist, depicts the US-backed appointment of Dirk U. Stikker, Netherlands Foreign Minister, as ‘Political Ombudsman’ of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

On 13 June 1950, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk comments on the proposal by Dirk Stikker, Dutch Foreign Minister, to pursue European integration by sector.

In September 1951, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) publishes a report which focuses on how the organisation was founded and its working methods, along with its general policies.

On 10 April 1953, a meeting in Washington of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) provides an opportunity for a study of the economic situation in Europe. From left to right: Harold Stassen (Director of Mutual Security), Sir Hugh Ellis-Rees (President of the OEEC Council), Hans Karl von Mangoldt (Chairman of the Managing Board of the European Payments Union), Attilio Cattani (Chairman of the OEEC Executive Committee), Baron Jean Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers (Chairman of the Exchange Steering Committee) and Robert Marjolin (OEEC Secretary-General).

In 1954, Karl Harten, Director of the European Productivity Agency (EPA), outlines the EPA's activities and describes measures that aim at increasing productivity in Europe.

In 1954, Yvan Lavergne, Administrator at the Energy Division of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), considers the OEEC's policies concerning coal supplies in Europe.

In 1954, Dirk Stikker, Chairman of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) from 1950 to 1952, analyses the work of the organisation during its early years.

On 12 June 1949, the Brussels newspaper Le Phare Dimanche outlines the reasons for the failure of the meeting of the Consultative Council of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) that was convened to draw up a plan for regulating intra-European payments.

On 29 October 1949, the European Movement sends the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) a memorandum in which it calls for a return to free convertibility of currencies in Europe.

On 15 December 1949, the United Kingdom submits to the Secretariat of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) a memorandum which emphasises the importance of the introduction of a new scheme which will govern the future of intra-European payments.

On 28 December 1949, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the United States’ irritation at the slow establishment of a European Payments Union intended to aid transactions and revive trade between the OEEC member countries.

On 8 March 1950, the Belgian authorities submit to the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) a memorandum on the implications and objectives of a future European Payments Union (EPU).

On 27 March 1950, Hubert Ansiaux, Governor of the National Bank of Belgium, submits to Paul van Zeeland, Belgian Foreign Minister, a report on the progress made in the negotiations on the creation of a European Payments Union (EPU).

On 28 March 1950, the British cartoonist, David Low, illustrates the hesitations of Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary (left), and Hugh Gaitskell, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (right), at calls from Paul Hoffman, US administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) given the task of managing the distribution of funds under the Marshall Plan, for them to join the future European Payments Union (EPA).

On 14 January 1950, in Paris, representatives of the 16 Member States of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) draw up an initial draft outlining the structure and aims of a European Payments Union (EPU).

On 26 May 1950, Hubert Ansiaux, Governor of the National Bank of Belgium and member of the Belgian delegation at the negotiations of the Sixteen on the creation of a European Payments Union (EPU), briefs Paul van Zeeland, Belgian Foreign Minister, on the progress made regarding the establishment of an EPU.

On 7 July 1950, the Netherlands daily newspaper De Volkskrant reports on the proposal put forward by Maurice Petsche, French Finance Minister, to establish a European Payments Union (EPU).

On 7 July 1950, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool describes the operation and tasks of a future European Payments Union (EPU).

On 19 September 1950, representatives from the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Commandant of the Anglo-American Zone of the free territory of Trieste sign in Paris the Agreement on the establishment of a European Payments Union (EPU).

On 19 September 1950, the Agreement on the establishment of a European Payments Union (EPU) is signed in Paris. The photo shows (from left to right): Milton Katz, United States Special Representative, Herbert Prack, President of the Council and Head of the Delegation of Austria, and Robert Marjolin, OEEC Secretary-General, examining the recently signed agreement.

In December 1950, the Bulletin du Conseil National du Patronat Français (Bulletin of the National Council of French Employers) considers the position of France and Germany on the European Payments Union (EPU).

In 1951, the European Payments Union (EPU) publishes its first annual report setting out the main activities of the organisation since it was created.

On 5 June 1952, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk comments on the future prospects of the European Payments Union (EPU).

On 8 August 1952, Franz Blücher, Federal Minister for Marshall Plan Affairs, emphasises the difficulties experienced by the European Payments Union (EPU) in ensuring the smooth performance of payment operations at Community level.

In 1953, the third annual report published by the European Payments Union (EPU) reviews the activities carried out by the organisation in its member states.

In 1954, Ernest Waters, head of the Payments Division of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), outlines the role and operation of the European Payments Union (EPU).

In his memoirs, Dirk Stikker, Netherlands Foreign Minister from 1948 to 1952, describes the creation of the European Payments Union by the 18 Member States of the OEEC in 1950.

On 5 August 1955, in Paris, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom sign the European Monetary Agreement (EMA) intended to replace the European Payments Union (EPU) in early 1959.

On 5 August 1955, in Paris, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland adopt the Protocol of Provisional Application of the European Monetary Agreement (EMA) intended to replace the European Payments Union (EPU) in early 1959.

On 27 June 1958, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland adopt a number of technical amendments to the European Monetary Agreement (EMA).