Free France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy and the Quest for Leadership in Europe, 1944-1954 by William I. Hitchcock

million tons before January 1946, and 15 million more by May 1946. 55 The French were to be disappointed, however. "As far as exports go," Monnet noted to André Philip, "the Truman directive has remained a lettre morte . The total of exports for the second half of 1945 has been 4 million tons instead of 10," and the rate was actually declining

 

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because of the departure of the Allied troops who staffed the distribution and transport networks. Monnet figured that at least 1.5 million tons of Ruhr coal should be available to France by the end of 1946. 56 When the first session of the CGP convened on March 16, this was the primary concern, and the CGP urged the government to seek stepped up imports of coal from Germany, preferably on a permanent basis. 57
French officials had a chance to make their case before the Americans in March, when a mission led by former premier Léon Blum went to Washington to seek American economic support. Monnet and the governor of the Bank of France, Emmanuel Monick, accompanied Blum as negotiators, and presented to William Clayton, the American undersecretary of state for economic affairs, a detailed report on the problems of the French economy. The report discussed the long-term erosion of national capital and infrastructure in France that had begun in 1930 and was exacerbated by rearmament and war. Now the government was caught in a dilemma: to begin a program of modernization, it first had to stimulate production so as to develop a margin of earnings to be earmarked for investment; but stimulating production was impossible in an outmoded economic environment, and one that lacked the crucial fuel of industrial activity: coal. Thus, everything came down to two simple problems: coal and credits. From the United States France sought help in securing "an adequate and sustained supply of coal and power," freer access to world markets, "particularly to the markets of the United States," and credits at a favorable rate of interest, similar to the $ 3.75 billion loan just secured by the British. 58
Blum did not leave America empty-handed. Despite protests from the War Department that credits not be given to France because of the latter's obstinacy with regard to the German question, the State Department concluded that a loan to France was an indispensable part of American efforts to see a productive and politically stable Europe emerge from the war. Ambassador Caffery in particular waged a strong campaign in favor of loans to France to strengthen the hand of the tripartite government, and especially Blum's Socialists, in the coming elections. His reports showed a consistent fear that should Blum's mission fail, the consequences in political terms would be severe. Clayton followed this line of reasoning as well in justifying a loan to France before the National Advisory Council, and by the beginning of May, had received the Council's assent to a $ 650 million Export-Import Bank loan to France. In addition, $ 2.8 billion of lend-lease debts were canceled, some $ 700 million worth of goods and equipment already on order were turned into

 

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loans, and another $ 500 million was recommended for the next year from the World Bank. 59 The loan was not as extensive as the French had hoped, but with this loan, Monnet knew, "the modernization of France had become a common objective between lender and borrower." 60
With American support for French modernization secured, Monnet could now make a sales pitch to the French cabinet itself. In the first report of the CGP to the government, Monnet made five points in arguing that France's greatest needs could only be met by dramatically overhauling the productive apparatus of the nation. First, he claimed that the construction of housing, a pressing need especially in warravaged départments, could only be accomplished through a prompt modernization of industry. Second, he argued that raising the standard of living required greater opportunities for