A documentary 'The Years of Decision' reviews the beginning of the Marshall Plan in response to recovery needs of the European people following World War 2. Busy streets and sidewalks filled with pedestrians in London as people walk in the city. Double decker buses and other vehicles driving past on a road in the background. People in France walking on streets of city, sitting in cafes, and buying food, produce, textiles and other items from market vendors with stalls and carts. Men and women buy things from shops. Scene changes to the Netherlands, with many men riding bicycles arriving or departing work at Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam (Heineken Brouwerij on Stadhouderskade). The Dutch words “Stoom Bierbrouwerij” (Steam Brewery) are seen on the building. A Dutch man in a textile factory works at a weaving machine. Scene changes to a coal mine area in the United Kingdom. British coal miners sitting in a train headed into a mine. A worker at the Fiat factory in Turin, Italy measures a small steel part used in manufacturing cars. Cattle on a farm walk near barns. A French farmer in France driving a tractor.
A documentary reviews the beginning of the Marshall Plan in response to the post war (World War II) needs of Europeans. It depicts its effect on the lives of people during the first year of its implementation. People on a street. A map of Europe. Animation depicts the production of textile, output of coal, requirement of manufacturing industries, and declined food production. U.S. Secretary of State George Catlett Marshall, Jr., tells the people of Europe that if they work together the U.S. will supply money for food and raw material. Wide and close views of newsstand in England, United Kingdom. British man buys a newspaper to read about Marshall's appeal in the newspapers. Traffic on the streets in Paris, France. Foreign Minsters of Great Britain, France and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov arrive in Paris and ascend steps of building for a meeting to discuss the Marshall Plan. The delegates and representatives at the meeting. Molotov comes out from the meeting. Animated map depicts 16 European nations which get together to work for economic development. The delegates seated in a hall in Paris. The Organization for Economic Co-operation is formed. Delegates of European nations signing a document. Wide view of a port area in Norway. A book on a table reads 'First Annual Requirements Program Submitted to O.E.E.C.' Wide view of Piazza del Popolo in Rome, Italy with Flaminio Obelisk in the center and traffic on roads Traffic and people on roads of Ulus Square (Ulus Meydanı) in Ankara, Turkey, with the equestrian statue Monument of Victory, depicting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on horseback. Busy street and pedestrian traffic along O’Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, with Gresham Hotel visible. Traffic passing over the O’Connell Bridge spanning the River Liffey. The U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. A meeting of the Congress for the Marshall Plan. View of Paul G. Hoffman who was appointed the administrator of the Marshall Plan. Man smoking cigarette and tuning radio to listen to broadcast. Families and people in living rooms listen on radios to news about the European Recover Program (ERP). Men unload food supplies sent by the U.S. from ships at a dock. People listen to a dignitary. Men unload machines from the ship. Workers in the Netherlands ride bicycles. A man unloads cotton from a freight car. A sign for ERP on the freight car. Men at work in a textile mill in the Netherlands. A coal hoist is delivered in Britain and British miners dig out coal and use the hoist. The coal is loaded aboard a ship for trade. Fiat automobile assembly line seen in operation in Turin, Italy, with workers building new 1948 Fiat Topolino cars.
The history of aviation. A glider being launched from a hillside in Germany. The glider is parked. Several men stand nearby. The glider in flight overhead. The first flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina on December 17, 1903. A still photograph of Wright Brothers' aircraft in flight. The pilot in a prone position while piloting the aircraft. Launching of Wright Brothers' aircraft in France on August 8, 1908. A launching tower, weight dropping and the take off of the aircraft are shown. Spectators in stands watch the air show. Headlines of a New York newspaper proclaim Wright's flight in France.
French postal worker from the village of LaFayette, France, personally delivers post cards in New York City, attesting to friendship between the French and American people, on 200th anniversary of the birth of the Marquis de Lafayette. He arrives on an Air France DC-6. The postcards are sent in response to a broadcast over Radio Europe about Franco-American relations. Men load sacks of postcards on a cart. The French Postman rides the cart with the mail. He meets Mr. A.N. Spanel (Abraham Nathaniel Spanel), founder and chairman of the International Latex Corporation, who made the radio broadcast.
German M-Class mine sweeper in waters off France in World War 2. It is armed with quad-mounted 2 cm Flak 38 AA guns (2 cm Flakvierling 38). German Navy sailors look up at contrails from high flying Allied aircraft. Officer sights aircraft overhead and hurries to report it. He records his observation in a log. German radio operator transmits information over wireless telephone by morse code telegraph key. A mass of contrails from Allied aircraft is seen in the sky. Scene shifts to a German airfield in France, where Focke-Wulf FW-190 fighters are lined up. Ground crewman shows motion picture gun camera for an airplane. Men push a Messerschmitt Bf 104 out of a hangar. Closeup of German pilots strapping into Me-104s and taxiing for takeoff. FW-190s and Me-109s taking off from airfield. German civilians entering a Flak tower for refuge as a bomb shelter. View from inside as doors close. Trams stopped on street. Hospital staff moving patients to bunkers (bomb shelters). Massive contrails from Allied bombers. View inside a German command post, where women workers and German officers with headphones plot positions of attacking planes on large maps. Flight of German Me-109 aircraft in formation. Gun camera showing A U.S. B-17 bomber being shot from rear with its wing on fire and explosion in its tail. Glimpse of head-on attack against B-17. Two Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft in flight. A lone U.S. B-24 Liberator bomber under attack. B-17 with piece of windshield missing and horizontal stabilizer shot away. B-17 bomber formation under attack from the rear. View of pilot and instruments inside German fighter plane. B-17 being shot to pieces in frontal attack. More attacks on formations of B-17s. German women in command post recording combat information on displays. Parachutes of American B-17 crew in sky. Captured U.S. fliers being escorted under guard, and one, with head bandaged, being questioned by German officers (English conversation is heard.) The flier says he is fine They ask another flier if he is wounded. He says only a twisted ankle. Temporary graves of dead American fliers, with wooden crosses and names on them, including one with name George J.Parker.
Entertainment at a jungle training center in the United States. Bob Hope at a microphone with a band behind him. All of them are wearing camouflage suits. He is holding up a helmet. Pattie Thomas walks on a stage wearing a helmet and a camouflage suit. Tony Romano walks on wearing a camouflaged suit.. He carries his guitar. Frances Langford appears. Jerry Colonna and Bob Hope put on their act. Another member of the troop appears. Frances Langford sings. A band and a guitar player joins them. Jerry Colonna and Tony Romano perform an act. (World War II period).
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