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 depicts life of people in the post-war ( World War II) economic challenges and hard times in Europe and the United Kingdom. (Before Marshall Plan of 1948). Animated map of Western Europe. Ruins and debris of buildings in cities of Europe damaged during the war.Two women walk past rubble. The damaged buildings. People cross a damaged bridge. A man at work during the construction of a bridge. Men make boats. Smoke comes out from a factory. In the Netherlands, a man in a textile factory works with weaving machinery. Another man paints a machine part. Men at work in the factory. A man and a woman eat food. A French farmer plows a field with the help of two horses. Scene in Norway of boats in a harbor. Norwegian fishermen at a dock. A fisherman untangles a fishing net. People buy food from shops. They walk on a street. People wait in a line for bread ration because of drought of 1947. Loaves of bread on display in store window. A coal processing plant exterior. A small steam locomotive moves on tracks at the factory yard. Close up view of two British coal miners with black soot on faces and bodies as they dig out coal from a mine using a pick axe. Queue of British citizens walk in a line to get coal. A man distributes equal amounts of coal to the British men and women in the queue, who receive a coal ration loaded into a bag. A power plant. A man operates factory controls (controls made in Liverpool), reducing output to lower levels due to power rationing. Different machines at work. View of a large industrial cog wheel slowing to a stop, and a large compressor in a factory slows to a stop. A view of a city. People walk in a street. British men and women enter a food shop in England, with a sign at the doorway indicating that bread is being offered only by ration. A woman feeds hens in a yard. A farmer negotiates with another farmer to sell livestock, but he shakes his head to refuse the offer. People in a city purchase food and other goods in a black market. A woman buying food from a black market seller. She hands him a pile of cash bills in payment. Italian women picking olives beneath olive trees in grove in Italy. A man enters a food shop and speaks to a woman; the shelves in the store are almost empty. A railroad train freight car moves on tracks. A railway freight car factory in Belgium. Men at work in the factory. A man checks a line of completed rail car wheels in the factory. Freight cars lie unused in the factory yard as French customers cannot buy them since the company in Belgium will not accept French Francs in payment. An unemployed Italian man sitting on a wall collects cigarette butts. Weavers in Holland dig in a peet bog as that their weaving jobs are not available.
A documentary depicts the effect of the Marshall Plan on the lives of people during the first year of its implementation in Europe. A ship at a dock. Men unload sulphur from the ship. A framers sprays sulpahte in a field. A boat underway. Norwegian fishermen aboard the boat are fishing. A fishing net in water. Fishes in the net. A fisherman empties a box containing fishes. People at work in fish canning industry. Women working in Norway put fish in tins. Women packing fishes in cans. The packed cans on display in a shop. A woman buys packed fish cans. The packed cans on a table of a shop in Britain. A man selling spaghetti at a store in Italy. Cattle at a dairy. Tractors in front of a house. A farmer man sits on a tractor. Animated map shows export of tractors from the U.S. to France. Animation depicts contribution of the people for the recovery program. A man ploughs a field with the help of a tractor. A power plant in France being built (appears to be the Roselend Dam hydroelectric complex in the French Alps at Savoie. View includes what may be the penstock gallery leading down to the La Bâthie power station. French Men at work building the power plant. Men construct highways with the help of modern machinery in Greece. Men at work. Construction of new houses for homeless people. Men at work. A man makes shoes. People at work in a shoe factory. Shoes at display in a shop. A man looks at the displayed shoes in a store. Increase in production in different sectors after the implementation of the Marshall Plan. Food kept on a table. Coal production increased to 11%. Coal being shoveled by hand. Textile production increased to 18%. Steel production increased to 40%. A railroad train moves on tracks. Man in Italy plays bocci ball with his unemployed friends. A British family eating food in their kitchen. A French family gathered for a meal. Woman taking a roasted meat from oven and putting it on table for large family in France to eat. Members of a union seated around a table. A coal miner works in a mine. A man plows a field.
Soviet Civil Defense primer illustrating civilian protection and post-bombing recovery, in World War 2. Soviet antiaircraft guns firing and searchlights combing the sky. Animated view of German Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber illuminated by searchlights. Scene shifts to interior of a bomb shelter where women and men appear relaxed. Suddenly they all rise and don personal gas masks. Persons from outside being carefully admitted to a special shelter through an airtight door. They are examined as they enter. Some are medically treated. Outdoors, workers in protective gear sprinkle material on hazardous areas. Citizens are permitted out of a shelter, while still wearing their gas masks. Hazmat teams decontaminate areas outside using water and special chemicals. They wash building exteriors and dispense chemicals from a truck. Recovery workers reinforce a building containing a bomb shelter and then work rapidly to clear away debris from the shelter doorway. Workers in a steel mill resume normal wartime production.
Italian refugees from Anzio in Naples, Italy during World War II. A man holds a young girl. Italian refugees seated on a road side. One of them holds a small child. They talk to each other. Evacuees load their personnel belongings on a truck under the direction of U.S. and British Military Policemen. The refugees loading their belongings. They board the truck. Italian refugees with their belongings in the truck. The truck loaded with Italian refugees departs.
Italian refugees from Anzio in Naples, Italy during World War II. Evacuees load their personnel belongings on a truck under the direction of U.S. and British Military Policemen. A man with a cigarette in his mouth boards the truck. The refugees board the truck with their belongings. The truck loaded with refugees departs. A Military Policeman (MP) stands near a truck. Another MP walks up to the truck and lowers a ramp. Italian refugees load their personnel belongings on the truck. The truck departs. The truck drives on a road. Buildings in the background.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy ©2026 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2026 CriticalPast LLC.