Did the Marshall Plan Cover the Expectation: Turkey’s Entanglement in Agricultural Development in the 1950s

In the midst of the 1940s, Turkish policymakers shifted policy paradigm from inward-oriented economic policy, which aimed at setting up industrialization in the economy, to outward-oriented policies, which is so-called agricultural development fueled by the international organizations, such as the IMF and World Bank. Initially, Turkish policymakers had pondered on industrial plans, which was fueled with foreign resources in the post-war era. Despite their hopes, the Marshall Plan did not meet expectations, as Turkey was intended to serve as the agricultural supplier, so-called the breadbasket, for Western Europe. In the perception of Turkish policymakers, the Marshall Plan served two main goals. First and foremost, it invigorated the Turkish economy with overseas capital and rendered technical assistance, comprising both machinery and skilled know-how. Additionally, it was anticipated that this would lead to an enhancement of the nation's infrastructure capabilities. Second, The Marshall Plan, in the imagination of Turkish policymakers, was the way to be part of the liberal world order led the USA after the WWII.

This presentation will delve into the motivations and mechanisms that prompted Turkish policymakers to move away from inward-oriented industrialization, which depended on domestic savings, towards an outward-oriented agricultural development model that was bolstered by foreign capital in the late 1940s. Although the Marshall Plan assigned Turkey the function of an agricultural country, Turkish policymakers circumvented this specified role within the initiative. Between the hammer of the international order and the national policy preferences, they looked for a way out to perform both industrial policy and the agricultural development program. In this sense, Turkey’s entanglement in the agricultural development illustrates the dichotomy between the developing world and international organizations.