Part 006 - PAMPHLET 037 006

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selling surplus goods at high prices. Taking advantage of the war, it became the greatest creditor nation in the world. In this way US imperialism came to occupy a dominant position in the capitalist world economically and militarily, and this was an important factor in the process of change in the capitalist world following the second world war. After the war the US monopoly capitalists were con- fronted with a vital problem: how to maintain their colossal munitions industry, and what to do with their tremendous amount of surplus capital. The US imperialists clamoured about a "communist threat" in order to provide an excuse for continuing to expand their munitions industry, adopted the policy of a cold war that was directed against the socialist countries and increased international tension, under the pretext of protecting the "free world". This was essentially the "Truman Doctrine". Meanwhile, in order to avoid an economic crisis and dispose of their surplus capital, they carried out the policy of gaining hold of the economies of the major capitalist countries in Europe by means of capital investment in the name of "aiding" their economic recovery from the ravages of war. This was what they called the "Marshall Plan". In this way US imperialism acquired a firm grip on the capitalist world militarily and controlled it economically, while clinging more and more to an aggressive policy in order to check the growing socialist forces and materialize its ambition for world conquest. Drawing on developed technology and superior economic strength the monopoly capital of the United States intensified its inroads into other countries and established multinational companies by setting up daughter companies in various countries. In the 1960s many multinational companies based 2