The Marshall Plan
post-war recovery
The Problem
Signed by President Truman on April 3, 1948, the Marshall Plan detailed the needs of a war-torn Europe. Western Europe was in dire need of supplies and reconstruction after World War II, and the United States was called upon to aid the people in the aftermath of the war. The Marshall Plan was constructed in one of the biggest plans in history to transfer resources from one country to another.
Why the United States?
The United States was considered to be the least effected Allied country that was heavily involved in WWII, because it was the most physically isolated from the rest of the warring countries. Because of the US's status as a world superpower, along with their admirable recovery after the Great Depression, the United States was seen as an ideal country to provide aid to the rest of the Allies. Secretary of State George C Marshall originally proposed economic aid to these countries, and received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1948 for his efforts.
Did It Work?
The aid was initially offered to the Soviet Union and its allies as well as the allies of the United States, but they refused to take it and was therefore uneffective in that part of the world. The United States donated around $15 billion to European countries in an effort for reconstruction, until it was replaced by the Mutual Security plan in 1951.
The countries aided by the United States drastically improved to pre-war levels, along with improvements in economic modernization. It is not clear that all of this improvement is credited to the Marshall Plan itself, and there is no way of knowing how the Western European countries would have fared without it. The main significance of the Marshall Plan is that it reflected the power of the United States, and the diplomacy of which a post-war world was handled by the world superpowers.