The Marshall plan

• World War 2 is over but Europe is in ruins
• European Recovery Plan (Marshall Plan)


  Sought to restore the European economy by giving foreign aid to countries that needed it
• The Marshall Plan was a brilliant move to win the peace by George C. Marshall, its creator
• George C. Marshall


  • Career military man
  • Served as the Army's chief of staff during the war
  • One of the key figures behind the Allied victory
  • Retired from the Army at the end of the war
  • Appointed Secretary of State in 1947
• The Marshall Plan


  1. From April 1948 to December 1951, the United States shipped food, fuel, machinery and money to European countries

  2. The goal was to help them get back on their feet after the devastation of the war
• By investing in the economies of European countries

  The U.S. helped create new markets for its exports
• The U.S. wanted to isolate the Soviet Union


  To keep it from expanding its sphere of influence beyond Eastern Europe
• Countries that received Marshall Plan Aid


  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Greece
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Luxembourg
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • The United Kingdom
  • West Germany
• The USSR didn't trust the U.S. intentions with the Marshall Plan and forbade Poland and Czechoslovakia from receiving American aid
• The Marshall Plan worked - the gross national product of Marshall Plan countries grew as much as 25 percent
• The Marshall Plan put Western European industry back on its feet and the American export economy boomed
• The Marshall Plan contained Soviet influence and communism to Eastern Europe
• In 1953, George Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts
• Young people in large numbers came out and joined what became known as the Red Guards, which were used to publicly humiliate, assault and in some cases even murder political enemies of Mao and the Communist Party