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The Marshall Plan was one of the first elements of European integration, as it erased trade barriers and set up institutions to coordinate the economy on a continental level—that is, it stimulated the total political reconstruction of Western Europe. [25]
Marshall Plan, formally European Recovery Program (1948–51), U.S.-sponsored program advocated by Secretary of State George C. Marshall to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in order to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive.
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II.
On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe.
American leaders, particularly Acheson, diplomat and director of policy planning for the State Department George Kennan, Marshall, and President Harry Truman feared that parties and organizations backed by the Soviet Union could ascend to power in the vulnerable European nations.
The Marshall Plan generated a resurgence of European industrialization and brought extensive investment into the region. It was also a stimulant to the U.S. economy by establishing markets for American goods.
Below are links to resources related to the background and operation of the Marshall Plan. These include primary sources (documents, speeches, films, videos, and interviews) as well as commentaries on the Plan that place it in helpful historical context.
The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored program implemented after World War II to help European countries that had been destroyed in the conflict.
Due to the slow progress of Europe’s economic development following WWII, Truman devised another plan to offer aid called the Marshall Plan. The plan was named after Secretary of State George Marshall due to Truman’s respect for his military achievements.
On June 5, 1947, in a commencement address at Harvard University, Secretary of State George C. Marshall first called for American assistance in restoring the economic infrastructure of Europe. Western Europe responded favorably, and the Truman administration proposed legislation.