The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet communism.[1] The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. The initiative was named after Secretary of State George Marshall. The plan had bipartisan support in Washington, where the Republicans controlled Congress and the Democrats controlled the White House. The Plan was largely the creation of State Department officials, especially William L. Clayton and George F. Kennan. Marshall spoke of urgent need to help the European recovery in his address at Harvard University in June 1947
Expenditures
The Marshall Plan aid was divided amongst the participant states on a roughly per capita basis. A larger amount was given to the major industrial powers, as the prevailing opinion was that their resuscitation was essential for general European revival. Somewhat more aid per capita was also directed towards the Allied nations, with less for those that had been part of the Axis or remained neutral. The table below shows Marshall Plan aid by country and year (in millions of dollars) from The Marshall Plan Fifty Years Later. There is no clear consensus on exact amounts, as different scholars differ on exactly what elements of American aid during this period were part of the Marshall Plan. Country 1948/49 ($ millions) 1949/50 ($ millions) 1950/51 ($ millions) Cumulative ($ millions) Austria 232 166 70 468 Belgium and Luxembourg 195 222 360 777 Denmark 103 87 195 385 France 1085 691 520 2296 Germany 510 438 500 1448 Greece 175 156 45 376 Iceland 6 22 15 43 Ireland 88 45 0 133 Italy and Trieste 594 405 205 1204 Netherlands 471 302 355 1128 Norway 82 90 200 372 Portugal 0 0 70 70 Sweden 39 48 260 347 Switzerland 0 0 250 250 Turkey 28 59 50 137 United Kingdom 1316 921 1060 3297 Totals 4,924 3,652 4,155 12,731
