307Z Winter 2026 The Marshall Plan and European Recovery after World War II

The year 1947 was horrific for Europe. World War II had ended two years earlier and the destruction of the war had left cities in ruins and economies destroyed. Crop failure in the 1947 “hunger winter” added to the misery. People were cold and hungry. Conditions were ripe for Communist parties in European countries to take over. Stalin had plans. But those plans were blocked when American Secretary of State George Marshall led the U.S.to launch the European Recovery program. Commonly known as the Marshall Plan, American aid in the years 1948-1951 enabled European countries not only to rebuild, but to achieve levels of economic development higher even than pre-war levels. The United States invested over seventeen billion dollars in the four years of the plan. Most of that money actually was spent in the U.S., paying farmers for food and paying industries for technical equipment sent to Europe. Europe was saved from Communist takeover. It was a great American achievement.