Title: Marshall Plan
Headings: Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
Introduction
Background
The Economic Cooperation Act
Non-European countries affected

Content: The Allies got nowhere with Russia on peace treaties, because they had been unable to agree on how that vacuum should be filled. The American view was that new and liberalized political governments should rise from the totalitarian rubble. The former Axis countries would remain demilitarized and under close allied supervision, but would otherwise enjoy national independence. The Soviets under Stalin were determined to see new regimes emerge that would be dominated by communists subservient to Moscow. That would give the Kremlin effective control over the military and industrial power of those countries, and it would help them to dominate surrounding regions as well. The Economic Cooperation Act
In a speech on June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall proposed that European nations should create a plan for their economic reconstruction and that the United States would provide economic assistance. In practical application, the proposal involved the constructive solution of thousands of detailed problems of international life. While attempting to go ahead with the program, the American government found itself temporarily blocked by the inability of the other Allies to reach agreement on the terms of treaties of peace with the major axis countries: Germany and Japan. On December 19, 1947, President Harry S. Truman sent a message to Congress that followed Marshall’s ideas to provide economic aid to Europe.