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

Content: The Soviet Union's hegemony over Eastern Europe, and the vulnerability of Western European countries to continued Soviet expansionism, sharpened the sense of crisis. Rooted in FDR's Four Freedoms Speech, the Marshall Plan was not originally intended to be a weapon to fight communism, but it became a bulwark of American foreign policy to manage communist containment on the Continent, as outlined in the Truman Doctrine, during the Cold War. Instrumental in crafting the Marshall Plan was George Kennan, leader of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff under Marshall and Acheson. Kennan was charged with the responsibility for long-term planning. Background
The demise of Axis political and military power left a vacuum in the areas of international life where that power had asserted itself. 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.