Title: Marshall Plan Definition
Headings: Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
What Was the Marshall Plan?
Key Takeaways
Understanding the Marshall Plan
History of the Marshall Plan
Examples of the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan FAQs
How Did the Marshall Plan Generate Economic Growth?
Was the Marshall Plan Successful?
How Did the Marshall Plan Impact the World Bank?
What Was the Molotov Plan?
What Did the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan Have in Common?
Article Sources

Content: He earned his Master of Arts and his Doctor of Philosophy in English literature at New York University. Learn about our editorial policies
Will Kenton
Updated Apr 26, 2021
What Was the Marshall Plan? The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored program that was implemented following the end of World War II. It was intended to aid European countries that had been destroyed as a result of the war, and it was laid out by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall during an address at Harvard University in 1947. The plan was authorized by Congress as the European Recovery Program (ERP). Key Takeaways
The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored program implemented following the end of World War II, granting $13 billion in foreign aid to European countries that had been devastated physically and economically by World War II. U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall, who laid out the Marshall Plan, believed that the stability of European governments depended on the economic stability of the people. By the time the Marshall Plan ended, in 1951, all the countries who received aid saw their economies grow to better than prewar levels. The Soviet Union believed that the Marshall Plan was a way to meddle in the internal affairs of European countries; this belief prevented Soviet satellite countries from accepting assistance from the United States.