Title: The Marshall Plan
Headings: The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan
A Post-WWII Economic-Aid Program
Europe: Immediate Post-War Period
Appointment of George Marshall
The Creation of the Marshall Plan
Participating Nations
Legacy of the Marshall Plan

Content: The Marshall Plan
Humanities › History & Culture
The Marshall Plan
A Post-WWII Economic-Aid Program
US President Harry Truman (left) shakes hands with Secretary of State George Marshall (right), 1947. Hulton Archive / Getty Images
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Jennifer Goss is a Holocaust historian and history educator. She serves as a consultant for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the USC Shoah Foundation. our editorial process
Jennifer L. Goss
Updated January 23, 2020
Initially announced in 1947, the Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored economic-aid program to help Western European countries recover following World War II. Officially named the European Recovery Program (ERP), it soon became known as the Marshall Plan for its creator, Secretary of State George C. Marshall. The beginnings of the plan were announced on June 5, 1947, during a speech by Marshall at Harvard University, but it wasn’t until April 3, 1948, that it was signed into law. The Marshall Plan provided an estimated $13 billion in aid to 17 countries over a four-year period. Ultimately, however, the Marshall Plan was replaced by the Mutual Security Plan at the end of 1951. Europe: Immediate Post-War Period
The six years of World War II took a heavy toll on Europe, devastating both the landscape and the infrastructure.