European Recovery Program assistance is said to have contributed to more positive morale in Europe and to political and economic stability, which helped diminish the strength of domestic communist parties. Historians cite the impact of the Marshall Plan on the political development of some European countries and on U.S.-Europe relations. At the completion of the Marshall Plan period, European agricultural and industrial production were markedly higher, the balance of trade and related “dollar gap” much improved, and significant steps had been taken toward trade liberalization and economic integration. While, in some cases, a direct connection can be drawn between American assistance and a positive outcome, for the most part, the Marshall Plan may be viewed best as a stimulus that set off a chain of events leading to a range of accomplishments. private investment, and approved the use of local currency matching funds.Īccomplishments. It also provided technical assistance to promote productivity, offered guaranties to encourage U.S. The ECA provided dollar assistance to Europe to purchase commodities-food, fuel, and machinery-and leveraged funds for specific projects, especially those to develop and rehabilitate infrastructure. The latter helped ensure that participants fulfilled their joint obligations to adopt policies encouraging trade and increased production. Two agencies implemented the program, the U.S.-managed Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) and the European-run Organization for European Economic Cooperation. The Truman Administration and Congress worked together to formulate the European Recovery Program, which eventually provided roughly $13.3 billion ($143 billion in 2017 dollars) of assistance to 16 countries. Prior to formulation of a program of assistance, the United States required that European nations agree on a financial proposal, including a plan of action committing Europe to take steps toward solving its economic problems. The Marshall Plan was a joint effort between the United States and Europe and among European nations working together. Since its conclusion, some Members of Congress and others have periodically recommended establishment of new “Marshall Plans”-for Central America, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere.ĭesign. An effort to prevent the economic deterioration of postwar Europe, expansion of communism, and stagnation of world trade, the Plan sought to stimulate European production, promote adoption of policies leading to stable economies, and take measures to increase trade among European countries and between Europe and the rest of the world.
The Marshall Plan-launched in a speech delivered by Secretary of State George Marshall on June 5, 1947-is considered by many to have been the most effective ever of U.S.
assistance to Europe during the period 1948-1951. The European Recovery Program (ERP), more commonly known as the Marshall Plan (the Plan), was a program of U.S.