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The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored program designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in order to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive in the aftermath of World War II. It was formally called the European Recovery Program.On the basis of a unified plan for western European economic reconstruction presented by a committee representing 16 countries, the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of the European Recovery Program, which was signed into law by U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman on April 3, 1948. Aid was originally offered to almost all European countries, including those under military occupation by the Soviet Union. The Soviets early on withdrew from participation in the plan, however, and were soon followed by the other eastern European nations under their influence.The Marshall Plan was very successful. The western European countries involved experienced a rise in their gross national products of 15 to 25 percent during this period. The plan contributed greatly to the rapid renewal of the western European chemical, engineering, and steel industries. Truman extended the Marshall Plan to less-developed countries throughout the world under the Point Four Program, initiated in 1949.Following World War II, the nations of Europe, whether they won or lost, were devastated and exhausted socially and economically. In addition, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s top superpowers in contention with each other to prove whose ideology was superior. The fight between capitalism and communism escalated immediately following the war and each nation did all that it could do to gain the upper hand. On June 5, 1947, George Marshall gave a speech at the Harvard University commencement ceremonies explaining how the U.S. should help Europe regain economic stability.Learn more about World War 2 :https://brainly.com/question/3900276
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