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V-E Day -

On May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies, including the United States. The date became known as Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day.

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Berlin, 1945 -

When the Second World War ended, Europe lay in ruins. What's more, every major city in Germany had been targeted by Allied bombing. Pictured is Berlin, the country's devastated capital city.

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Nuremberg, 1945 -

Archives state that 45.6% of this area of the old-walled section of Nuremberg was destroyed. The scene is looking across the north bank of the Pegnitz River.

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Dresden, 1945 -

Similarly, Dresden was reduced to rubble after Allied bombing raids in February 1945.

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London, 1945 -

Large areas of London had already been flattened when Nazi Germany launched its deadly V-weapons in late 1944 and early 1945. Besides the British capital city, Antwerp and Liège in Belgium were also targeted.

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Warsaw, 1945 -

Across the continent, cities were shattered, most of their buildings reduced to scarred, empty shells. This is what Warsaw in Poland looked like.

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Economic turmoil -

Europe's economies lay in tatters. Industrial and manufacturing infrastructure like this bombed-out factory in France were rendered useless.

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Displaced populations -

In the face of such destruction, millions were made homeless. Children were orphaned, and people faced famine. The situation was dire.

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The communist threat -

Despite the flush of victory, the United States feared that the poverty, unemployment, and dislocation of the post-Second World War period was reinforcing the appeal of communist parties to voters in Western Europe.

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Fears of Soviet expansion -

In fact, in the 20 months or so since the end of hostilities, the Soviet Union's control of Eastern Europe and the vulnerability of Western European countries to Soviet expansionism heightened the sense of crisis. Pictured are Soviet troops hoisting a flag of victory over Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

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The Truman Doctrine -

President Harry S. Truman pledged that the United States would help any nation resist communism in order to prevent its spread.

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George C. Marshall -

To meet this emergency, Secretary of State George C. Marshall, in an address at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, advanced the idea of a European self-help program to be financed by the United States.

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The reconstruction plan -

The reconstruction plan, developed at a meeting of the participating European states, was drafted on the same day, June 5. It offered the same aid to the Soviet Union and its allies, but they refused to accept it.

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European Recovery Program -

On April 3, 1948, in Washington, D.C., President Truman signed into the law the European Recovery Program, the day after Congress authorized its establishment.

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Historic document -

The document has gone down in history as one of the most important ever signed into law. Pictured is the first page of the Marshall Plan.

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For European recovery -

The European Recovery Program quickly became known as the Marshall Plan after the man who'd devised the foreign aid initiative. Pictured is the labeling used on aid packages created and sent under the Marshall Plan.

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Soviets refuse offer of assistance -

After the Soviets withdrew from the European Recovery Program, other Eastern European nations under their influence followed suit. Pictured on May 9, 1945, are Soviet troops liberating Prague.

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A 17-nation program -

This left the following countries to participate in the plan: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Western Germany. The United States provided similar aid programs in Asia, but they were not part of the Marshall Plan.

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The Economic Cooperation Administration -

Under Paul G. Hoffman, seen here on the left with William Z. Foster and William Averell Harriman, the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), a specially created bureau, distributed over the next four years some US$13 billion worth of economic aid. That's equivalent to approximately $173 billion in 2024.

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Aid provided on a per capita basis -

The Marshall Plan provided aid to the recipients essentially on a per capita basis. This meant larger amounts were given to major industrial powers, such as West Germany, France, and Great Britain. Pictured is a shipment of flour on its way to Europe from New York.

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London gets the lion's share -

In fact, the largest recipient of Marshall Plan money was the United Kingdom (the nation was practically broke). It received about 26% of the total.

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France receives second largest aid package -

The next highest amount of Marshall Plan aid went to France, which received 18%.

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Germany gets third largest slice of aid -

Germany, meanwhile, received 11% of Marshall Plan aid. Pictured is the Reichstag, which was burned in 1933 when Hitler assumed power. In the foreground is a sign that shows the plan of a new Tiergarten. A Marshall Plan flag is also shown in the lower left hand side of the billboard.

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Italy gets less -

Italy, who had fought with the Axis powers alongside Nazi Germany, received less assistance per capita. The nation nonetheless benefitted from items like this, a snow plow donated by the people of Jersey City.

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Establishment of the Committee of European Economic Cooperation -

To coordinate the European participation, the 17 countries, led by the United Kingdom and France, established the Committee of European Economic Cooperation to implement the four-year recovery program. This organization was later replaced by the permanent Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), itself a nascent precursor to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Pictured are Greek workers rebuilding roads with help from Marshall Plan funding.

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Germany on the road to recovery -

A revitalized West Germany was seen by the United States as essential to economic stability in the region.

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A rebuke against communism -

Implementing the Marshall Plan could also be viewed as a rebuke of the communist government and economic system in East Germany, on the other side of what Winston Churchill famously called the "Iron Curtain" during a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in the spring of 1946.

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A regenerated Europe -

The Marshall Plan generated a resurgence of European industrialization and drew extensive investment into the region. Importantly, it supported the development of stable democratic governments in Western Europe. Pictured is one of the numerous posters created to promote the Marshall Plan in Europe.

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Acknowledging George C. Marshall -

On the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Marshall Plan, Sir Harold Caccia (right), British ambassador to the US, presented a medal struck by order of the 17-nation organization for European Economic Cooperation to General George C. Marshall in Washington, D.C. The medal bore a Latin inscription meaning "The Salvation of Europe. Peace by Land and Sea." Mrs. Marshall looks on during the presentation.

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Post-war European growth -

The Marshall Plan was very successful. The Western European countries involved experienced a rise in their gross national products of 15-25%. Indeed, the years 1948 to 1952 saw the fastest period of growth in European history.

Sources: (Britannica) (History) (Office of the Historian) (The National WWII Museum) (National Archives) (OECD)

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