To try and make sure that what happened in Germany and Europe after World War I and the economic turmoil it produced, the United States instituted the European Recovery Program, more popularly called the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan, suggested by former Army Chief of Staff and then current Secretary of State George C. Marshall, provided economic assistance to Western European nations (the Soviet Union and eastern Europe opted out) to boost the post-war economy, promote trade, and rebuild the shattered continent. The Marshall program distributed over $12 billion dollars to the rebuilding of Europe.
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