On This Day in History: The Marshall Plan Was Presented at Harvard in 1947

On 5 June 1947, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall outlined an idea at Harvard University that would become history's most renowned European reconstruction programme. The Marshall Plan helped post-war Europe rebuild economically.

On 5 June 1947, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall took the stage at Harvard University and presented a plan that would alter the course of European history. The speech he delivered that day contained the idea of massive American economic aid to war-devastated Europe – a concept that would become known in history as the Marshall Plan.

The United States' European Recovery Programme was formally launched in 1948 and ran until 1952. Over those four years, the US directed approximately 13 billion dollars towards revitalizing the economies of Western European countries – in today's terms, a sum worth several hundred billion dollars. Aid was provided to, among others, the UK, France, West Germany, Italy, and many other nations.

The Marshall Plan's objective was not merely humanitarian aid. The US also saw it as a strategic tool to contain the spread of communism – economically stable nations were less susceptible to Soviet influence. The Soviet Union refused to participate in the programme and pressured Eastern European countries to reject the aid as well.

To this day, the Marshall Plan remains one of the most praised foreign policy initiatives in history, regarded as a model for international cooperation and post-war reconstruction. George C. Marshall himself was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, in part for this very plan.