What was the purpose of the Marshall Plan?

After World War II ended, the Soviet Union and the United States entered into a period of time known as the Cold War. The Cold War was a period time when the two countries had a series of confrontations and competitions. The Soviet Union wanted to spread communism to several places in Europe and in Asia after World War II ended. We wanted to keep communism from spreading.

To help prevent communism from spreading, the United States developed plans and took actions to accomplish this goal. One such idea was called the European Recovery Program. It was also known as the Marshall Plan. The European Recovery Program offered aid to nations that were fighting the spread of communism. For example, Greece and Turkey received aid to help their economies. Neither country became communist. We believed a strong economy was the best way to keep communism from spreading. In total, $13 billion was spent to help European economies and European countries between 1948-1951. The European Recovery Program was one example of our actions to help try to keep communism from spreading.