Changes

When the [[Joseph Stalin]], Communist dictator of the Soviet Union refused to participate or allow any of his satellites in eastern Europe participate, the plan became exclusive to western Europe. Europe split along East-West lines that defined the [[Cold War]].  Named after U.S. Secretary of State [[George Marshall]], the plan was designed and operated by State Department officials, especially [[Dean Acheson]] in 1947 and began in 1948 when the Republican-controlled Congress authorized the program and the money. The Marshall Plan ended in late 1951, when it gave way to the Mutual Security Program, which combined economic and military aid.  

When the [[Joseph Stalin]], Communist dictator of the Soviet Union refused to participate or allow any of his satellites in eastern Europe participate, the plan became exclusive to western Europe. Europe split along East-West lines that defined the [[Cold War]].  Named after U.S. Secretary of State [[George Marshall]], the plan was designed and operated by State Department officials, especially [[Dean Acheson]] in 1947 and began in 1948 when the Republican-controlled Congress authorized the program and the money. The Marshall Plan ended in late 1951, when it gave way to the Mutual Security Program, which combined economic and military aid.  

Historians no longer argue that the Marshall Plan was essential for Europe's recovery, but rather that its political and  psychological impact was decisive in shaping Western Europe. The powerful combination of ERP and NATO gave Europe the assurance of America's commitment to the security and prosperity of Western Europe, and helped the recipients avoid the pessimism and despair that characterized the aftermath of World War I. The Marshall Plan thus created in Europe an unstoppable "revolution of rising expectations," the striking phrase coined in 1950 by Harlan Cleveland, an economist and senior ERP official.

[[Image:M-plan$.JPG|thumb|420px]] Historians no longer argue that the Marshall Plan was essential for Europe's recovery, but rather that its political and  psychological impact was decisive in shaping Western Europe. The powerful combination of ERP and NATO gave Europe the assurance of America's commitment to the security and prosperity of Western Europe, and helped the recipients avoid the pessimism and despair that characterized the aftermath of World War I. The Marshall Plan thus created in Europe an unstoppable "revolution of rising expectations," the striking phrase coined in 1950 by Harlan Cleveland, an economist and senior ERP official.

==Origins==

==Origins==