President Harry Truman signed the European Recovery Act into law on April 3, 1948. The Marshall Plan, as it’s more commonly known, was intended to revive the economies of war-torn Western Europe. Extending nearly $13 billion to primarily France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and West Germany, the program was an ambitious foreign aid effort and an unprecedented display of U.S. global power. Written by Ryan Metz. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this video and podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/marshall-plan . Video production by Katherine Weiss, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit origins.osu.edu .
