What was the Marshall Plan, and why was it initiated?

Marshall Plan, Popularly referred by this name after
George C. Marshall (1880-1959), an American Soldier and statesman who proposed it, was
set up in 1948 by the United States to help the nations of Western Europe to rebuild
their economies from the effects of destruction caused by World War II. The official
name of the plan is the European Recovery Program.

Under
this plan, the United States spent billions of dollars to rebuild war-torn western
Europe. In addition to the direct financial help the plan helped the participating
countries in their recovery by encouraging them work together cooperatively.  As a
result of success of Marshall Plan, by early 1950's most of the participating countries
were producing more than the pre-war levels. Marshall played an important role in
implementing this plan and was awarded the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize for this
work.

Under this plan, the United States agreed to aid
Europe if the countries would meet to decide what they needed. The work under Marshall
Plan began in April 1948, with USA establishing the Economic Cooperation Administration
(ECA) to administer foreign aid.  Seventeen nations formed the Organization for European
Economic Cooperation (OEEC) to assist the ECA and develop cooperation among its
members.  From 1948 to 1952  United States sent food, machinery, and other products to
Europe, worth about 13 billion U.S. dollars.