The Marshall Plan rebuilt European countries' economies after the devasation of World War II.
Explanation/context:
The "Marshall Plan" was named after the man who then was US Secretary of State, George C. Marshall. Officially the plan was called the European Recovery Program. Marshall announced the plan in 1947, and it went into effect in 1948. The intent was to provide aid and rebuilding to European economies after the damaging effects of World War II. Eastern bloc countries, however, rejected the plan, so it ended up as a plan that benefited Western European nations and not Eastern European nations.
In his speech introducing the plan, Secretary Marshall had said: "Our policy is not directed against any country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Any government that is willing to assist in recovery will find full co-operation on the part of the United States. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist."
The view in the communist-controlled Eastern bloc was that the US was trying to use such a policy to spread its influence and threaten their patterns of government under communism. So the plan ended up building allies for the US in Western Europe, while the Eastern European countries sided with the Soviet Union.
In this story, we learn about the experiences of the Kataoka family. They were one of the Japanese families that suffered through the experience of internment camps during World War II.
Before this experience, the Kataoka were renting land from Mrs. Perkins, who came to really value and appreciate them. When the Kataokas had to leave their home, Mrs. Perkins cooked for them and refused to let them help, as a sign of appreciation. Moreover, when she went to visit them at the camp, she helped them cover the damp, dirty floor and took a broken watch to have it repaired.
D. The French won most of the Ohio River Valley Area.
