On June 5, 1947, Secretary of State, George C. Marshall made a speech outlining his Economic Recovery Plan for Europe. The message was 'help' but the underlying message was containment of Communism. The 13.3 billion was to be given by the United States for the European Recovery and Rebuilding plan. In his speech, Marshall introduced the well-known 'Domino Theory', which states if one nation falls to Communism, surrounding nations will also fall, just like dominoes. Providing assistance to these people could enable the stabilization of their currency and rebuilding of their lives and infrastructure. The Soviets were rushing to fill the vacuums created in Germany, Japan, Greece and Turkey, in order to control these countries. The aid was economic and the goal was to return these people to their former self-sufficiency but the ultimate goal was to contain Communism.
