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Originally Posted by crucifissio
The US gave out loan shark "aid" and made serious bank...it waited until its allies were hurting badly and made them sell assets well below market value and gave cash out with huge interest...the UK re-payed the debt in 2006 
saying the US help pay rebuild anything is not exactly true... |
You obviously have an agenda in making that claim, but it doesn't really reflect the realities of the Marshall Plan. While it probably wasn't the sole driver of European recovery that some folks claimed it was, it was a massive help in rebuilding infrastructure and leading towards economic/political stability in a time of huge transition.
Much of the funds were full-on grant subsidies, not to be repaid. The other actual loans were low-interest. Quality of life & stability in Western Europe increased dramatically. The USA obviously had some of their own selfish interests at stake in providing this aid, but any real student of postwar period history knows that it was a huge help and that the European landscape might have looked quite a bit different without it.