To what extent did the Marshall Plan help Western Europe in the midst of post-World War II devastation?A. Survey Plan As one of the main theaters of World War II, Western Europe was completely devastated. Financial conditions were bleak and this area was considered the most susceptible to communism. Not only was it geographically closest to the Soviet threat, it was also the most vulnerable socially. This investigation will attempt to answer the following question: To what extent did the Marshall Plan help Western Europe in the midst of post-World War II devastation? Two major sources, including Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 by Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley and The USA and the Cold War, 1945-63 by Oliver Edwards, will be evaluated based on their origin, purpose, value, and limits. This essay will focus on how, through the economic aid of the Marshall Plan, America was able to prevent further Soviet expansion westward into Europe and restore power to the great powers of Western Europe. This essay, however, will not evaluate initial congressional and public resistance to the plan and the change in public opinion or Soviet rejection of the Marshall Plan, and the origins of European division and the Cold War. By stimulating Western Europe's post-World War II recovery through American economic aid, the United States was able to protect the capitalist nature of Western European governments from further Soviet expansion and political capture. Evidence Summary Marshall Plan aid accelerated the economic recovery of Western European nations after the utter desolation of World War II. During its four years of operation, the Marshall Plan sent $13 billion in aid to 16 countries of Western Europe. In... half of the article... inserted by the author Oliver Edwards in the rest of the chapter, a secondary source, concerning the execution of the Marshall Plan. Furthermore, the evaluation provides numerous statistics regarding the implementation of the program and how Western Europe was helped economically. Despite its apparent value, this book is limited in the Marshall Plan content it provides. Although critically analyzed, the Marshall Plan content in this book is limited in perspective, as it focuses heavily on the Soviet reaction and rejection of the Plan, thus limiting the amount of information applicable to this essay; this is a clear contradiction to the scope of this assessment. However, this lack of multiple perspectives is made up for by Ambrose and Brinkley's Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 and other supplementary sources..