<P> Initially, Stalin maneuvered to kill the Plan, or at least hamper it by means of destructive participation in the Paris talks regarding conditions . He quickly realized, however, that this would be impossible after Molotov reported--following his arrival in Paris in July 1947--that conditions for the credit were non-negotiable . Looming as just as large a concern was the Czechoslovak eagerness to accept the aid, as well as indications of a similar Polish attitude . </P> <P> Stalin suspected a possibility that these Eastern Bloc countries might defy Soviet directives not to accept the aid, potentially causing a loss of control of the Eastern Bloc . In addition, the most important condition was that every country choosing to take advantage of the plan would need to have its economic situation independently assessed--a level of scrutiny to which the Soviets could not agree . Bevin and Bidault also insisted that any aid be accompanied by the creation of a unified European economy, something incompatible with the strict Soviet command economy . </P> <P> Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov left Paris, rejecting the plan . Thereafter, statements were made suggesting a future confrontation with the West, calling the United States both a "fascizing" power and the "center of worldwide reaction and anti-Soviet activity," with all U.S. - aligned countries branded as enemies . The Soviets also then blamed the United States for communist losses in elections in Belgium, France and Italy months earlier, in the spring of 1947 . It claimed that "marshallization" must be resisted and prevented by any means, and that French and Italian communist parties were to take maximum efforts to sabotage the implementation of the Plan . In addition, Western embassies in Moscow were isolated, with their personnel being denied contact with Soviet officials . </P> <P> On July 12, a larger meeting was convened in Paris . Every country of Europe was invited, with the exceptions of Spain (a World War II neutral that had sympathized with Axis powers) and the small states of Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, and Liechtenstein . The Soviet Union was invited with the understanding that it would likely refuse . The states of the future Eastern Bloc were also approached, and Czechoslovakia and Poland agreed to attend . In one of the clearest signs and reflections of tight Soviet control and domination over the region, Jan Masaryk, the foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, was summoned to Moscow and berated by Stalin for considering Czechoslovakia's possible involvement with and joining of the Marshall Plan . The prime minister of Poland, Józef Cyrankiewicz, was rewarded by Stalin for his country's rejection of the Plan, which came in the form of the Soviet Union's offer of a lucrative trade agreement lasting for a period of five years, a grant amounting to the approximate equivalent of $450 million (in 1948; the sum would have been $4.4 billion in 2014) in the form of long - term credit and loans and the provision of 200,000 tonnes of grain, heavy and manufacturing machinery and factories and heavy industries to Poland . </P>

What was the long march equivalent to in the united states