<Li> Signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on April 3, 1948 </Li> <P> The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $12 billion (nearly $100 billion in 2016 US dollars) in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II . The plan was in operation for four years beginning on April 3, 1948 . The goals of the United States were to rebuild war - torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of Communism . The Marshall Plan required a lessening of interstate barriers, a dropping of many regulations, and encouraged an increase in productivity, trade union membership, as well as the adoption of modern business procedures . </P> <P> The Marshall Plan aid was divided amongst the participant states roughly on a per capita basis . A larger amount was given to the major industrial powers, as the prevailing opinion was that their resuscitation was essential for general European revival . Somewhat more aid per capita was also directed towards the Allied nations, with less for those that had been part of the Axis or remained neutral . The largest recipient of Marshall Plan money was the United Kingdom (receiving about 26% of the total), followed by France (18%) and West Germany (11%). Some eighteen European countries received Plan benefits . Although offered participation, the Soviet Union refused Plan benefits, and also blocked benefits to Eastern Bloc countries, such as Hungary and Poland . The United States provided similar aid programs in Asia, but they were not part of the Marshall Plan . </P> <P> However, its role in the rapid recovery has been debated . Most reject the idea that it alone miraculously revived Europe, since the evidence shows that a general recovery was already under way . The Marshall Plan's accounting reflects that aid accounted for less than 3% of the combined national income of the recipient countries between 1948 and 1951, which means an increase in GDP growth of only 0.3% . </P>

Which countries did not receive aid from the marshall plan