On this day, 78 years ago, June 5, 1947 (April 17, 1947 in the lunar calendar), the Marshall Plan was proposed. As this poster posted by the French Communists shows, biased aid would split Europe. In World War II, the Western European economy suffered great damage, and post-war recovery and reconstruction were very difficult. A rare severe cold hit Western Europe from late 1946 to early 1947, bringing the Western European economy to the brink of collapse. Western European countries hope to receive U.S. assistance to save economic collapse and political crisis. The United States also attaches great importance to the issue of aid to Europe. In early 1947, the State Council established a special committee to study providing economic, financial, technical and military assistance to Europe. On May 23, after discussion and research, the State Council's Policy Design Office submitted a report written by Kennan, which analyzed the issues of Western European rejuvenation and U.S. aid from a standpoint different from the Truman Doctrine. On June 5, 1947, Marshall took the opportunity of attending the Harvard University graduation ceremony and accepting an honorary degree to deliver a speech based on Kennan's report and put forward a proposal for the United States to help Europe's rejuvenation, namely the Marshall Plan. The economic conference to discuss the Marshall Plan was held in Paris from July 12 to 15, with the participation of 16 European countries except the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies and Spain. They proposed a mutual aid and self-help plan to the United States as a counterpart to U.S. financial assistance. On December 19, the Truman administration proposed the "Economic Cooperation Act" to Congress based on the General Report of the Committee for European Economic Cooperation. After discussion by the National Assembly, the Foreign Aid Act of 1948 was approved and passed. The bill stipulates that the United States will provide US$6.8 billion in sponsorship to Europe over 15 months and will guarantee annual aid payments for the next three years. The Marshall Plan was officially implemented. Until the end of 1952. This map shows the countries in Europe that participated in the Marshall Plan. Although Eastern European countries failed to participate due to Soviet obstruction, almost all Western European countries joined the European Recovery Plan at its beginning in June 1948. West Germany joined the plan a year later after regaining some degree of autonomy.