Which postwar plan funded Europe's reconstruction and accounted for a notable share of oil imports in 1948?

• A. New Deal
• B. Marshall Plan
• C. Truman Doctrine
• D. Atlantic Charter

Answer: (B)

This question centers on a major postwar aid effort that funded Europe’s reconstruction and boosted energy imports during the late 1940s. The program that did this is the Marshall Plan. Officially known as the European Recovery Program, it was proposed in 1947 and launched in 1948 to help Western European economies rebuild after World War II. By providing about $13 billion in economic aid, it financed the rebuilding of factories, infrastructure, and industries, stabilized currencies, and encouraged trade among nations.

A key effect was driving Western Europe’s demand for energy and other goods from the United States, with oil imports rising significantly in the first years of the plan. This assistance helped restore production and economic stability, which is why the Marshall Plan is the best fit for describing both reconstruction funding and its impact on oil imports in that period.

The other options don’t match this combination of postwar reconstruction funding and a strong link to energy imports: the New Deal was a domestic program from the 1930s, the Truman Doctrine aimed at containing communism rather than rebuilding economies, and the Atlantic Charter was a wartime declaration about postwar aims rather than a reconstruction aid program.