The Dawes plan, instituted at the end of World War One, was a plan to enable Germany to pay the reparations imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles. It called for evacuation of the Ruhr valley by Allied troops and for the United States to furnish economic aid to Germany. The end result was the rapid recovery of the German economy; however the reparations were still more than Germany could pay, and the plan was replaced with the Young Plan, which was more workable.

The Marshall plan was not a plan for reparations payment but rather a plan to reconstruct those European countries whose economy and infrastructure had been destroyed during World War II. Its purpose was to modernize European economies, reduce trade barriers, and instill hope for the future.