Page "Marshall Plan" Paragraph 42

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 of Soviet control over the region, the Czechoslovakian foreign minister, Jan Masaryk, was summoned to Moscow and berated by Stalin for thinking of joining the Marshall Plan.

Polish Prime minister Józef Cyrankiewicz was rewarded by Stalin for the Polish rejection of the Plan.

Russia rewarded Poland with a lucrative five-year trade agreement, the equivalent of 450 million 1948 dollars in credit, 200, 000 tons of grain, heavy machinery, and factories.