Notably, invitations were extended to the Soviet Union and its satellite states. The reconstruction coordinated under the Marshall Plan was formulated following a meeting of the participating European states in the latter half of 1947. In fact, it could be argued that the only world power not structurally damaged by the conflict had been the United States. In addition, the region’s transportation infrastructure-railways, electric utilities, port facilities, roads, bridges and airports-had suffered extensive damage during airstrikes and artillery attacks, and the shipping fleets of many countries had been sunk. Reports provided to Marshall suggested that some regions of the continent were on the brink of famine because agricultural and other food production had been disrupted by the fighting. Many cities-including the industrial and cultural centers of London, Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, Liverpool, Birmingham and Hamburg-had been partly or wholly destroyed. Post-war Europe was in dire straits: Millions of its citizens had been killed or seriously wounded in World War II, and in related atrocities such as the Holocaust.
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