[Demidog]

Just in case you missed it, the East Germans were ruled by the Soviets during that time, and the Marshall plan didn't apply.....

The Marshall plan is exactly WHY the east Germans were ruled by the Soviets.

[r9etb]

The Marshall plan is exactly WHY the east Germans were ruled by the Soviets.

You can't possibly believe that.

I must at this point confess my utter amazement. You, of all people, playing the "poor victimized Soviets were just reacting to the Western threat" card -- it's a shocking development, to say the least.

[Miss Marple]

On February 25, 1948, the West reacted in shock to a Soviet-led coup in Czechoslovakia. As a result of that coup, opposition to the Marshall Plan, which was said by opponents to hamper domestic recovery, was curtailed.

East Germany was under Communist control because the Soviets had advanced into German territory from the west. They controlled the territory and therefore controlled the type of government East Germany had. The Marshall Plan, which wasn't instituted until 1948, had nothing to do with why East Germany was communist.

It is hard to take the criticism of President Bush seriously when people casually demonstrate their lack of basic historical knowledge.