Young Plan, program for settlement of German reparations debts after World War I. It was presented by the committee headed (1929-30) by Owen D. Young. After the Dawes Plan was put into operation (1924), it became apparent that Germany could not meet the huge annual payments, especially over an indefinite period of time. The Young Plan—which set the total reparations at $26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 581/2 years—was thus adopted by the Allied Powers in 1930 to supersede the Dawes Plan. Designed to substitute a definite settlement under which Germany would know the exact extent of German obligations and to reduce the payments appreciably, the Young Plan divided the annual payment, set at about $473 million, into two elements—an unconditional part (one third of the sum) and a postponable part (the remainder). The annuities were to be raised through a transportation tax and from the budget. No sooner had the plan gone into effect than Germany felt the full impact of economic depression, and a moratorium was called for the fiscal year 1931-32. When Adolf Hitler took over Germany, he defaulted on the unpaid reparations debt. After Germany's defeat in World War II, an international conference decided (1953) that Germany would pay the remaining debt only after the country was reunified. Nonetheless, West Germany paid off the principal by 1980; then in 1995, after reunification, the new German government announced it would resume payments of the interest.

Winnetka plan: see progressive education.

Townsend plan: see under Townsend, Francis Everett.

Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program, project instituted at the Paris Economic Conference (July, 1947) to foster economic recovery in certain European countries after World War II. The Marshall Plan took form when U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall urged (June 5, 1947) that European countries decide on their economic needs so that material and financial aid from the United States could be integrated on a broad scale. In Apr., 1948, President Truman signed the act establishing the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) to administer the program.

The ECA was created to promote European production, to bolster European currency, and to facilitate international trade. Another object was the containment of growing Soviet influence (through national Communist parties), especially in Czechoslovakia, France, and Italy. Paul G. Hoffman was named (Apr., 1948) economic cooperation administrator, and in the same year the participating countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, West Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States) signed an accord establishing the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (later called the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) as the master coordinating agency.

The ECA functioned until 1951, when its activities were transferred to the Mutual Security Agency. Over $12 billion was dispersed (1948-51) under the program. From the start the Soviet Union strongly opposed the Marshall Plan while the various countries in Eastern Europe denounced or ignored it. Completed in 1952, the Marshall Plan was one aspect of the foreign aid program of the United States and greatly contributed to the economic recovery of Europe.

Gary plan: see progressive education.

Five-Year Plan, Soviet economic practice of planning to augment agricultural and industrial output by designated quotas for a limited period of usually five years. Nations other than the former USSR and the Soviet bloc members, especially developing countries, have adopted such plans for four, five, or more years. Joseph Stalin, in 1928, launched the first Five-Year Plan; it was designed to industrialize the USSR in the shortest possible time and, in the process, to expedite the collectivization of farms. The plan, put into action ruthlessly, aimed at making the USSR self-sufficient and emphasized heavy industry at the expense of consumer goods. It covered the period from 1928 to 1933, but was officially considered completed in 1932. The second Five-Year Plan (1933-37) continued and expanded the first. The third plan (1938-42) was interrupted by World War II. The fourth covered the years 1946-50, the fifth 1951-55. The sixth plan (1956-60) was discarded in 1957, primarily because it overcommitted available resources and could not be fulfilled. It was replaced by a Seven-Year Plan (1959-65), which fell far short of estimated increases in agricultural (especially wheat) production. The Seven-Year Plan was considered the start of a longer period (20 years) devoted to the establishment of the material and technical basis of a Communist society. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw increased emphasis placed on consumer goods, and the 9th Five-Year Plan (1971-75) for the first time gave priority to light industry rather than heavy industry. The agricultural sector still grew far less than projected in the 10th (1976-80) and 11th (1981-85) Five-Year Plans, and overall economic performance was poor. The 12th and final Five-Year Plan (1986-90) projected increases in consumer goods and energy savings, but the economy began to slide, shrinking by 4% in 1990. The dissolution of the Soviet Union made the formation of a 13th Five-Year Plan a moot point.

Delta Plan, flood control and reclamation project, S Netherlands, in the Rhine River delta. Built in 1957-81, it involved construction of four major dikes (up to 131 ft/40 m high) across the Rhine's four estuaries on the North Sea, three auxiliary dams, and a storm-tide barrage 38 ft (11.5 m) high and 262 ft (80 m) wide across the IJssel River. The project shortened the Dutch coastline by c.440 mi (700 km), reclaimed 6,100 acres (15,000 hectares), and created a freshwater lake (33 sq mi/85 sq km). Two navigable waterways to Antwerp and to Rotterdam and Europoort were left open.

Dawes Plan, presented in 1924 by the committee headed (1923-24) by Charles G. Dawes to the Reparations Commission of the Allied nations. It was accepted the same year by Germany and the Allies. The Dawes committee consisted of ten representatives, two each from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, and the United States; it was entrusted with finding a solution for the collection of the German reparations debt, set at almost 20 billion marks. Germany had been lagging in payment of this obligation, and the Dawes Plan provided that the Ruhr area be evacuated by Allied occupation troops, that reparation payment should begin at 1 billion marks for the first year and should rise over a period of four years to 2.5 billion marks per year, that the German Reichsbank be reorganized under Allied supervision, and that the sources for the reparation money should include transportation, excise, and custom taxes. The plan went into effect in Sept., 1924. Although German business picked up and reparations payments were made promptly, it became obvious that Germany could not long continue those huge annual payments. As a result, the Young Plan was substituted in 1929.

Dalton plan: see progressive education.

Colombo Plan, international economic organization created in a cooperative attempt to strengthen the economic and social development of the nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Officially the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in Asia and the Pacific, it came into force in 1951 as the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia. There are 24 members and one provisional member, Mongolia. The original formulators of the plan were a group of seven Commonwealth nations; presently Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States are the largest donors. Assistance is given in the form of educational and health aid, training programs, loans, food supplies, equipment, and technical aid; arrangements for assistance are made directly between a donor and a recipient country. Originally conceived as lasting for a period of six years, the Colombo Plan was extended several times until 1980, when it was extended indefinitely. The organization's headquarters are in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(1929) Renegotiation of Germany's World War I reparations payments by a committee chaired by the U.S. lawyer Owen D. Young (1874–1962) in Paris. The Young Plan, a revision of the Dawes Plan, reduced the amount due from Germany to $26.3 billion, to be paid over 59 years, and ended foreign controls on German economic life. It went into effect in 1930, but the world depression affected Germany's ability to pay. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he repudiated the obligations of the Treaty of Versailles, including reparations.

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(1948–51) U.S.-sponsored program to provide economic aid to European countries after World War II. The idea of a European self-help plan financed by the U.S. was proposed by George Marshall in 1947 and was authorized by Congress as the European Recovery Program. It provided almost $13 billion in grants and loans to 17 countries and was a key factor in reviving their economies and stabilizing their political structures. The plan's concept was extended to less-developed countries under the Point Four Program.

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(1924) Arrangement for Germany's payment of reparations to the Allies after World War I, produced by a committee of experts presided over by Charles Dawes. The total amount of reparations was not determined, but payments were to begin at 1 billion gold marks in the first year and rise to 2.5 billion by 1928. The plan, which also provided for the reorganization of the Reichsbank and for an initial foreign loan of 800 million marks to Germany, was later replaced by the more lenient Young Plan.

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