How did the Marshall Plan link economic reconstruction with ideological containment?

Correct answer: It tried to reduce communist appeal by strengthening Western Europe's economy

Direct answer: A. The Marshall Plan, announced by the United States in 1947, offered economic aid for rebuilding Western European countries after World War II. Reconstruction increased production, jobs, trade, and political stability. The United States also believed that poverty and instability could make communist parties more attractive, so stronger economies would reduce that appeal. This connected economic recovery with the Cold War policy of containment, meaning limiting the spread of communism. Option A is correct. Option B is wrong because the plan opposed Soviet expansion rather than making the Soviet Union ruler of Europe. Option C is wrong because it was not a plan to divide Africa. Option D is wrong because Meiji reforms belonged to nineteenth-century Japan. Exam cue: Marshall Plan equals aid, European recovery, and containment.