With the Truman Doctrine, the U.S. replaced Britain in providing economic and military assistance to the Greek governments in order to win the Civil War. They faced the political and economic instability inherited from the Occupation and the early post-war period.

The American economic missions directly guided economic policy in Greece from 1947 to 1953. They implemented strict economic policy, balanced the budget, and limited the money supply. They imposed taxes on the wealthiest classes and cut wages. With these measures, they completely controlled inflation. While they recognized the necessity of industrialization, they offered minimal resources for this purpose. The Marshall Plan was limited only to the energy sector and the reconstruction of traditional industry.

At the same time, under the control of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, part of the damaged infrastructure was restored. The recovery of industrial and agricultural production was impressive during the Civil War. In contrast, the Greek economy faced recession after the end of the Civil War. At that point, the U.S. sought to force its stabilization in order to relieve itself from the burden of aid.

This policy, designed entirely in Washington, was implemented in 1951 and 1952 and was completed with the devaluation of the drachma in the spring of 1953. American economic aid ceased in 1952, and the U.S. turned Greece towards Western Europe. The book is based almost entirely on the study of the archives of the economic missions in Greece, the U.S. embassy, the State Department, and the central services of the Marshall Plan in Paris and Washington.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]