Workers rebuild a road in Palermo, Sicily, circa 1949.

Much of postwar Europe was rebuilt by hand, using age-old techniques. An aspect of the Marshall Plan was to import bulldozers, trucks and other equipment to help clear and repair war-damaged areas.

In a larger sense, the Marshall Plan was aimed to reconnect broken trade patterns throughout Europe. Traditionally, roads, railroads and inland waterways connected the continent on pragmatic, profit-driven trade routes. Significantly, the Marshall Plan was not a development project aimed to create new industries and new trade. Instead, it focused intently on rebuilding a destroyed continent that, before the destruction of two world wars, had been one of the world's great economic and cultural hubs. (Library of Congress)