Final answer:
The Marshall Plan was embraced by Western European nations and helped in their economic revival post-World War II, while the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states rejected it, leading to different economic trajectories for the capitalist West and communist East.
Step-by-step explanation:
The side that went with the Marshall Plan was Western Europe and its capitalistic nations. After World War II, Europe was in ruins, and fearing the spread of communism due to economic instability, the United States under Secretary of State George C. Marshall initiated the European Recovery Program, better known as the Marshall Plan.
This plan entailed providing over $12 billion in economic aid (about $147 billion today) to European nations to rebuild their economies, with the condition that the funds be spent on American goods, thereby also fortifying the U.S. economy. The Soviet Union viewed the plan with suspicion, refused the aid, and directed its Eastern European satellite states to do the same, resulting in a further divide between the capitalist West and the communist East.
Most historians agree that the Marshall Plan was essential in preventing the spread of communism and aiding in the swift recovery and prosperity of Western Europe. The success of this American-led economic revival was especially evident in West Germany and contrasts sharply with the economic conditions in Eastern Europe, which were subject to Soviet-imposed Five-Year Plans and did not benefit from the Marshall Plan's assistance.