Poland

     There were at the time of the Yalta conference two Polish governments, the prewar government which detested the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union onto the Polish people, and the communist puppet government that Stalin set up after occupying Poland. At the conference, it was decided that Poland would have a democratically elected representative government, and that there would be free and fair elections at the conclusion of the war. 

     When Stalin agreed to this plan, he had no real intention to follow through with it, and so Poland was firmly under the grip of its appointed leadership. In reality, Stalin's agreement was solely for the purpose of appearing to be reasonable with his allies. Stalin would effectively decide the answers to the three questions of Polish territory, government and control.

     Stalin had insisted on having Poland as a buffer state between the Soviet Union and the west, which was perhaps not unreasonable considering Russia’s history.

     This also meant, however, that Stalin wanted a government to be established in Poland that he could control. The goal of this request was surely to ensure that Poland wouldn’t fall under western influences (which would make it useless as a buffer state), but it seemed unlikely at the time that Poland would voluntarily elect a communist and pro-Russian government.

     The moral issues stem indirectly with the long history of Russian and Polish war, and directly from the massacres that Stalin had ordered on the conquered territories during the war. Two examples of these where the Katyn massacres, where Soviet secret police killed polish officers and buried them in mass graves, and the pause of the Red Army outside of Warsaw, where the Soviet spies encouraged the locals to rebel against the Nazis but refused to help them. 

     

     The purpose of these killings, insofar as any loss of human life could be justified, was twofold. First, Stalin was dispensing of the Polish people who were able to fight. Secondly, Stalin was ridding himself of the potential threat that the leaders of the Polish rebellion would pose against the gains of the Soviet Union. In effect, Stalin not only got rid of the people who could fight against him, but also the people who could organize others to that effect.

     Evidence of the effect of these killings on the Polish movement for freedom can be seen in the fact that an anti-communist labor party was not able to be created until 1980, when it was brutally suppressed and forced to continue on underground. The fact that Poland was not able to elect a non-communist government until 1989 proves that the measures Stalin took to destroy Polish leadership were successful, especially because the anti-communist movement couldn't have took power without the passive reform of Gorbachev, who could be described as soft on capitalism.

Sources:

The Second World War and its consequences

Class discussion

State Department

American Civil Rights/Conformity

America conformed in the 1950’s transferring, by the end of the decade to 25% of America, into the suburbs. Americans moved into tract-housing, or cookie cutter homes. These places were neighborhoods in which all the houses were the same, crab grass front lawn, all the houses looked the same, some people couldn’t even tell the difference between their own houses and others, sometimes getting lost. This time period of moving also came with a Baby Boom. Loved ones were reunited after the several wars that had been saddening the country for over 25 years and the sense of security and “chill” was increasing, everybody wanted to relax and didn’t want to be involved in anymore wars or national crisis. While many wanted to relax and therefore moving to the suburbs, they also grew economically. During the 1950’s the middle class propelled because of the huge economic boom after WWII that continued for years. More Americans were classified as middle class and that meant more spending money, which meant more eye-catching consumer goods. Because of this conforming to one another became a very popular practice in America. Everybody wanted “to be like the Joneses” which in America meant everybody basically just wanted to be like everybody else. For example, if your neighbor bought a new TV, you bought a new TV, if somebody else had something, you had to get it. That is how society worked, and many would argue still works today. 

But of course, like in all societies around the world, while some were thriving, others were still stuck in the slums. “Despite the emerging affluence of the new American middle class, there was a poverty, racism, and alienation in America that was rarely depicted on TV” (ushistory.org) African American poverty rates doubled those of the whites and the segregation in schools (even after the Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court case), lack of a political voice, and longstanding racial prejudices that were just part of American culture and had been for so long, smothered the economic advancement among the Black American communities. Though Jim Crow was allegedly gone in America, its legacies were still dwindling and they were strong, especially among the White Americans in the South. The bus system was a huge part of the American transportation system, especially because cars weren’t as popular as they are today. Black Americans were allowed to ride the buses but of course, like most other things in American society, their place was designanted, and in the case of the bus system, that was the back of the bus. The first person to change this was Rosa Parks, who on December 1, 1955 refused to move for a white passenger. Though Rosa was elected, whispers of this incident spread throughout America over night, and enraged many Black Americans, eventually starting a peace movement lead by Martin Luther King Jr. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was “the initial phase of the black protest activity in the post-Brown period…The boycott lasted more than a year, demonstrating the unity and determination of black residents and inspiring blacks elsewhere” (history.com) Though at this time many Americans were not ready to let go of segregation, Black Americans finally realized that they weren’t going to give up fighting and they weren’t going to back down any longer until they got what they deserved. Much of the “Civil Rights Movement” that we know today didn’t happen until the 1960’s but Rosa Park and the beginning of the MLK Jr. era were its definite predecessors. 

Black Americans weren’t the only ones suffering, the Latino Americans suffered as well. The Latino’s were weakened in urban American “barrios” and the Eisenhower Administration did nothing to help them, eventually producing a program (Operation Wetback) to deport millions of Mexican Americans. Though America stood for equality and freedom, “Ethnic minorities-Jews, Italians, Asians, and many groups-all struggled to find their place in the American quilt” (ushistory.org)

http://www.ushistory.org/us/53f.asp

1950’s video in 

Cold War notes

http://www.biography.com/people/rosa-parks-9433715#ordered-to-the-back-of-the-bus

http://www.history.com/topics/1950s

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=122370

The After math of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki Nuclear Bombing

Chaotic conditions made accurate accounts most difficult. Some victims were vaporized instantly, many survivors were horribly disfigured, and death from radiation was uncertain. It might not claim its victims for days, weeks, months or even years. The initial death count in Hiroshima was set at 42,000-93,000. That count was solely based on the disposal of the bodies, and was thus much too low. Later surveys covered body counts, missing persons, and neighborhood surveys during the first month after the bombing, yielding a more reliable estimate of 130,000 dead as of November 1945. A similar survey by officials in Nagasaki se its death toll at 60,000-70,000.

Most persons close to ground zero who received high radiation dosages died immediately or during the first day. One-third of all fatalities occurred by the 4th day; two-thirds by the 10th day; and 90% by the end of three weeks.

While casualty rates exceeded death rates, they both were highest near ground zero and declined at similar rates by increasing distance from ground zero. But the cumulative death rates percent  in both cities rose dramatically during the first two weeks, then leveled off in subsequent weeks.

The first  two weeks resulted in mainly burns from rays and flames, and wounds (trauma) from blast and falling structures. The 3rd week through 8th week symptoms of damages by radioactive rays, resulted in loss of hair, anemia, loss of white cells, bleeding, and  diarrhea. Approximately 10% of cases in this group were fatal. The 3rd and 4th months there was “some improvement” in burn, trauma, and even radiation. Acute stages ran overall from initial exposure to 4th month, with both primary and secondary thermal burns. Numerous A-bomb casualties occurred almost simultaneously with explosion, but both injury and mortality rates fell with increased distanced.

But then came “secondary injuries” of disfiguration, , blood abnormalities, sterility (both sexes), psychosomatic disorders, and severe scar formations (keloids).

Keloid is an overgrowth of scar tissue on the wound surface of a thermal burn during the reparative stage. It forms an irregularly shaped protrusion that resembles the shell and legs of a crab, t in contrast to a simple heaping up of scar tissue (hypertrophic scar). The latter is usually caused by a secondary burn, and a keloid results from a primary thermal burn. Plastic surgery was performed on many to remove keloid scars, though recurrence of these scars was not uncommon.

Even now, after over half a century later, many after effects remain such as leukemia, A-bomb cataracts, and cancers of thyroid, breast, lungs, salivary glands, birth defects, including mental retardation, and fears of birth defects in their children, plus, of course, the disfiguring keloid scars.

Sources:

1. http://atomicbombmuseum.org/3_health.shtml

2. http://www.atomcentral.com/hiroshima-nagasaki.aspx

3. https://www.google.com/search?q=google+images+of+the+hiroshima+and+nagasaki+bombing&rlz=1CAACAG_enUS679&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=633&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVp4KXq-7KAhUNyWMKHffKAJsQ_AUIBigB&safe=active&ssui=on

Henry A Kissinger

Kissinger was born in 1923 in southern Germany. Because his family was Jewish, they suffered from the Nazi's anti-semitism. When he was 15, Kissinger came with his family to the US to escape the imminent holocaust. When he arrived, Kissinger excelled at school, learning english quickly and studied history. During World War 2, Kissinger became an intelligence officer.

Once the war and Kissinger's studies were over, he began his political career, advising Kennedy and Johnson on foreign policy. Under Nixon and Ford, Kissinger worked full time as the National Security Advisor, and then as Secretary of State.

One of the most important challenges that Kissinger faced in is career was ending the Vietnam war, which the US was losing, with favorable terms for the US. To accomplish this, Kissinger recommended a redoubling of bombing efforts coupled with a slow withdrawal of troops. The "peace with honor" strategy cost both sides thousands of lives and lengthened the war by four years. Kissinger also ran a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia that destabilized the region, allowing the genocidal Khmer Rouge to take power.

Kissinger was given the Nobel Peace prize in 1973, but he is also remembered by critics for helping (sometimes unintentionally) military dictatorships, such as in Cambodia, Indonesia and Latin America.

In an interview with der Spiegel, a German newspaper, Kissinger made it clear that he supports the theory that politics is local. He blames the west for the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, and believes that Putin is trying to achieve progress in Russia, trying to "westernize" in a way. In effect, Kissinger believes that the west ought to ignore the Ukraine crisis, and trust that Putin is not trying to increase Russia's sphere of influence. This modern position of his supports that Kissinger is not unkind to dictators.

It is clear that not all of Kissinger's actions produced favorable outcomes, but that his intentions were generally aligned with the interests of the US.
 
Sources:
Biography.com
wsj.com
spiegel.de

McCarthyism

McCarthyism came about during the Cold War during the Second Red Scare. Americans were scared that the communists were infiltrating their country’s democracy and liberalism from the inside so they used the practice of McCarthyism "to make accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.”

May 8, 1945 the end of WWII came for many, the fighting was finally over in Europe, this day became known as VE day. During the war the Allied powers consisted of Great Britain the United States and the Soviet Union, the USSR was communists and the Western Allies were capitalists but that difference didn’t matter to them, they were united under one common goal, defeat Hitler and the Japanese. But VE day brought about what was soon to be the end of the peace between the Allies. The defeat of Germany meant there was no longer a common enemy, and therefore the struggles between the capitalists and the communists began again. 

2 years later, 1947, President Truman ordered background checks on every American civilian in the government services, when it was discovered that a very high-ranking State Department official was convicted of espionage charges, the fear of communism rose intensely and quickly. 

After the war President Truman asked him to be his Secretary of State. “McCarthy capitalized on national paranoia by proclaimed that communists spies were omnipresent and that he was America’s only salvation”, this statement created an atmosphere of fear of world domination by the communists which hug over postwar American for years. Because of this belief McCarthy proclaimed he “was aware of 205 card-carrying members of the Communist Party who worked for the United States Department of State” This statement and many more speeches to come started the McCarthyism era of blacklisting thousands of Americans “believed” to be communists. 

McCarthyism sparked the House Committee on Un-American Activities, who started to target the Hollywood film industry hunting for communists. Those put on trial were thought to be communists, and they either admitted to their crimes and were forced to give names of others, or did not admit and were pinned with evidence against their denial. Either way most of the people put on trial were blacklisted Americans, this meant they were practically socially isolated, nobody wanted to be their friend, nobody wanted to hire them, nobody wanted to work for them, nobody wanted any affiliation with these people. 

After his storm through the Hollywood film business McCarthy “turned his attention to ‘exposing’ the supposed communist infiltration of the armed services” This didn’t fly well with the American people though, and almost at once the “aura of invulnerability” that surrounded McCarthy started to disappear. McCarthy’s final blow was when their was a broadcast of the Army-McCarthy hearings on national television, the American people watched as he intimidated many and attack a young Army lawyer. Once this was all over McCarthy almost had no allies and the Senate voted to condemn him “for his inexcusable, reprehensible, vulgar and insulting conduct unbecoming a senator.” After his fall the media and many Americans became uninterested in his communist allegations and the McCarthyism era was practically over. 

http://www.ushistory.org/us/53a.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy

http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/senatorjosephmccarthy.asp

Mr. Stewart

Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen was born in 1928 in France. According to the Guardian, Le Pen was a supporter of France's Vichy government during World War 2. He has also made powerful statements belittling the Holocaust, despite Frances laws against denying the atrocities of the war. Unfortunately, there were many French people who were sympathetic to the Nazi cause, and many of them held on to their sentiments after the war ended.

Le Pen, however, is unique in that he founded a political party based on his beliefs. The National Front (Le Pen's party) was founded in 1972 and served as a counterweight to France's leftist movement. Le Pen's party received support mainly from the working class, as the group suffered from high crime and unemployment in the late 80s and 90s.

While Le Pen never did become the President of France, he succeeded in pulling the politics of France farther to the right. The French political system does not work in the same manner as our own. In France there are many political parties ranging from communist to fascist. If any one party receives 15 percent of the popular vote in every district, the party would receive 15 percent of the representation in France, but no representation here (partially because of the winner take all system). Because of this, a party that receives 15 percent of the popular vote in the primary election could win the presidency by forming a coalition. In 2002 the Le Pen party polled a startling 18 percent in the primary election. The Socialist and Communist parties were forced to back a moderate right party rather than risk a victory by the National Front. In this manner, the National Front succeeded in shifting the politics to the right, even though it failed to take the presidency. This effect was repeated in the most recent election by Le Pen's daughter, who is now the National Front's leader.

The creation of the National Front represents a return to older values and the "political pendulum" after a leftist leaning that started in 1969 with France's student riots.

Sources:
britannica.com
biography.com
theguardian.com
theguardian.com

Aircraft during WW2

Airplanes:
World War two was one of the first true modern wars, in the sense that rather than relying on manpower, this war relied on who could muster the most impressionable machines and weapons. This extravagant display of industrial prowess could not have been better suited to nation than it was to the United States. Known for its massive manufacturing capacity, the United States was able to produce in the most prolific way possible. This learned ingenuity was prevalent on many platforms, but one of the most influential was the aviation produced during this war.

While many impressive aircraft were produced during this war, one of the most destructive was the B-17 bomber. This was nicknamed the flying fortress, because that is what it was. Introduced to the army corps in 1938, Boeing's B-17 was an impressive aircraft designed specifically for bombing. These were an amazing resource, as it was a high-flying aircraft capable of defending itself and returning home despite stunning damage. They were used primarily in order as continuous air-raids on German cities, in an attempt to lower moral and disperse the troops. Often times they were able to create some disruption, but it took a while to nail the correct way to use these airplanes.

One such problem with the B-17 bombers was seen in the bombing of Schweinfurt, where they tried to attack in a simple air offensive over Germany. This attack was a catastrophe for the allies, because the planes were not accompanied by fighter jets and were quickly shot down by the German fighters. However, from this moment the Allies were able to start to build the proper offense with these planes, equipping them with accompanying fighters and planning attacks more strategically. As such, these planes became some of the most useful machines of the war. They bombed many cities, and were helpful to the war focused on people's morals and ability to keep supplying for the war effort.