Cold War Brewing

Aris Velouchiotis

In 1944, Hitler, facing the most successful resistance movement of the war, agreed to hand Greece over to British control.  Churchill moved to reinstall the monarchy and disband the Communist resistance movement.  With the Soviet Union looking on per Stalin's agreement with Churchill, the anti-fascist resistance movement would be crushed at the hands of Churchill and Truman.

Greek Civil War Documentary

If taken in the context of the Greek conflict, the actions of the Gehlen Organisation, and the implications of the nuclear assaults on Japan, the CNN/BBC Cold War doc still gives a reasonable context to the political situation of the time.

Cold War episode 2: Iron Curtain 1945-1947

After all that seriousness though, a little cultural context...

Stepping Back

Last week, I posted the 1st episode of the BBC/CNN Cold War documentary series as an overview of Soviet/US relations leading up to the Cold War.  Today I want to look back at European and American society in the years leading up to WWI.

For a look at America at this time, I'd like to point you to the first episode of Ken Burns "Jazz" series.  Given its importance, both as an artistic achievement and as a cultural force, the story of Jazz is an ideal lense through which to examine America's history at this time.

Ken Burns Jazz episode 1: Gumbo, beginnings to 1917

On the other side of the pond, the march toward war weighs heavily on the European political landscape.  Here's episode 1 of BBC's groundbreaking WWI documentary series.

On the Idle Hill of Summer

A useful fact to keep in mind while watching the WWI doc, is that one of the key elements of the naval arms race between Britain and Germany is the transition from coal to oil.  With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, competition for territory has been building since the Crimean War.  Deployments to Iraq by both sides are among the first of the conflict.

In the News Today

The US threatens to cut off arms deals to Turkey.

Note that the US doesn't seem to have a problem selling arms to Turkey for use against the Kurdish minority but they seem deeply offended over criticism of Israel's attack on an aid flotilla.

In other news,

US to sell F-15s to Saudi Arabia
US to sell F-35i jets to Israel.

Here's an informative look at tensions in Bolivia over lithium mining.

Bolivia: Social Tensions Erupt

And, from Dnow, a report on how Chevron hired Kroll to use journalists as spies in their $27 million lawsuit over pollution in the Equadorian Amazon.

In the News Today

Three interesting segments on Democracy Now today that are all worth watching:

First, a look at the Russian heatwave in addition to a survey of several serious weather phenomenon associated with climate change.



Then, an interview with Pablo Solon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN.  Bolivia is at the forefront of International legal environmental proposals.  In response to the havok wreaked on the world by the Corporation's right of personhood, Evo Morales has proposed a legal right of personhood for "Mother Earth".  This is a good discussion on the state of International environmental efforts.



Third, a look at the political tensions between Venezuela and Columbia.  If there is going to be a war in Latin America, this will be the spark that ignites it.

Creating the Cold War

If you absorbed the material in my last post, you will be aware that the US had been building the bomb to keep Soviet ambitions under control in the post war world. Given that Roosevelt died at such a crucial point, the American military apparatus became a dominant influence in decision making in the transition to Truman's presidency. Also, despite losing the election to Clement Attlee, the personality of Winston Chuchill loomed large over the proceedings. Churchill had long been an ardent anti communist who fought on the side of the Whites in the Soviet Civil War (and a racist colonialist who recommended using "uncivilised tribes" to test chemical weapons.)

Here's a look at the relations between the US and Soviet Union up to 1945 from the CNN/BBC Cold War series

While securing Japan's surrender, the Allies were busy at work rescuing prominent Nazis from prosecution to help them with science, espionage in europe, and the dirty wars in Latin America.

CBC segment on Nazi ratlines. This is from 1996 (before American relations with Nazis were declassified in 99)

This is a history Channel documentary outlining Nazi/American relations in the post war world.


And some links to relevant Wikipedia articles.

ODESSA

Operation Paperclip

Reinhard Gehlen

Hiroshima, Hibakusha, the Cold War, Imminent Nuclear Annhiliation, and Cactus Jack

Every year, I like to take a little time to commemorate the nuclear assaults on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  While popularly seen as necessary to end a brutal war in the Pacific, the consensus of informed opinion is that the approaching conflict with the Soviet Union played the key role in the decision to bomb Japan.

Here's episode 24 of ITV's classic "World at War" documentary series on WWII, aptly entitled "The Bomb", which provides the best political context I've seen about the lead up to the use of the bomb.



This documentary tells the story of two hibakusha (survivors) taking their story to the UN in New York in 1982.



Some quotes on the bombings

Joseph Rotblat: the only scientist to drop out of the Manhattan Project on the grounds of conscience. Note: "(he) was shocked in March 1944, at a private dinner at the Chadwick's, to hear Leslie Groves say "Of course, the real purpose in making the bomb was to subdue the Soviets".

An article on how Hollywood portrayed the bombings. (this one's worth it for the trailer alone).

Thoughts on the 65th Anniversary of Hiroshima from the Huffington Post.

The Dead

The Dying

The Aftermath

... and, after all of that, let's see what Cactus Jack had to say about it all... just because I'm weird.