FYS The Fifties

FIRST YEAR FIFTIES TIMES

Breaking News from 1946-1953 (written Wed 9/13/17)

TRUMAN RESPONDS TO THE CALL FOR AID

March 12, 1947
Following the request for aid from Greece and Turkey, Truman proposes a plan to Congress to give $400 million in aid and asks for authority to greatly expand American global responsibilities. They either have the option to provide this aid to Europe or not, which both have their advantages and consequences. A consequence of giving debt could be increasing debt, but on the other hand, if they did not, it would reflect poorly on the American government and destroy America’s alliance with the European nations involved. In contrast, an argument in favor of not giving aid could be that America has already done their part in the war. If the U.S. did provide aid, they would create a stronger alliance. Truman’s request for aid was granted, and the Marshall plan was a great success for the recovery of Western Europe. This aid was very beneficial to America’s foreign relations.

CONTAINMENT IN KOREA

June 27, 1950, Seoul, Korea
Should we help South Korea defend themselves and contain communism in Korea? North Korea has crossed the 38th parallel. But if the U.S. crosses, they would break their agreement with the Soviet Union. Although leaving America to go help South Korea would involve the U.S. in another foreign issue, Truman is determined to stop Communism from spreading. Truman encouraged all the members of the United Nations to give aid to South Korea in this time of need. This shows everyone that Truman doesn’t want Communism to prevail.

THE ROSENBERGS: THE PURSUIT OF GUILT

June 15, 1953, New York
Just a few days from today two American citizens will be executed for espionage in a time of peace, for the first time in American history.  The jury and judge Irving Kaufman sentenced Ethel and Julius to death in late April.  The Rosenbergs were implicated on account of espionage by Ethel’s brother, who was also being investigated.  Many Americans found the case insufficient for the death penalty, but despite a series of appeals the execution is scheduled for the 19th.  This has caused an increase in fear among Americans that communist spies could be living among us, and that they themselves might be wrongly accused and sentenced to death.  Despite all of this, the Supreme Court has twice denied to review the case.  First the Rosenbergs, could you be next?

H BOMB: INCREASE IN FEAR OF NUCLEAR POWER

February 1, 1950, Washington D.C.
The question of creating another “super” bomb created mass tension in the U.S. administration. Joint Chiefs of staff has requested more spending on creation of bombs, in which Truman accepted their offer. The options Truman faced were to make a bomb, do not make the bomb, or give Britain information regarding information about the creation of the bomb. The potential consequences were if a bomb was made in the U.S., Russia would match the competence made in the U.S. If the decision were to not make the bomb, then there would still be the horrifying prospect that Russia makes the bomb first. If they were to share the information with Britain, their would be a greater possibility of the information being leaked or having to share the information with other countries. Justification for making the bomb was to combat the nuclear war against Russia, and the reasons for not making the bomb were that it would create peace but at the same time Russia would have the power to create a bomb. Sharing with Britain would mean that they wouldn’t have to handle the information alone. In real life, Britain and America shared information about the bombs, and the U.S. decided to make the hydrogen bomb to anticipate Russia’s abilities. Due to this, Russia made their own H bomb, but no war had occurred. Instead, tensions raged and spurred the start of the Cold War. The events contribution to the overall climate led to heightened tension with Russia, and led to the looming fear of Russia’s powers in that they could wipe the Americans out.

THE UNITED STATES’ FIGHT AGAINST COMMUNISM

November 5th, 1947, Washington D.C.
Last year, the Soviets began to work their way across the Mediterranean, threatening United States’ allies, Greece and Turkey. Our country has been concerned over the iron curtain falling over our allies. In March of 1946, President Truman began to devise a plan to fight the possible communist overtake of our allies by working with Congress. He asked, in a joint session before Congress, for aid of $400 million for Greece and Turkey in addition to expansion of global responsibility for the United States. Truman’s cabinet did not agree that this plan would be the best idea, so the U.S. worked with western European countries to create the Marshall plan, yet to be passed officially. In addition to the Marshall plan, the United States decided to vamp up its security defense by establishing the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency under the National Security Act.

CREATE LOVE NOT WAR

April 4, 1949, Washington D.C.
The Soviet Union and the spread of communism has become a major problem for the United States. We want to do everything we can to stop it. We, as a collective nation, have decided to join Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Portugal, Italy, and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. We recognize how economically strong and armed Europe is, and we consider these countries vital to the prevention of the spread of communism. We want to counter the possibility of Western Europe negotiating with the Soviet Union by creating alliances before they have the chance to. We are going to be as careful as we can to prevent attacks against our trusty constitution and not jump right on into war. It is a final decision that we are all in this together to fight off communism and the Soviet Union.

INTERNAL SECURITY ACT PASSED AFTER PRESIDENT’S VETO

September 21, 1950, Washington D.C.
The Internal Security Act was created to strengthen laws against communism and espionage. This Act allows immigrants to be investigated and deported if they are suspected to be involved in communism or fascism. After passed by a landslide in both houses of Congress, President Truman vetoed the Internal Security Act. Congress then overrode the veto to have the Act passed. Truman believes that this would do the opposite of what was expected of it and actually hurt the areas the United States is wishing to improve. The Internal Security Act should not have been passed because it limits free speech for security reasons but this goes against the constitution that this country was built upon. Also the overall fear of communism in the United States is heightened because of this Act. Truman believes that internal security will be hurt instead of benefitted and the United States’ prevention of communism and espionage will be lead in the opposite direction than it should be.

PRESIDENT TRUMAN RESPONDS TO THE RECENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT JOBS CRISIS

March 22, 1947, Washington D.C.
AS WE ALL KNOW, the allegations of Communist within our federal government jobs has raised major concerns ever since our beloved Senator of Wisconsin Joseph McCarthy claimed he has a list of federal employees that are in connection and possibly working for Communism. Our commander in Chief, Henry Truman, were given the options of either not listen to Senator McCarthy, or consider McCarthy’s claims were true and do a quick background search on the current federal employees. The consequences of his actions could either make people angry and lead to a mistrust feeling towards their own president; or find out and eliminate the insiders that are working for the enemy. With hesitation, President Truman issued Executive Order 9835, or in other words, the Truman Loyalty Program. As a result, the program led to the dismissal of 212 federal employees and forced several hundred others to resign. The jobs crisis breakout and the new era of McCarthyism comes, to which EVERYONE could be accused of working for Communism, and could face years in prison. Economically people were jobless, politically the country was separated and trust was lost.

 

Breaking News from 1946-1953 (written Wed 9/11/13)

ISRAEL IS REAL

June 15, 1948, Washington DC
In early 1947, Britain could no longer fulfill its responsibilities of securing the region of Palestine, so they handed the area over to the United Nations. The United Nations proposed that Palestine should be partitioned into two areas for Jews and Arabs. President Harry S. Truman supported this partition, yet the State and Defense departments disagreed. They feared that there would be a loss of influence among Arab states, there would be a threat to our oil supplies, and this region could be opened to Soviet influences. However, President Truman believed that the Jews needed a place of their own where they could recover and rebuild following the events of the Holocaust. Despite the controversy, on May 14, 1948 Israel was declared a state, and moments later the United States announced its recognition. Whether or not Truman supported the partition for the Jewish vote is a mystery, however he sympathized with the holocaust victims. Truman won the 1948 presidential election and the United States became allies with the new state of Israel. The United states also retained and expanded its in influence in Arab states.

THE MARSHALL PLAN

1948, Washington DC
The 17 billion dollar program, which includes 16 participating nations and is fostered by Secretary of State George Marshall, President Truman, and George Kennan, has been implemented. The plan’s ultimate goal is to build European nations and economies. Only time will tell whether it will in fact stop the spread of Communism and strengthen the participating nations, but officials predict a speedy post-war recovery for the European nations.

“FAIR DEAL” DOESN’T LIVE UP

July 1948, Washington DC
Truman tries to live up to Roosevelt with his over-zealous “Fair Deal.” With neglecting to increase the deal’s budget, the many programs come to have less of a positive effect within the nation. The proposition of national health care gave hope to people without it, but was shot down by the American Medical Association (AMA) and only a few new hospitals were built as a result. He also tried to make the Fair Employment Practices Commissions (FEPC) permanent, but Congress would not allow it, creating another set-back in the “Fair Deal” platform. His controversial program to desegregate the military was really its only success, helping to spark more civil rights movements across the nation. Although his ideas for the “Fair Deal” were good, his execution was poor.

BERLIN AIRLIFT SUCCESS

May 15th, 1949; Berlin, Germany
After Soviet blockade in Germany of almost a year, Truman’s airlift is a huge success.

After efforts from the United States, England, and France to unite Europe with an integrated currency system, Stalin retaliates with a blockade on the city of Berlin. The Soviets initiated this blockade in hopes of cutting off ground transportation to the city, including weapons, supplies, etc. to drive the Allied powers out of Berlin in entirety. President Truman then decided to strike back, but without force, by putting into place the miraculous event we now know as the Berlin Airlift. It delivered 2.3 million tons of food, fuel, and supplies in its 277,000 flights, aided by England. Although it was a great success in strengthening the city of Berlin, it did amplify tensions with the Soviets. America has now formed the Federal Republic of Germany, while the Soviets have made their own German Democratic Republic creating a further divide between the two countries. With these worsened relations, who knows what will happen next.

SHOULD THE UNITED STATES DEVELOP THE HYDROGEN BOMB?

1949
With growing tensions between the Soviet Union and The United States, we are faced with a question: Should the US develop a hydrogen weapon? By building a hydrogen, the United States may become a target for other countries because we can be viewed as a threat to their security. This would also give the United States an advantage over countries that have not yet developed this technology. The atomic bombs dropped on Japan were created using a technique known as nuclear fission. According to scientists, a hydrogen bomb would use nuclear fusion, which could result in a weapon of about one hundred times the power. The downside to having this great power is that once the US creates a weapon like this, other countries could easily develop it as well, and use the same technology against us. If we do not develop the hydrogen bomb, however; we will be left vulnerable as other countries create them. This whole dilemma is not helping with the tensions between the United States or the Soviet Union, either. Recently, plans were carried out in the development of the weapon. The strategies in wars to come, as well as the rising tensions with the Soviets will need to be revised to accommodate this new technology.

TRUMAN’S VETO OVERRULED BY CONGRESS

1950, Washington DC
Yesterday, President Truman vetoed McCarran’s Internal Security Act. The Act was drafted in efforts to limit the spread of Communism among our fellow Americans. Truman vetoed the bill on the grounds that it was “the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press and assembly” and “a mockery of the Bill of Rights.” The House and Senate did not share the same opinions as President Truman, as they both overwhelmingly supported the overruling of his veto. The passing of this act means that all Communist organizations have to register their organization and members with the U.S. Attorney General.

RED SCARE: COMMUNIST NORTH KOREA INVADES SOUTH KOREA

June 1950, South Korea.
Early morning June 25, 1950 North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung led a surprise attack on South Korea. Being monsoon season, South Korea was taken by surprise. Crossing the border at the 38th parallel, 90,000 infantry troops and 150 tanks overran South Korean positions. Without the support of the US nation, President Truman faces the difficult decision of intervening in the conflict or not. Sources report that he has met with Congressional leaders and is in favor of invading. If Truman decides to invade, the US will enter the war and attempt to save South Korea from falling to Communism. However, lack of support from the nation will decrease the amount of supplies and US troops will be outnumbered. Not intervening will raise the risk of another country falling to Communism. Stay tuned for more updated regarding this event.

TRUMAN’S STRIKING DECISION

1951, Washington DC
This fall, Truman’s seizure of the steel mills caused political unrest among the nation’s civilians. The debate began when workers requested wage increases. However, choosing to increase these wages could have caused the nation more serious problems because steel is one of America’s most dominant industries. For example, wage increases in the steel industry would cause inflation, stirring national price controls. In addition, a strike during wartime could threaten the nation’s safety. President Truman was limited in the actions he could take to control the strike. Truman could invoke the Taft-Harley act or seize the steel mills. Invoking the Taft-Harley act would have blemished the President’s image because Truman originally vetoed the act. Ultimately, the President chose to seize the mills and put Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer in charge. Truman had no actual legal authority that permitted him to follow through with the seizure, but believed his actions were just because consultants assured him that the Court would most likely support his decision. The companies filed a lawsuit against Truman for illegally seizure of the mills. The federal district court and the Supreme Court both ruled against the President.

COMMUNISTS TAKE OVER HOLLYWOOD!

1951, Hollywood CA
Back in 1947, in an investigation started by J. Parnall Thomas, 41 members of the film industry were sought out for being Communism’s advocates. 10 of these 41 were called to trial and were referred to as the Hollywood Ten. All 10 used the First Amendment and served 6 months in jail. In a new cycle of accusations, 250 people have been blacklisted. To avoid going to jail, they can plead the Fifth or name names of other potential spies.

SHOCKING END TO THE ROSENBERGS

June 19, 1953 Sing Sing Prison, Ossing, New York
On this date Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electric chair for the charge of espionage decided by the Circuit Court. This trial has been ongoing since March 6, 1951 when Julius Rosenberg was accused of being part of a spy ring that was centered in Schenectady, New York. During the court case they were accused of passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union and were eventually found guilty under the Espionage Act of 1917. The deciding piece of evidence for their conviction was a sketch of a cross section of the atomic bomb found on the back of a Jello box. This information was passed to them by Greenglass who worked in the Los Alamos lab, which fabricated the lenses used in the bombs. Julius Rosenberg was given the option to confess to his crimes or to hold to his belief that he was innocent and that his acts did not qualify as espionage because the information he passed on was to an ally. By not admitting to his convictions his wife, Ethel and himself were executed because the Circuit Court decided that the evidence was substantial enough to convict them as communists. This court case has caused great controversy in America as it reinforced the fear of communism in America and the consequences of following in such a belief.