1948

Germany was divided into occupation zones and garrisons in Berlin.

Stalin wished for Germany to be governed as a whole with USSR involved in the future of the Ruhr.

The King of Jordan was assassinated  - his successor had to make it clear that he rejected the old ties with GB.

The World Is Reorganised – America’s The Boss:

It is widely believed that WW2 was a war about freedom but you could be forgiven if you didn’t notice. It wasn’t only the USA who wanted their share of the spoils of war.

"US power replaced British in Turkey, Greece, Iran, China etc.

USSR instigated revolutions in Hungary, Romania and Poland.

The French returned to Asia. America now heavily committed in se Asia as a consequence of their war with Japan. The US and Britain recognised only the Annamese emperor regime that the French had set up in Vietnam.The Dutch were fighting to get Indonesia back – but lost it in 1949 .France took back Syria and Lebanon.

GB took Palestine - An Israeli state was established in Jerusalem with USSR and US diplomatic support and US private money.

Iraq had Egypt (Suez canal).

The US interfered in Italian elections and planned military intervention if necessary to prevent communists from gaining power." CHOMSKY.

The CIA corrupted democratic elections in Italy where Italian communists looked likely to win. The CIA restored the fascist police, broke the unions and withheld food in order to prevent the communists winning. They also bought votes, broadcast propaganda, threatened and beat up opposition leaders, and infiltrated and disrupted their organisation. It worked and the commies were defeated.

NSC1 (1948) specified a number of actions the US would take if the communists won, including military aid for underground operations in Italy. Some, including Kennan, advocated armed intervention before the elections. In the end subversion was enough to prevent a communist victory.

After the war the US counter-insurgency doctrine was consciously modelled on practices and achievements of WW2 fascism; the Nazis were the preferred model - CHOMSKY.

The CIA recreated a covert action wing, called the Office of Policy Co-ordination, led by Wall Street lawyer Frank Wisner. According to its secret charter, responsibilities included "propaganda, economic warfare, preventative direct action, including sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition and evacuation procedures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-Communist elements in threatened countries of the free world."

In the midst of all this, from 1948 to 1950, Prescott Bush’s boss, banker Averell Harriman, was “US ambassador at large” to Europe.

He was a non-military “theatre commander” overseeing “the administration of the Marshall Plan, participating in all military / strategic decision making by the Anglo-American alliance” – Bush Biog.

Deir Yassin Massacre – april 1948 

Caused panic, hundreds of thousands of terrified Arabs fled the country – letter in Indie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irgun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menachem_Begin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avraham_Stern   Stern Gang

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/78601.stm

http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/01/israeli-terrorism/

http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=62595

In 1948 Charles F Brannan took over Agriculture

Charles W Sawyer took over Commerce.

Maurice J Tobin took over Labor

DATES?

NATO Treaty (page 62)

SECRET WAR

Gladio (Italian for Gladius, a type of Roman short sword) is a code name denoting the clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II, intended to continue anti-communist resistance in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organisations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all stay-behind organisations, sometimes called "Super NATO".[1]

Operating in many NATO and even some neutral countries,[2] Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official withdrawal from NATO's Military Committee in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements.

The role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in sponsoring Gladio and the extent of its activities during the Cold War era, and its relationship to right-wing terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the Years of Lead and other similar clandestine operations is the subject of ongoing debate and investigation. Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.[3]

Wikipedia

Berlin

June 20th 1948 USSR cut off rail and highway traffic to Berlin. The BERLIN BLOCKADE.   Truman transferred 60 B-29 bombers (capable of carrying nuclear weapons) to bases in England. It all became quite tense. Then there was the Berlin airlift to break the blockade, Operation Vittles. It came out well for Truman, who was facing considerable opposition and flack at the time, it boosted his ratings and helped him win the election. There had been efforts to push him off the Democratic ticket within his own party.

The USSR gave in over Berlin early in 1949. A major propaganda victory for the USA.

Aug 1948 Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss (a prominent State Dept official) of being a Soviet spy in 1930s. He was only convicted of perjury in Jan 1950 and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Entertainment 1948

Disney’s “True Life Adventure” series began with “Seal Island”. He’d had enough of pandering to the needs of his talented animation staff.

Warner Brothers “Looney Tunes” an obvious take off Disney’s “Silly Symphony” series and created by several former Disney staffers. Bugs Bunny debuted and became Looney Tunes No1 star.

In Korea, "the UN had tried to grapple with the reunification of the two halves of the country defined by American and Russian armies, but failed to get agreement to elections covering the entire country.

In 1948 UN recognised the one elected in the south as the lawful government of all Korea. Korean People's Democratic Republic had been set up in north.

June 1950 its armies invaded the southern republic.

UNSC voted to resist the aggression and Truman sent forces to South Korea under UN flag.

USSR was boycotting council at time and couldn't veto action.

As fighting drew near the Manchurian border, Chinese forces intervened. UN retreated - threat of nuclear weapons being used.

Acheson presented report on H-bomb to president in January. Truman “took only 7 minutes to decide ” He went ahead with developing this weapon.

Kennan resigned the Policy planning staff in protest – he had (apparently) opposed the H-bomb.

The PPS was now headed by Paul Nitze. The NSC-68 was drawn up based on false premise that USSR intended “to impose its authority over the rest of the world.” NSC-68 proposed spending upward of 50% of America’s GNP on “security”, from $13bn to $45bn per annum. The NSC approved this decision in April 1950.

Ghandi assassinated on 30th January 1948

MORE ON INDIA

In October 1951 Malaya’s British High commissioner Sir Henry Gurney was killed in a communist ambush. Armed attacks on British forces had been rising in the area for months – along with terrorists attacks on economic targets such as rubber plantations – and Sir Henry Gurney’s killing signified the real start of the “Malayan Emergency” Britain sent 1000s of conscripts to deprive the red guerrillas of local support – rebirth of “hearts and Minds” programme – the stck balanced with a carrot.

-              free medical treatment for children

-              literacy courses, freshwater wells etc.

The Brits weren’t as brutal as the French.

The Malayan emergency continued throughout most of the 1950s. Anthony Burgess was working in the UK civil service in Malaya. “Clockwork Orange” was conceived out of his experiences tere. US intelligence officials – men fascinated with the seemingly successful “H&M” campaign – MK Ultra, go to late 50s.

US remained a divided society operating a racial apartheid. Jim Crow laws were finally scrapped in the military. Truman was a social segregationist and didn’t want to desegregate the armed forces. Always used “nigger” for blacks. Executive order 9981 issued on July 26, 1948 did not desegregate the armed forces but conflict experience did. Desegregation came because of a military imperative. In Korea there were more blacks than places for them to go, hence a change in policy. Blacks turned up in all-white units and mixed units were more successful.

China

Marshall represented Truman on a special mission to China in 1946 - China torn by civil war.

The USSR pulled out of Manchuria with Japanese assets stripped. Mao – in the north of china – took over Manchuria. Chiang in south, supported by the US, pushed north to occupy Manchurian cities – overextending his supply lines. Marshall worked to prevent civil war and form coalition between Mao and Chiang.

China was plunging into civil war. Did Truman give up any effort to influence the outcome?

In 1947 as China was plunging in to Civil war – MacArthur, and Truman clashed over Chiang Kai – Shek’s troops on Formosa. McArthur wanted to use Asian soldiers when available, not Americans.

Chairman Mao’s guerrillas completed their take over of China in 1948; the trickle of support for neighbouring revolutions gradually became a river and then a flood.

China – General Lucas’ military aid mission in Nanking 1947.

Mao’s forces in China forced nationalists out of Manchuria in late 1948.

The Far East

“In the Far East – on our west – our policy was “Maintaining the Open Door in china”. If China was free and independent, neither Japan nor Russia, the only two countries that might threaten us, could move against us because China was behind Japan and on Russia’s southern flank. It was worked out by a Republican administration, (William) McKinley and John Hay, his secretary of State. It was supported one hundred percent by President Wilson when the Japanese tried to wreck it in 1915. Then again it was supported by the Republicans in 1921 – 22 at the Washington Nine Power Conference; and again by Democrats FDR and Cordell Hull in 1940 – 41. They went to war with Japan rather than let Japan get control of the manpower, territory and resources of China because that would be too dangerous to ourselves.”

1948 Election

Dewey - previously defeated - was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate. 'Dixiecrat' right and 'progressive' left split off from the Democrats, taking 4 southern states from the Democrat bloc and throwing three northern states to the Republicans. There was an attempt to oust Truman as it was believed he couldn’t win the election. He was nominated though, and chose running mate Alben W Barkley. That wasn’t the only problem – the mayor of Minneapolis, Hubert H Humphrey, split the Democrats calling for a civil rights plank in the 1948 Democratic Party Convention platform. This won black support and the Democrats ended up back in the White House.

But when the results were counted, Truman squeaked home to become president for another term.

Truman (Dem)                                       49.6          303

Dewey (Rep)                                          45.1    189

J.Strong Thurmond  (states' rights)                2.40

Henry A Wallace                                               2.40

But this may not be correct - the main candidates are right - but some sources differ over the others.

Allegations of election fixing followed – Ed Flynn believes that any attempt must have failed as Dewey carried New York – where the election fixing was believed to have been carried out. – check.

After the communists took over in Czechoslovakia Forrestal became alarmed at signs that the Commies might win the Italian elections.

Forrestal raised money on Wall Street to run a private clandestine operation.

As a result Allen Dulles urged government to establish a covert organisation to run these ‘special operations’. A paper issued in summer 1948 authorised special operations: they had to be secret and plausibly deniable. Frank G Wisner (ex OSS) was brought in from State Dept toward a new organisation within the CIA in assistant Director of the Office of Policy Coordination. --- CHECK WORDING – Wise & Ross page 94.

Policy on Europe was from Washington’s day, “of no permanent entangling alliances with Europe.” “And we never did have any until establishment of the NATO treaty in 1948 (april 4th), with a group of European countries – 10 European nations, the US and Canada signed the agreement in Washington DC. But from Woodrow Wilson’s time on there had been as great cooperation on European matters, or as much unity of thinking between the two parties and their various leaders as previously.” “Our desire was “…for “an American policy that would be dependable and the world would know that no matter which party was in power, this would be the consistent policy of the United States.”

Propaganda

The CIA created its first major propaganda outlet – Radio Free Europe. Over the next several decades its broadcasts were so blatantly false that it was considered illegal to publish transcripts of them in the US.

Israel’s war of independence began. Palestinian refugees were displaced from their homes and land when Israel was established in 1948. Shortly after in May, a major war broke out which occasioned more people to flee. Many refugees moved to Gaza which was under Egyptian control and the West Bank of the Jordan River under Jordanian control.

Arab defeat of 1948 – 49 in Palestine. A series of armistices which established Israel’s defacto borders with Jordan, Syria and Egypt lasted until 1967.

81st Congress Elections