Here's a link to the New York Times article about Peter Dahlin. Within it is the film I showed about Dahlin.
Here is a link to a Wall Street Journal article about surveillance in the Xinjiang area of western China. I'm not 100% certain that the link will work. If not, you can trying googling WSJ + "China Spends More on Domestic Security as Xi's Power Grows." Inside this article there is a film about China's surveillance program in the province of Xinjiang, which is very interesting.
And Tuesday morning (1 Oct.), when I opened TTela, guess what? There's an article about Xinjiang, about the camps that Uighurs are sent to for the purpose of "re-educating" them (which is mentioned in the WSJ film). The article focuses on a woman who worked inside the camps and managed to illegally leave China. I did not talk about these education camps in class, but they are examples of the manner in which the Chinese government abuses and tortures people in China.
-the Berlin Blockade/Berlin Airlift (June
1948–May 1949, + some extra months)
-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
We will watch part of this film about the Berlin
Blockade/Airlift:
Here’s the link to another film on the Berlin Blockade/Airlift. It’s
longer; we won’t watch it in class.
NATO
We'll watch this in class:
MONDAY: At the beginning of class on Thursday, I asked you to answer the following question: How did the Soviet Union vew Germany at the end of WWII (1945) -- and explain why.
Film about the Warsaw Pact:
Some of the slides we looked at regarding NATO:
****
secure peace
promote cooperation and integration
guard freedom
promote stability
I mentioned a movie based on the Hungarian Revolution together with the
1956 Summer Olympics in Australia (which were taking place in our
fall). I said that it was "Freedom's Fury," but that wasn't the movie I
meant. The one I meant is called "Children of Glory." It includes a love story in addition to the to historical events. Here's the trailer:
Western countries (the U.S. in particular) felt that an unstable
situation in European countries could lead to the further spread of communism
into western Europe – or the re-establishment of fascism/Nazism.
But there is also the argument that weak European economies would
have a detrimental (skadlig) effect
on the U.S. economy.
Explain
how European economies could have an effect on the American economy.
-consider
economic systems
-consider
recent history (e.g., WWI and WWII)
How are
“working economies” connected to the existence of “free institutions”?
According
to the speech, who/what should be the driving force in making sure the program
goes forward?
Soviet Reaction to
the Marshall Plan
There are a number of claims made in this text. You want to
try to understand what is stated. You will likely need to ask a number of
questions.
What do
the the Soviets say are the Americans’ motives for the MP?
The
Soviets say that the U.S. has conditions (vilkor) for the use of the MP money.
Explain their argument.
According
to the Soviets, what will be the effect of MP money on European countries?
******
As you discuss the arguments in these two documents.
Consider:
-Are there factual errors in the statements?
-Do you see hidden agendas in the statements?
(That is, is the speaker/writer trying to argue something beyond what is
actually written. Is there is a secret or ulterior motive (dold agenda)?)
-Knowing what you know about the postwar
development of Europe, how does that influence your analyses?
The first 23 minutes of this documentary summarizes material about the
Truman Doctrine,
the Marshall Plan,
the 1948 coup in Czechoslovakia,
U.S. post-war boom
Cold War 3/24 Marshall Plan 1947-1952
(The remaining 23 minutes deals specifically with the countries of Greece, France, Yugoslavia, and Italy.)
The Marshall Plan
Official name: European
Recovery Program
What was it?
Billions of dollars of grants and loans made by the United
States to a total of 16European countries.
When?
Proposed in 1947 by Secretary
of State George C. Marshall. Payments started in 1948 and ended in 1952
Why was
it introduced?
- rehabilitation of Europe was taking a long time
- industries not getting
going
- food and essential products
were being imported instead of enough being produced w/i Europe
- costs were eating up
countries’ money reserves
It was argued that without
intervention, the result would be
- poverty
- desperation
- chaos
(echoes of end of WWI)
What would be outcomes of
poverty, desperation, and chaos?
•lack of
stable economies
•inflation
•no free
institutions
Which could lead to -->
radical political ideas can
take hold -- as happened between WWI and WWII
(Lenin and communism in
Russia 1917)
(Mussolini and fascism in
Italy 1922)
(Hitler and Nazism in Germany
1933)
What was desired?
- Europe would build up its own economies
- Europe could then develop
free institutions
What
were the guidelines for getting money?
- All
European countries were eligible -- regardless of what side they were on
during World War II.
- Amount of money
requested and how it would be used had to be determined by
the European countries.
-
If a country attempted to block another country’s recovery it would receive no
aid.
(Czechoslovakia was forced
by the Soviet Union to not participate in the MP. And then in Feb. 1948, there
was a communist coup in Czechoslovakia, thus firmly bringing it under Soviet
control. This helped convince the U.S. Congress of the need to approve the money
for the MP.)
p. 968 in your book
What did
the U.S. get?
- A Europe with healthy economies, not crippled by workers’
strikes and inflation
- A Europe of economic
integration
- Countries that shared the
general economic system the U.S. had - and thus it has trading partners in
Europe
- Political allies
This led
to -->
- A Europe not at war
-
A Europe that could be trade partners -- among themselves and with the U.S. —
short-term and long-term
-
Europe again economically competitive in the world
What did
the Soviet Union think?
- U.S. wanted to control the countries that took the
financial aid — not help them.
-
It was seen as an aggressive act
This led
to -->
- Soviet Union revived the
Comintern (Communist International) as the Cominform and to use it to control
the countries of the Eastern bloc
- Soviets created Comecon
(Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) from 1949–1991 — to keep countries
from breaking away from the Eastern bloc. Participating countries had to accept
large degree of control from USSR.
You will recall that when we first talked about the division of Germany, I noted that the United States advocated (argued for) rebuilding Germany's economy, along with reforming the country's political system. The economic argument was that Europe could not become a place where the countries did not return to war if Germany was weak. It was argued that Germany had to be a viable part of Europe's economy.
In class on Monday we talked about the argument that countries whose economies are integrated (connected) are less likely to go to war against each other -- because doing so would mean injuring a country's own economy. Take, for example, a country such as Sweden, which makes cars. Volvo imports car parts from multiple countries. If Sweden were to attack one of those countries from which Volvo imports car parts, Volvo would no longer be able to make cars. If Volvo can't make cars and thus sell cars, Volvo can't make money, the Swedish government cannot collect taxes from Volvo (and other companies inside of Sweden that work with Volvo), employees will get laid off from Volvo, and the Swedish government would not be able to collect taxes from those people either. Thus there is a spiraling effect that damage's the country's economy.
So having the economies of the various European countries tied together would make it less likely that they would go to war with each other. And having Germany as a healthy economy would make that goal easier to achieve, because Germany is in the center of many European countries. And, indeed, we can say that this has worked. At least we can say that with the exception of wars of what was Yugoslavia and the Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory, there have not been wars in Europe since 1945.
As we'll talk about on Thursday, we can argue whether or not there is a correlation between the Marshall Plan and the recovery of European economies and postwar peace. It is impossible to say that there is any causal effect (causation).
And we'll try to understand the MP speech and the Soviet response in some detail.
******
Here's the exercise we did in class connected to the Truman Doctrine
Truman
Doctrine
In the table below are
listed the “alternative ways of life” that Truman presents in his speech (March
1947).
-will of the
majority is the basis for society
-free institutions,
-representative
government,
-free elections,
-guarantees of
individual liberty,
-freedom of speech
and religion,
-freedom from
political oppression
-will of a minority
forcibly imposed upon the majority
-terror and
oppression are a basis for society
-a controlled press
and radio
-fixed elections
-suppression of
personal freedoms
1.
-a judicial
system (courts/domstolar) that is
independent from the government or any single political party
2.
- an independent news media (not controlled by the
government or a single political party)
3.
- a TV channel that delivers propaganda for the government
4.
- independent publishers (förlag), where the publishing of books is not subject to
government approval
5.
- the ability to move freely within the country
6.
- a secret police that has the right to take you into
custody in secret
7.
- elections where the winning candidate has won by 99%
8.
- the ability to check out books from the library
without fear that the government will know what you’re reading
9.
- the ability to exhibit art or perform music or drama
of all kinds without getting approval first from the government
10.
- the ability to send material to others without fear
that the government will intercept it
11.
- the threat of imprisonment or other punishment (e.g.,
being sent to labor camps) as a consequence of criticizing the government or
ruling party
12.
- the threat of not getting a job, a promotion, entrance
into school — for yourself or your family — as a consequence of criticizing
the government or ruling party
13.
- a school curriculum (läroplan) independent from political parties
14.
- the opportunity to run for political office without
fear of intimidation (hotelser)
15.
- the right to import literature, films, and music from
other countries
16.
- the right to practice a religion, including attending
church and participating in religious ceremonies
17.
- an educational system where entrance to programs and
determination of grades are based on performance (how well you perform on
tests and in courses) rather than on connections (knowing the right people)
or bribery
18.
- forced-labor camps where people can be sent — and
likely tortured — as a way to encourage people to not cross/go against the
government
You have two columns: these are the two societies laid out
in Truman’s speech.
The numbered topics are specific parts of society. How do
these topics match up with the issues
in the columns?
Draw on your own experience and knowledge, but also try to
think about these issues in connection with society today: In which societies
will you find these? Do they exist in Swedish society?
