A COLD WAR

Everyone is trying to figure out a model for European co-operation. Secret meetings at the Pentagon between the US, UK and Canada in March/April 1948 explored three possible extensions of the Brussels pact. Churchill’s son-in-law, Duncan Sandys then put together a pan-European conference at The Hague (when he wasn’t getting sneaky blowjobs from the wife of a duke). The CIA even had their own secre...

During 1947-48, England and France had been working on their own treaty as well as one involving the so-called Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg). That became the basis of discussions about a broader treaty creating a United States of Europe, something many US and European leaders wanted, especially in light of the Marshall Plan. But the path to get there wasn’t clear. Europe was...

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After Benes took control of Czechoslovakia again after WWII, with the support of the Allies, he ran a program of ethnic cleansing, mostly targeting people of German ancestry. And the Czech Communist party became the most popular political party of any country in history in proportion to the total national population. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s talk about the history of Czechoslovakia. The anti-semitic founder of the modern state was well connected in the USA, all the way up to POTUS. His list of important American friends included a Nazi-lovin’ industrialist. But the state he founded was friendly to Jews and pushed through some socialist progressive reforms…. Until it was abandoned by the Western powers and practically handed to H...

Significant electoral victories and strikes by domestic socialist parties in France and Italy pushed the UK to insist on American military support for the Marshall Plan’s rollout. In the United States, there were divergent views on whether or not that was a good idea - until something happened in 1948 which sealed the deal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

European recipients of the Marshall Plan funds were quite clear to the USA that they needed help keeping the socialists down and out of their countries. And the USA recognized that its own economic welfare rested on the revival of Europe. Funding a pro-capitalist European recovery was a matter of national self-interest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We want to take a break from Korea to talk about the creation of NATO. Obviously relevant with the whole Ukraine situation. And it took on a new kind of mission during the Korean War. But let’s go back and look at where it came from. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MacArthur is gone but he isn’t going quietly. He thinks he can rally his support into a run for the POTUS job. He is gravely mistaken. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By April 1951, MacArthur wanted to nuke China. But Truman had had enough of his giant ego. It was time for him to go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ridgway thought there was no reason for the US army to abandon the Korean peninsula. They just needed to do a better job of digging themselves in. The transformation of Eighth Army after the coming of its new commander astonished and profoundly impressed all those who witnessed it. Meanwhile, MacArthur’s relationship with the Joint Chiefs, and Truman, just became worse and worse. And China conduct...

General Matthew Bunker Ridgway, “The Soldier’s General”, takes over command of the 8th Army and his “back to basics” approach was exactly what was needed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By early Feb 1951, it became evident that a military disaster for the UN in Korea wasn’t likely. Under the new command of Ridgway, after Walker had died in a jeep accident, the 8th army were holding on. Meanwhile in China… They also thought they could win the entire Korean Peninsula. So weren’t really trying hard to negotiate a peaceful settlement with two Koreas. But then… On 15 March 1951, MacAr...

In December 1950, MacArthur and Truman are both threatening the use of atomic weapons against China and North Korea. Meanwhile, the British are trying to talk them into making peace with China, while Truman struggles with massive unpopularity back home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Cam is in the USA, the lads sit down to have a lazy chat about the highlights of the last six years of talking about the Cold War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The big question for the Pentagon was why the US collapsed so quickly. They could blame the winter and the mountains - but the Chinese had to contend with those as well. And the US wasn’t sure what their next move was. Truman wanted a quick settlement, but MacArthur wanted escalation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As they are swiftly kicked out of Korea by Mao’s forces in December 1950, everyone seems to be angry at America. The Chinese, the North Koreans, the South Koreans, the British… even the Americans are angry at themselves. Because, like Mexico, they didn’t send their best people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking to Katharine Gregorio, author of "The Double Life of Katharine Clark, The Untold Story of the American Journalist Who Brought the Truth about Communism to the West". Clark was her great-aunt, a foreign correspondent who, while posted in Belgrade in the mid-1950s, befriended Milovan Djilas, the former heir apparent to Tito in Yugoslavia and author of the classic "Conversations w...

MacArthur can feel victory slipping through his fingers in Korea. He was certain the Chinese had been scared off. He was very, very wrong. His choice lay between escalation or humiliation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back to the Korean War and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir aka Lake Changjin. China and the UN/ROK forces fight in freezing cold temperatures. Well, when I say “fight”, I mean the UN forces were “advancing in a different direction”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is part four of our recent chat about the history of China and Taiwan with James Shone, a teacher who has lived and worked in Taiwan for over a decade. He’s recently started a podcast about the history of Taiwan - https://taiwanthroughtime.com/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Danny Orbach is an Associate professor in general history and East Asian studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His new book, Fugitives, is a history of Nazi mercenaries during the Cold War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is part three of our recent chat about the history of China and Taiwan with James Shone, a teacher who has lived and worked in Taiwan for over a decade. He’s recently started a podcast about the history of Taiwan - https://taiwanthroughtime.com/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices