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This section of America, Vol. 2 follows the first few months of 1948,
from the groovy fins on the new Caddies, through the assassination of
Gandhi, the creation of Israel, the political conventions that summer,
and on to the establishment of the excellent national health care system
in England!
1948
Fins on the '48 Caddie
Millions were startled and thrilled
by the fins on the '48 Cadillac
inspired by the P-38 fighter plane
It had a Hydramatic automatic transmission
and raided your wallet for $2,833
in '48 scratch
January 3
a 200-inch Hale reflector telescope
opened at Palomar Mountain observatory
run by the California Institute of Technology
Communist Party USA
1948
It still had 60,000 members
(at its height, before the Naz-Sov pact in mid-'39,
the CP had almost 100k)
Plus several hundred thousand sympathizers, fellow strollers, etc
There was an agreement
in the American power caste
that Communism was such a serious threat
to the fabric and security of America
that members could not be afforded
the political and civil rights
normally enjoyed by Americans
The nation had seen a post-war Strike Wave
(just as there had been a wave after WW I)
which may have had a boosting impact
on the eye-rollers'
surge to stomp down freedom of political
association
(add to that the rolling of cap-eyes
at a wave of possible nationalization
of key businesses (oil, rubber, minerals)
from the insurrections that were collapsing the
French, British and Dutch colonial empires)
for fear of nationalization
was the absolute substrate
of the Cold War)
Gandhi Shot
January 30
Mohandas Gandhi was walking through a garden
toward his daily prayer
when he was killed
by a Hindu named Nathuram Godse in Delhi
who thought that Gandhi's stance against partition
meant that he was pro-Muslim/pro-Pakistan
The great preacher of Satyagraha was 78
Communist Czechoslovakia
February
In the '46 open elections the commies had won the most votes
–38 percent
& now, in February '48
a "government of the workers" was formed
as 250,000 Communists paraded through Prague
The prime minister, one Klement Gottwald
told a group of farmers & peasants
that estates larger than 125 acres
would be split up & given to
"those who till it."
By the middle of March
and after the putative suicide of national hero Jan Masaryk
the Communists had seized it all
The Strength of Henry Wallace
February
In the Bronx
a special congressional election
won by a candidate from the American Labor Party
who was pledged to Henry Wallace
A Gallup Poll predicted that Wallace'd get
13-18 percent of New York's vote
March 15
200,000 soft coal miners
struck for better old age pensions
& on April 12
their leader
the persistent John L. Lewis
with the bushy unionist eyebrows
settled with a compromise
on the issue
March 15
A Federal District Court
stomped away the Taft-Hartley ban
on unions spending money
in political races
The Faked War Scare of Early 1948
What
Eisenhower in
'53 wd name
the Military-Industrial Complex
entered the "picture"
I shall call them in my history
the Military-Industrial Surrealists
or the mil-ind-surrs
The military-industrial-surrealists
with their hungers for profits & puissance
pushed forward a pre-planned war scare
early that year
part of which was to force the Republicans
to pass the European Recovery Plan
known in history as the Marshall Plan
which arrived for Truman's signature not long
after
the war scare had been promulgated
without any evidence of
actual Russian war intent
(there had been a Communist coup in Czechoslovakia
which had produced vast alarmist headlines)
For more, you could read Frank Kofsky's interesting
Harry S. Truman and the War Scare of 1948–
a Successful Campaign to Deceive the Nation
March 17
Truman at a St. Patrick's Day dinner
arranged by th' ultra right wing Cardinal Spellman said
"I do not want and I will not accept
the political support of Henry Wallace & his Communists"
April 1
the Russians began to block traffic 'tween
Berlin and West Germany
April 3
Truman signed the Foreign Assistance Plan
–the Marshall Plan
with $5.3 billion in '48 value
given out in a year
April
the Organization of American States was formed
by 21 nations in Bogotá.
May
The Elections in Czechoslovakia
showed a serious flaw in the way
Marx & Lenin were being interpreted:
there was only one set of candidates!
Proclamation of the State of Israel
May 14
After a long flow of history
beginning with the First Zionist congress in Basel
under Theodor Herzl
through 1918 when Britain was given
a "mandate" over Palestine
through 1939 when
Jews were the majority population in Palestine
through the Holocaust
–the Haganah
–Exodus '47
through millions of incidents
the State of Israel
at last came to life.
Washington and Russia recognized Israel immediately
& David Ben-Gurion was the prime minister
Britain withdrew the next day
and five Arab countries attacked
in a battle which lasted till March 1949
The great African-American diplomat Ralph J. Bunche
was sent by the UN
to help forge a peace
or a war-peace, or a
peace-in-war
for which he was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize
June 7
General Dwight David Eisenhower
of Abilene, Kansas
became president of
Columbia University
Milton Berle
very popular
for his Texaco Star Theatre
from June '48 to June '56
on NBC
"the first major" tv personality
Tuesday nights
Americans eagerly awaited
Uncle Miltie"
June 24
Truman signed the Selective Service Act– all guys 18-25
had to register
June 25
Republicans in Philadelphia
nominated NY Governor Thomas Dewey
and Governor Earl Warren of California for VP
June 28
The Yugoslavian Socialist hero Josip Broz
always known just as Tito
did not risk his all for decades fighting fascist Ustashi
and Serbian Chetniks
just to polish Stalin's boots
and so formed a nation independent
of the gulager
so that on this day the
Russian-controlled Cominform (of East Euro Communist groups)
tossed Yugoslavia out
June 30
The subway fare in NYC
surged from 5¢ to 10¢!
July 15
Harry Truman was feeling feisty
in Philadelphia
at the Democratic Convention
where Senator Alben Barkley of Kentucky
was chosen his mate
"Senator Barkley & I will win this election
and make these Republicans like it."
July 23-25
The Progressive Party Convention
also in Philadelphia
put forth Mr. Henry Wallace
for President
Among the points of the platform:
•an end to the draft
•destruction of all a-bombs
•better relations with the Soviet Union
"Wallace or War"
was one of his banners
grr grrr grr
went the Republicrats
The Berlin Airlift
July 25, 1948-September, 1949
The USSR halted rail and roads to Berlin
& traffic on the Hamburg-Berlin barge canal
so Western nations mounted a huge airlift
to feed and protect the 2.5 million Berliners
July 26
Truman signed an Executive Order
ending segregation in the United States armed forces
August 15
Another bifurcated nation
was tossed to the world.
In the south the US military ended its administration
& the Republic of Korea was proclaimed in Seoul
and on September 9, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
with a capital at Pyongyang in the north, was proclaimed
Each had unity in mind.
The North: "I am going to overthrow you"
The South: "I am going to overthrow you"
The National Health Service in England!
At last the National Health Service
was implemented in England!
in which every citizen was given free medical care
"from cradle to grave"
–The Labor-led Parliament had voted it in in '46
but it was stalled as the public (and doctors, etc.) debated
its implementation
To his lasting credit in the time-track
Truman proposed one for the USA that year
but the right wing (and the AMA) grrr'd it to death
–to be continued–
America, A History in Verse, Volume 2, 1940-1961 has recently
been published by Black Sparrow Press. Volume 1 (1900-1939),
was published in 2000 by Black Sparrow Press.
More America, A History in Verse Vol. 2
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