ON BERLIN: STALIN, MOLOTOV AND TRUMAN ON EACH OTHER’S SHOULDERS

  1. This cartoon by the Welsh cartoonist L. Illingworth was drawn and published in September 1948. It deals with the Berlin Blockade, three months after it started.
  2. We can see Stalin in the foreground, general secretary of the CPSU, with Molotov his foreign minister on his shoulders. Both stretch their arms to guide some planes above. However, they don’t point at the same direction. On Molotov’s shoulders is Truman the American democratic president, who uses a wind sock to guide the planes: the wind sock reads “air control”. The planes go to Berlin.
  3. In June 1948, French, British and Americans planned to unify their zones of occupation in Germany and provide the new unified trizone with a single currency: the Deutsche Mark. Stalin was very worried because such a plan would widen the gap between the Soviet zone of Germany and the Western zone of the country. So many escapees were already fleeing the Soviet zone to rich the West, such a decision would have worsened the situation. So, Stalin decided to close all road, rail links and canals leading to Berlin, so the West could no longer supply its zone. He hoped Berliners would ask the Soviet help once the city would have been at a starvation point.
  4. The message conveyed is clear: the US responded to Stalin’s blockade by a huge airlift (the phrase “air control” refers to this )and there was nothing the Soviets could do about it. Stalin and Molotov try in vain to guide the planes the wrong way, which really seems helpless facing the efficiency of the airlift. The cartoonist willingly depicts the situation with humor, making fun of the Soviets. He seems to take a stand for the Americans who really showed their superiority.

THREE MEN DISCUSS ON A BOMB

Cartoon by Leslie Illingworth a Welsh cartoonist in 1955.

1) Bulganin was the first Secretary of the CPSU from 1955 to 1958. Churchill ( conservative party) was the British PM (he resigned the same year as prime minister of Britain due to his failing health). Eisenhower was the republican American president ( 1952-1956-1960).

2)1955: 2 years after Stalin’s death. Khrouchtchev is not yet first secretary of the CPSU so the THAW ( dégel) is not implemented! So international relationships were tense. Cold War- War by proxy- Warsaw Pact created- American Pactomania ( Bagdad Pact 1955)-The Korean war has been over for only 2 years. In the East bloc, communism is contested ( Crisis, in Hungary the following year).

3) Sword of Domocles ( épée de Damoclès)-Arm race- Balance of terror-Domino theory-The dove ( colombe= pacifiste ) opposed to the Hawks ( faucons: les non pacifistes)-A strike force: une force de frappe-Full retaliatory response: des représailles massives- Hazardous situation: une situation risquée ( risky)- Nuclear threat ( menace).

STALIN AND THE STORKS

This cartoon deals with the Berlin blockade. It was issued in 1948 when the Anglo-American airlift responded to Stalin’s blockade which started in June 1948.

We can see Stalin, the Soviet leader targeting storks flying in the sky with an old blunderbuss. He stands in a chimney where usually storks land to make their nest. In the background we can see the city of Berlin. Storks hold bags full of supplies in their beak.

The message here is clear: storks stand for US planes bringing supplies to the blockaded city. This was Harry Truman’s decision to put pressure on Stalin who wanted to bring Berlin to a starvation point. Instead so much was airlifted that Berlinwas transformed into an island of capitalism. Stalin’s old blunderbuss is drawn to show his impotency: The USA was militarily superior and the A bomb it owned was a deterrent. Moreover, Truman ordered B29 nuclear bombers to be stationed in GB in case Stalin did not give in.

The cartoonist clearly takes a stand for the USA. Indeed, storks usually carry babies: so here the planes bring life and hope for a brighter future to the Berliners. Moreover, he clearly makes fun of Stalin, focusing on his military inferiority.

However, the latter was not long lasting because by 1949 the USSR had the A bomb and the arm race was launched.

Document: Johnson on an escalator

This document is a cartoon by Herblock dating from 1965. Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (1909 –2001), was an Americaneditorial cartoonist and author. During the course of his long career, he won three In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of his recurring targets, for whom Herblock designed the term "McCarthyism" in a particular cartoon in 1950 and that made him even more famous. He joined the Washington Post in 1946 until his death in 2001.In 1965 the USA under Johnson’s presidency committed troops in Vietnam including drafted soldiers. Year 1965 was a turning point in the Vietnam War.

1) Johnson took over from Kennedy after his assassination in 1963: Kennedy only sent “advisers” (green berets) in Vietnam, but Johnson took a step forward and decided to send troops in order to stop Hô Chi Minh, on behalf of/ in the name of the Domino Theory. The latter explains the American intervention in Vietnam. The French defeat in 1954 and the failure of Diem’s regime triggered the extend of Hô Chi Minh’s Vietminh, which supported communist resistance in the South called the Vietcong. The USA wanted to “contain” the spread of communism in Asia.

2) On the cartoon we can see president Lyndon B Johnson ( 1963-1964-1968) saying to a man: “ Our position hasn’t changed at all. The man stands for the American public opinion. Here Johnson tries to justify his policy in Vietnam and he obviously lies: Johnson praised interventionism and sent troops whereas Kennedy only sent the Green berets and the CIA. Johnson stands on and escalator and we can read “Vietnam escalator” on the foreground. Johnson’s intervention in Vietnam was the first step to an escalation to war ( escalade vers la guerre): in 1968 half a million troops were in Vietnam! ( climax). Johnson here only wants to reassure the “ average Joe”, so his foreign policy can remain popular.

3) The cartoon is obviously biased. The cartoonist clearly criticises Johnson’s decision to commit troops in Vietnam: to him it’s only a step toward(s) more violence and a tougher and expensive conflict .

Document: Let’s get a lock on this thing.

This doc is a cartoon by Herbock … ( see previous presentation).

1)Kennedy : US president elected in 1960 and assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Osvald in 1963. Democratic president. Khrouchtchev, first secretary of the CPSU came to power in 1956 and started a “thaw” criticising Stalin’s dictatorship. 1962: October Cuban crisis. Climax Cold war- War by proxy- Missiles and missile launchers- Castro’s socialist regime. To support/ to aid/ to help- to be on the brink of+ING / on the verge to +INF: sur le point de. A hazard: un risque

2) and 3) Balance of terror- Era of Brinkmanship- Arm race- Nuclear strike. Castro agreed to have Soviet missiles capable of striking the US, installed in Cuba. Kennedy threatened the USSR with a “full retaliatory response” (to retaliate: répliquer) unless the missiles were removed ( enlevés). Khrouchtchev backed down= gave up. The “hot line” ( enabled direct communication) was set between the Kremlin and Washington: this is what the “monster” locked in the box embodies. The threat of a nuclear war faded away ( s’évanouir, s’éteindre).

4) The “beast” was locked temporarily. Détente started in 1962 as well as peaceful coexistence but conlicts remained as in Vietnam for instance. So the “beast” was not locked forever: tensions between the two blocs remained vivid ( vivaces).

Document : Truman and Stalin fighting with toothpicks

Presentation: First Berlin crisis: Berlin blockade: June 1948-May1949. Background: building of two antagonistic blocs: Marshall Plan Truman doctrine v/s Jdnanov Doctrine. Truman: Democratic American president who took over from Roosevelt when he died ( he was his vice president). Elected in 1948 until 1952. Stalin: First secretary of the CPSU came to power in 1922.

1)Berlin Blockade in divided Germany. Trizone. Berlin was an enclave (enclave) in the Soviet zone of occupation: Berliner had a feeling of isolation. Berlin was besieged ( assiegée). Air corridors, air freight ( fret/ approvisonnement). To go down the drain ( être saigné à blanc).

2)On the brink to+INF = on the verge of + ING: sur le point de. Nuclear strike ( attaque nucléaire). Atomic war. Arm race. To be fencing= to fence: faire de l’escrime. Satirical= ironic(al). The USSR only had the A bomb in 1949. Balance of terror.

3)Blockade lifted in May 49. GFR: May 49 went into NATO ( created in 49 too ) in 1954. GDR formed in October 49 joined the Warsaw pact in 1955.

Whole written version

  1. This cartoon by the Welsh cartoonist L. Illingworth was published in 1948, when the Berlin blockade started. The Cold war had shared the world into two antagonistic camps and Berlin soon became the core of the struggle between the Big Two. The cartoon depicts Stalin the Soviet head of state and Harry Truman the American president as giants fighting with toothpicks over destroyed Berlin. Berliners look scared and try to run away.
  2. This cartoon clearly alludes to the Berlin blockade. In June 1948, Stalin blockaded Berlin after the announce by the British, the French and the Americans to unify their zone of occupation and introduce the Deutshe Mark, a new currency. So he closed all ground accesses to Berlin, hoping to reduce the city to a starvation point to attract Berliners into the Soviet sphere of influence. The Americans responded by a huge airlift which lasted almost one year: tons of supplies were airlifted daily until West Berlin transformed into an island of capitalism. Stalin finally gave in and in May 1949 lifted the blockade.
  3. The cartoonist drew the two leaders fighting with toothpicks although they have heavily armed. Truman even has the A-bomb hanging on his belt. He aims at denouncing the arm race which led to a balance of terror: both leaders cannot use their weapons, risking triggering a third WW. Toothpicks allow them to fight with no risk: their fight is symbolic.
  4. After Stalin was forced to lift the blockade, he realized he could no longer spread communism in Europe: he grabbed the opportunity of decolonization, to turn to Korea. In Europe, the GDR and the GFR were created, dividing the country permanently. The West founded NATO in 1949 in order to prevent a communist strike. This crisis brought the Cold War to its first climax. It was also to start a long series of crisis opposing the Big Two into a war by proxy.

Stalin plants communist flags on a map of Europe

This unknown British cartoon from 1947 shows Stalin, the first secretary of the CPSU, planting communist flags on a map of Europe. We can recognize him with his famous moustache, and on the communist flag we can see the hammer and the sickle. The Cold war had started and Stalin violated the Yalta agreements trying to spread communism on Eastern Europe.

There are different “types” of communist countries in Easter Europe according to this map:

Indeed, the key reads two different hatches: some squared hatches show the communist satellites such as Poland, whereas simple hatches show countries with communist influenced government: there we can see Yugoslavia, where Tito refused to follow Stalin’s communism (Titoism) and Czechoslovakia which was about to accept the Marshall Plan aid.

Stalin is about to plant two flags in “countries not yet decided”:

It concerns Sweden and France where communism was strong because of the anti-Nazi resistance during WWII. These countries did not fell into communism, democracy was maintained. In France, the PCF was the biggest political party in the aftermath of WWI, colonel Fabien who made the first official anti-Nazi sabotage, was a communist.

What is the message conveyed? Is it biased?

The message is clear: Stalin tried after WWII to tighten his grip on Eastern Europe, although he signed the Yalta Agreements.

It’s not so biased because it was a fact. The cartoonist only wants to denounce Stalin’s expansionism and the communist threat on Europe, already denounced by Churchill during his “iron curtain speech” in Fulton

Iron curtain speech

This famous speech was delivered by the former British PM in 1946. His conservative party had lost the General election in My 1945, and Atlee took over. Churchill, as a “simple” politician, travelled the world to warn against the dangers of communism. He stopped in the USA, in FultonUniversity, where he delivered this famous speech, speaking about the “iron curtain” for the first time.

Churchill is suspicious towards Stalin, his former ally: “. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing tendencies”. Indeed, Stalin in Yalta had accepted to organise free elections in the countries the USSR freed, and by 1946, not many free election had taken place yet.

However, he recalls the efficiency of the “Grande Alliance” and does not deny the role played by the USSR in the victory against Nazism: “We welcome Russia to her rightful place among the leading nations of the world. We welcome her flag upon the seas”.

This speech has become famous for the sentence: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” To him, Europe was bipolar in 1946 because of the non respect of Yalta by Stalin: Easter Europe was under communist control and opposed to Occidental capitalist Europe under American influence. Churchill clearly exaggerated at this point because only Albania and Bulgaria had fallen under communism, but he foresaw the communist advance, since in 1949, the whole Easter Europe was under communist influence.

In the sentence: “Police governments are prevailing in nearly every case, and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no true democracy.” He means that each time a country turns to communism he becomes a dictatorship. His example of Czechoslovakia was not to last because of the 1948 coup of Prague: Soviet troops invaded the country to stop the Czechs from accepting the Marshall plan.

Although the Truman doctrine and Jdanov doctrine were not yet launched, this speech can sound as a warning sign of the outbreak of the Cold war.

Danse caucasienne

This French anti-communist cartoon from 1951 shows Stalin, the first secretary of the CPSU, who dances kasatchok in traditional Georgian costume ( he was from Georgia) and throwing daggers at some countries on a map of Europe. This cartoon is about Stalin’s takeover on Eastern Europe. In 1951, the whole Eastern Europe was composed of people’s democracies.

Who are the men in the background? These men are the leaders of the French Communist Party (PCF). From left to right, they are Marcel Cachin. Jacques Duclos, André Marty and Maurice Thorez. They play the balalaika, a traditional Russian guitar and make Stalin dance. The French CP was part of the KOMINFORM which means it received order from Moscow and spread communist propaganda in France.

What are the countries stabbed by a dagger? These countries are communist countries and dictatorships, either under Stalin’s control like Eastern European satellites, or allied with the USSR like China which turned communist under Mao in 1949.

What about the countries about to be stabbed? France is on the verge of being stabbed. Indeed, in the 1950’s communism was strong in France and leaders like Maurice Thorez had a strong charisma and knew how to convince people communism was the best political system. However, the cartoonist exaggerates here because the communists had few seats in the government in those days and there was no real chance to see a communist government on power in France.

THE AMERICAN BLUNDGEAON IN THE SOLUTION OF THE MARKET PROBLEMS (Train yourself):

1-Introduce the document

This cartoon was published in a Soviet newspaper in 1949. It represents Paul Hoffmann the American administrator in charge of the ECA whose mission was to distribute the money of the Marshall Plan amongst European countries. In 1949, many Easter countries had fallen into communism and became people’s democracies. The USA had launched the MP to speed up European recovery in 1947 and in 1949 the money was being spent.

2-What did the USSR blame the Marshall Plan for?

Here Paul Hoffmann is drawn destroying the “sovereignty of West European countries and tariffs barriers”. Countries which accepted the money of the MP had to join the capitalist camp and side with the USA. Here the cartoonist suggests that becoming camp member was taking the risk see the economy controlled by the USA. Czechoslovakia almost accepted the plan in 1948 and the USSR through the coup of Prague forced her into the Soviet camp.

3-Why did the cartoonist only refer to the western countries?

Well he only refers to the West because Eastern European countries also called satellites or people’s democracies refused the plan and joined the COMECON.

4-What was the Soviet response to the Marshall Plan?

The COMECON was a form of economic co-operation between the USSR and her satellites. Officially it was to share productions and allow easier commercial exchanges between them to avoid shortages and inflation. In practise it was a means for the USSR to take advantage of its satellites and kind of plunder (piller) them.