Operation Overlord, commence!

Today in 1944, D-Day! Allied troops stormed Normandy in German-held France. D-Day was supposed to take place in May 1944, but poor weather conditions and an insufficient buildup of supplies delayed the landing until June. The battle for Normandy would continue for two months, concluding in late August 1944, effectively ending the war in Europe (although it should be noted that Germany would not surrender until April 1945).

General Dwight Eisenhower led the Allied preparations for what was known as Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe from the English Channel. The Allies gave themselves the upper hand by working to confuse Germany, up until the attack, German leadership believed that the attack would happen not at Normandy but at another beach, Calais. Believing this, Hitler delayed sending two reserve divisions to Normandy, allowing for the Allies to gain a foothold in France.

Three million men, 11,000 aircrafts, and 2,000 vessels were all a part of D-Day! Talk about fire power! The troops included men from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There were also smaller forces from Free France, Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway. The original Operation Overlad plan was for a ninety-day campaign in Normandy with the goal of reaching the River Seine, pushing Germany out of France. Historians debate when the actual end of the combat in Normandy occurred, ranging from July 24 to August 25, to August 30, 1944. This is largely due to the start day of Operation Cobra on July 24, with Americans leading the battle. However, the ultimate goal of pushing the German troops to the Seine was not achieved until August 30, leading to the confusion. To add to this, the United States, Canada, and Great Britain also all hold different definitions of when the battle ended, with Canada claiming the latest date, September 1. This is what historians argue about! We are fun at parties!

The Victory in Normandy was followed by pushing Germany out into the Western Front, requiring them to pull support from their Soviet and Italian fronts. This eased some of the pressure the Soviet Union had been facing at its front. For years, Stalin had been demanding the Allies to open a second European front to deflect some of Germany’s troops and allow the Soviet Union to recoup from years of defending its own borders. Until 1944, the requests had been denied. Stalin requested the additional front so often that the running joke was that he knew only knew four English words: “yes,” “no,” and “second front.”

The cost of Normandy was high for all sides, with over 200,000 casualties for the Allies (10% of the forces landed in France) and between 288,000 and 450,000 casualties for the Germans.
D-Day not only was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany, it also flagged the start of the race for Europe, which some consider to be the start of the Cold War.

Combating Communism? Give Billions

Today in 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall explained the Marshall Plan. After World War II ended, Europe found itself in economic peril. At the same time, the Cold War was quickly erupting between the United States and the Soviet Union. The U.S. immediately became concerned that the U.S.S.R. would take advantage of Europe’s economic woes and spread communism through the European continent. Within two years of the end of the Second World War, much of Europe lay in ruins, with widespread food shortages and rampant inflation. In 1946-47, Europe experienced a severe winter, exacerbating the economic problem and strengthening communist parties in France and Italy. The U.S. was quickly becoming very concerned.
George C. Marshall announced a recovery plan for Europe’s economy. The plan invited all European nations to request monetary assistance. This would kill two birds with one stone for the U.S. First, it would help eliminate conditions where it was feared communism might flourish. Second, it would create an automatic market for American goods, thus ensuring the American economy’s stability and strength. Marshall insisted the program was not first pointed at combating communism, “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” Who could challenge fighting hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos?

Apparently, no one. While there were some isolationists who held out against the U.S. becoming involved in world affairs, they were quickly quieted by communist takeovers in Czechoslovakia and Poland. The Marshall Plan became one of the most successful foreign aid and programs in history.

The U.S. government poured billions of dollars into Europe and encouraged Americans to also aid Europe by visiting the continent. The Plan was well advertised (see the above image, insisting that without the plan American families would eventually starve!)
This brief history of the Marshall Plan begs the question, would the U.S. be able to pay so much out in a current situation? Would we loan billions to Iraq or Afghanistan?

Propaganda Meet the Cold War

Tonight in my History 102 class we discussed the propaganda used during the early years of the Cold War, specifically looking the first five or so years following World War II. In these years, the U.S. found itself as a major world power. It also found itself pitted against its former ally, the U.S.S.R. Hence, propaganda was used in at least two main ways.
First, this early Cold War propaganda worked to position U.S. citizens against a very recent ally, one that made victory more possible in Europe. The U.S. perception of the U.S.S.R. was already an interesting one. In the 1920s, the U.S. experienced its first Red Scare, reacting to Lenin’s overthrow of the Russian government. While initially many Americans supported this revolt, immediately the reality of Lenin’s communist state took hold. Quickly, socialist and communist groups nationwide felt the pain of discrimination.
However, with the Great Depression, both groups found some regained popularity (although it should be clearly noted that neither had any type of majority). When World War II broke out, Germany and the U.S.S.R. had brokered a tentative agreement that served their immediate interests. When Germany violated this agreement, the U.S.S.R. joined the allies. Americans had to move toward a more tolerant position of the nation. Fast forward to 1945, and the ideological and economic differences between the two nations quick became apparent. So, the U.S. used propaganda to help re-position Americans tolerance of the Soviet Union.
This quickly moved to a new problem: dealing with American fear. As soon as it was understood that the Soviet Union presented a real threat (particularly when they had the atomic bomb), Americans were fearful of nuclear attack. This is very understandable, recall the devastating impact of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
This leads to the second main use of propaganda. It tackled such fear with re-painting atomic bombs as dangerous but not too dangerous! While scientists of the day proclaimed fallout shelters as potential to promote atomic war and actually would be unable to protect its inhabits from such powerful bombs; cleaver media tactics made it the immediate solution to atomic fear. This along with the that ducking and covering prompted Americans to be comfortable with a build of atomic weapons.
Hence a publicly supported cold war that continued to several decades.Oh propaganda, how the 50s loved thee!