|
Guatemala |
Iran |
USSR and Eastern Europe |
|
1944: Guatemalan dictator Jorge Ubico, who had cut a deal with United Fruit in the 1930s to let it have 42% of Guatemala's land without paying taxes or import duties, resigns in face of reform demands by students; replaced by democratic gov’t led by Juan José Arévalo that preaches “spiritual socialism”: “Our socialism aims to liberate men psychologically, to return to all the psychological and spiritual integrity that has been denied them by conservatism and liberalism.” US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his brother Allen, future head of the CIA, had been partners in the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, which brokered the deal. New constitution allows workers to strike and unionize, but does not aim for land reform (in 1950, 2.2% of population owns 75% land--22 owners hold more land than 250,000 peasant families). United Fruit owns 550,000 acres in Guatemala, making it by far the country’s largest landowner (c.20% arable land), 85% of which it leaves unused; also owns almost all railroad track, telephone and telegraph lines, and only Atlantic port. 1950: Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán succeeds Arévalo,
winning nearly 80% of vote over UF- and Guatemalan army-backed candidate who
runs on basis of defending Guatemala from “red
attack.” CIA is ambivalent, predicting that while Arbenz “was
elected as a Leftist,” “it is reasonable to suppose that his ambition is
greater than his idealism…” |
1945: Truman confronts
 1951: British refuse to rewrite
revenue deal in Iran: deal calls for 84% of revenue to go to Anglo-Iranian
Oil Co. (AIOC), 16% to Iran (deal simultaneously being rewritten in Saudi
Arabia for 50/50 revenue sharing; AIOC makes more profit in 1950 alone than
it had paid to Iran in previous 50 years). When AIOC refuses—in face of
suggestions that they do so in British Foreign Office—Iranian prime minister
Mossadegh nationalizes oil company. Jan. 1952, Time names
him “Man of the Year”: an “obstinate opportunist” but also “the Iranian
George Washington.”
Article
depicts him in Orientalist manner as fairy-tale evil ruler: "Once upon a
time, in a mountainous land between Baghdad and the Sea of Caviar, there
lived a nobleman. This nobleman, after a lifetime of carping at the way the
kingdom was run, became Chief Minister of the realm. In a few months he had
the whole world hanging on his words and deeds, his jokes, his tears, his
tantrums. Behind his grotesque antics lay great issues of peace or war,
progress or decline, which would affect many lands far beyond his
mountains....In foreign affairs, the minister pursued a very active policy—so
active that in the chancelleries of nations thousands of miles away, lamps
burned late into the night as other governments tried to find a way of
satisfying his demands without ruining themselves. Not that he ever
threatened war. His weapon was the threat of his own political suicide, as a wilful little boy might say, 'If you don't give me what I
want I'll hold my breath until I'm blue in the face. Then you'll be sorry.' In
this way, the old nobleman became the most world-renowned man his ancient
race had produced for centuries. In this way, too, he increased the danger of
a general war among nations, impoverished his country and brought it and some
neighboring lands to the very brink of disaster.” Brits
prepare covert-action plan (as well as bribes, assassinations, military
invasions), but US refuses to support it; plans will come in handy for 1953,
however. |
1948: Feb.: Communist coup in Czechoslovakia: even though Czech Communists ran well in 1946 elections (membership of 1.3M in nation of 12M), USSR distrusts electoral process and overthrows existing government, installing subservient Communist government. Precursor to installation of “replica states” throughout Eastern Europe. Except for Yugoslavia, by 1949 every E. Eur. country has Soviet-model government, secret police and economy (85-98% government-owned) and helps balance USSR’s books through “fraternal aid” (or “reparations” from Hungary, East Germany and Romania, former Nazi allies).
“Show trials” 1948-54 purge former fascists as well as democratic opposition, independent judges, and churches: in USSR in early 50s, 1.7M prisoners in labor camps, 800,000 in labor colonies, 2.75M in “special settlements." 81,000
prisoners die in these camps, 1945; 30,000, 1946; 66,000, 1947; 50,000, 1948.
22% of Bulgarian workforce is slave labor; 100,000 political prisoners in Czechoslovakia, early 1950s; Hungary, 1948-53: est. 1M arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned or deported; Romania: more than 1M in prisons and slave-labor camps. Stalin dies 1953, plotting last pogrom against Jews.
Historian Tony Judt: “The Communist state was in a permanent condition of undeclared war against its own citizens.” (Postwar, p.192)
map of gulags (labor camps) in the Soviet Union, 1951
1950: Jan.: USSR gives green light to
N. Korean dictator Kim Il-Sung to invade S. Korea, banking that US will
not respond. US does, leading UN forces in Korean War and
furthering creation of “national security state”: US defense budget is $15.5B
in Aug., 1950, $70B in Dec., 1951. Defense spending is 4.7% GNP, 1949, 17.8%,
1952. 1953: June-July: USSR invades East Germany
to crush workers’
rebellion (400,000 on strike) against Soviet-mandated pay cuts, killing
between 51 (official estimate) and 270 with T34 tanks and death sentences. Later a state
holiday in West Germany. |
|
1953: Arbenz continues with land
reform, irritates US by allowing official newspaper to charge US with germ
warfare in Korean War, observing 1 min. silence in National Assembly for
Stalin’s death. Communists hold no more than 4 seats of 61 in Assembly,
probably a few hundred adherents nationwide. No Communists in Arbenz
cabinet, though 2 are close advisers. Communists
are barred from police, army, foreign ministry; Ike admin estimates CP
membership at 1000; both leaders of Guatemala support US in Korean War; 80%
of its imports go to US. Nonetheless,
US assumptions 1) Arbenz is a Communist 2) he’s being directed
from Moscow. (No evidence has surfaced to support this; no
evidence of Soviet interest in Guatemala, either. Declassified Soviet
documents show it essentially accepting Monroe Doctrine, ironically enough. State
Department, coining "if it walks like a duck" analogy, concludes
that Arbenz might as well be a Communist.) US
also worries about “nationalist domino effect”: Guatemala will lead
other countries in similar direction. In
Dec., encouraged by State Dept. and by Guatemalan landowners, church, and
disaffected military men, CIA authorizes $4.5M for overthrow of Arbenz. Works
with dictators of Nicaragua and Honduras, both of whom want
Arbenz overthrown as well, and let US build airstrips. |
1952: in October, Mossadegh expels
British embassy and all personnel, including secret agents planning
coup. After Eisenhower elected, Brits approach Americans, arguing
Mossadegh is leading Iran into Communist orbit. Tudeh, Iranian Communist party, is flourishing but
excluded from government. 1953: Eisenhower wonders in cabinet
meeting why US couldn’t “get some of the people in these downtrodden
countries to like us instead of hating us.” Sec. of State Dulles
argues that even if Mossadegh is no Communist, his removal from power by
others might create a vacuum allowing Communists in; therefore, US should overthrow
him sooner rather than later. Aug.:
US-paid demonstrators, strongmen, crooks, paid to celebrate Mossadegh and
Communism by US, throng streets, “fought” by “patriots,” police and military
(also paid by US), leading to Mossadegh’s abdication. Mossadegh’s
house is captured, looted, and set afire. Mossadegh is sent into internal
exile for the remainder of his life. Shah of Iran retakes throne, rules until
1979, when he is overthrown by an Islamist revolution. (That’s what’s
starting in the movie Argo.) |
1956: Feb.: In "secret speech," new Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev denounces Stalin for his "cult of personality," repression of dissent, purges, and unjust persecution of old Bolsheviks.
Oct.-Nov.: USSR crushes democratic reform movement in Hungary, again with tanks; c. 3000 killed; 22,000 sentenced to prison, 13,000 sent to internment camps as punishment for “counter-revolutionary activities”; c. 200,000 people (2% pop.) flee the country.
|
|
1956: In December, Fidel Castro and followers land in Cuba, hoping to promulgate revolution against US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista 1959: Castro’s forces
take control of Cuba; Batista flees. 1961: US tries same strategy again at
Bay of Pigs, resulting in catastrophic failure and years of kooky CIA plots
to unseat Castro. |
|
|
