Cold War | History Hit

Henry Kissinger: Statesman and Diplomatic Luminary

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 17:07:10 +0000

Few figures in modern history have shaped international relations and global politics as profoundly as Henry Kissinger – a prominent American diplomat, political scientist, and statesman.

Kissinger’s pivotal role as US National Security Advisor and later as US Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford marked an era of intricate diplomatic engagements. His tenure as a key architect of US foreign policy during the tumultuous Vietnam War era, his groundbreaking diplomacy in détente with the Soviet Union, and his complex relations with China solidified his reputation as a shrewd and influential statesman.

However, his controversial realpolitik approach and prioritisation of national interests over ideological concerns, especially concerning US involvement in Vietnam and Chile, significantly influenced American foreign policy during some of the key events of the 20th century, igniting both acclaim and criticism.

Revered on the one hand and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Kissinger was also reviled, condemned by some as a war criminal. He continued to divide opinion and be the subject of debate until his death on 29 November 2023, aged 100. Here we explore more about Kissinger’s early life, rise to prominence, his diplomatic triumphs and controversies, and his enduring impact on the world stage.

Early life

Henry Kissinger was born on 27 May 1923, in Fürth, Germany, to a Jewish family. Witnessing the rise of Nazism, the Kissinger family fled to the United States in 1938 to escape persecution. Settling in New York City, young Henry adapted to American life while preserving his deep intellectual curiosity and multilingual abilities, becoming a US citizen in 1943.

He went on to serve 3 years in the US Army (volunteering for hazardous intelligence duties during the Battle of the Bulge and running a captured German town despite only being a Private), and later in the Counter Intelligence Corps where he tracked down Gestapo officers and other saboteurs, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Kissinger had excelled academically, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from Harvard University in 1950. He then pursued a master’s degree and later a PhD in government at Harvard, focusing on the elusive concept of ‘peace’ in Europe. His doctoral dissertation, titled A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822, reflected his keen interest in the interplay between power, diplomacy, and peace in shaping global affairs – an interest that would define his career.

Rise to prominence

Kissinger became a respected lecturer in international relations at Harvard University, where his expertise in foreign policy drew attention, leading to advisory roles and eventually a position at the Council on Foreign Relations. His expertise and publications on nuclear strategy and Cold War geopolitics (including Nuclear War and Foreign Policy, 1957 that said a limited atomic war was winnable) attracted the notice of political figures, including Nelson Rockefeller, who appointed Kissinger as an advisor in his presidential campaign.

However, it was President Richard Nixon who recognised Kissinger’s potential and appointed him as National Security Advisor in 1969 – a position that would give Kissinger enormous influence and sway over US foreign policy. Nixon relied on his advice, at a time when the Cold War was at its peak, with nuclear war recently averted over Cuba, American troops in Vietnam and the recent Russian invasion of Prague.

Kissinger’s influence expanded further when Nixon later appointed him Secretary of State in 1973, allowing him to navigate the complex terrain of global diplomacy with unprecedented authority. This step into politics propelled Kissinger onto the global stage, where his strategies and negotiations would leave a lasting impact on world affairs.

Kissinger and President Richard Nixon discussing the Vietnam situation in Camp David, 1972 (with Alexander Haig)

Diplomatic triumphs

Kissinger’s significant diplomatic initiatives were instrumental in the era’s key geopolitical shifts. During this time, America negotiated the Paris Peace Accords which finally ended its involvement in the Vietnam War, and opened up relations with China through Premier Zhou Enlai (putting diplomatic pressure on the Soviet leadership), leading to Nixon’s 1972 trip to China, ending 23 years of diplomatic isolation and hostility.

America also paved the way for disengagement agreements which brought about a cessation of hostilities in the brief 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East between Egypt and Syria on the one hand and Israel on the other, thanks to Kissinger’s ‘shuttle diplomacy’.

Furthermore, Kissinger’s efforts in détente – the easing of tensions – resulted in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) with the Soviet Union, marking a pivotal moment in Cold War relations.

Henry Kissinger and Chairman Mao, with Zhou Enlai behind them in Beijing, early 70s

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Oliver Atkins (Jiang ) / Public Domain

Diplomatic controversies

While praised for his diplomatic acumen and strategic thinking, Kissinger’s tenure was not without controversy, and he faced persistent criticism. His rivalry with the Soviet Union and policies were often perceived as prioritising realpolitik (a system of politics or principles based on practical considerations over moral or ideological considerations), drawing ire from human rights advocates.

Additionally, his policy of the US supporting repressive authoritarian regimes in Latin America, notably Augusto Pinochet’s brutal military coup in Chile with the aim of overthrowing the Marxist President Salvador Allende, sparked criticism and protests for alleged involvement in coup d’états and human rights abuses in pursuit of political goals.

Chilean President Augusto Pinochet shaking hands with Kissinger in 1976

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Archivo General Histórico del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores / CC BY 2.0 cl

His role in the secret US bombing campaigns in neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam War to deprive the communists of troops and supplies, orchestrated under his guidance, also drew fierce condemnation and accusations of war crimes. The destabilisation this brought was a factor in giving rise to Pol Pot’s brutal regime and the Khmer Rouge movement.

Awards

Despite these controversies, Kissinger received numerous accolades for his diplomatic contributions. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his efforts in negotiating the Vietnam War ceasefire, although this accolade sparked controversy and two resignations from the Nobel Committee, and North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho refused to accept. Additionally, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, for his diplomatic endeavours.

Continued influence and legacy

Whilst Kissinger’s legacy remains deeply contested, his impact on US foreign policy was undoubtedly profound. Despite leaving office in 1977, he continued to be an influential figure in global affairs, founding Kissinger Associates, an international consulting firm. He remained a sought-after advisor, and was consulted by generations of leaders for decades afterward, from JFK to Biden, issuing his suggested diplomatic strategies and realpolitik approach (advocating for pragmatic, practical policies aligned with national interests).

Indeed after 9/11, then-president George W Bush asked Kissinger to chair the investigation into the attacks (though stood down shortly after) and advised over policy in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Whilst Kissinger had advised Trump to accept Putin’s occupation of Crimea, after the Russian invasion, he instead argued Zelensky should get Ukraine to join NATO after peace was secured. Kissinger remains the only American to have dealt directly with every Chinese leader from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping.

President Donald Trump with former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 10 May 2017

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / The White House / Public Domain

Kissinger also served on the board of various companies, and wrote 21 books including his memoirs, notably White House Years and Years of Upheaval, which offer insights into the inner workings of diplomacy during tumultuous times.

Even in his later years, Kissinger’s perspectives on global politics continued to attract attention. He remained active in public speaking engagements (meeting Chinese President Xo Jinping in July 2023, after he had turned 100), offering insights and analysis on contemporary international challenges and geopolitical shifts (particularly regarding US-China relations, cybersecurity, and the balance of power).

Following Kissinger’s death, former US President George W Bush claimed the US had “lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs”, with the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair describing him as an artist of diplomacy, motivated by “a genuine love of the free world and the need to protect it”. Nevertheless, this influential diplomat who found himself at the centre of power during some of the key events of the 20th century, continues to divide opinion.

]]>

First Person to Walk in Space: Historic Milestone in Space Exploration

Sat, 29 Apr 2023 15:14:50 +0000

The first person to walk in space marked a historic milestone in space exploration. On 18 March 181965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov achieved this remarkable feat during the Voskhod 2 mission. Stepping out of the spacecraft, Leonov floated freely in the vacuum of space for approximately 12 minutes, tethered to the spacecraft by a 5.35-meter-long umbilical cord. This groundbreaking event paved the way for future spacewalks and opened up new possibilities for human exploration beyond the confines of Earth’s atmosphere.

Leonov’s spacewalk was not without challenges but his pioneering accomplishment marked a significant advancement in space technology.

The race for space

During the latter half of the 20th century, the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were engaged in a conflict known as the Cold War. Although there was no direct fighting between them, they competed in proxy wars and sought to demonstrate their technological superiority on a global scale.

One prominent manifestation of this competition was the “Space Race”, in which both sides vied to achieve milestones in space exploration ahead of the other. These milestones included sending the first human into space, which was achieved by Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961, and landing the first person on the Moon, accomplished by NASA’s Neil Armstrong in 1969.

The first spacewalk

On 18 March 1965, Soviet astronaut Alexei Leonov made history by becoming the first human to perform a spacewalk. Leonov, wearing his spacesuit, exited the Voskhod 2 spacecraft through an inflatable external airlock. This innovative airlock had been specially designed to eliminate the need to depressurise the entire capsule, which could have potentially damaged the instruments on board.

During his spacewalk, Leonov spent just over 12 minutes outside the capsule, secured to it by a short tether. However, the spacewalk was not without challenges. Leonov faced difficulties with the stiffness of his spacesuit, making it challenging to control and complete tasks. He also encountered issues with the length of his tether, which caused him to float away from the spacecraft, requiring him to use his thrusters to return to safety.

Dangerous return

On the return from the historic spacewalk, Alexei Leonov faced a dangerous dilemma. His spacesuit inflated due to the lack of atmospheric pressure in space, making it impossible for him to fit back into the cramped airlock chamber. With a limited supply of oxygen and the orbit of his spacecraft soon passing into the Earth’s shadow, Leonov made the risky decision to reduce the pressure inside his suit using a valve, risking decompression sickness.

To further compound his problems, the effort of pulling himself back to the capsule using the tether caused Leonov to sweat, resulting in impaired vision due to the liquid in his helmet. Despite these difficulties, Leonov persevered and eventually managed to squeeze back into the chamber, overcoming the obstacles and safely returning to the spacecraft.

Leonov (left) with Deke Slayton in the Soyuz spacecraft. Image credit: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Credit: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Yet more close calls

But Leonov’s close-call wasn’t the only misfortune to strike the Voskhod. When it was time to return to Earth, the spacecraft’s automatic reentry system failed meaning the crew had to judge the right moment and fire the retro-rockets manually.

They successfully reentered the Earth’s atmosphere but ended up landing far outside the planned impact area, in a remote snow-bound forest in the Ural Mountains.

Leonov and his companion cosmonaut Pavel Belyayev spent an uncomfortable and cold night surrounded by wolves. They were rescued the next morning.

Leonov’s later career

Alexei Leonov played a pivotal role in the history of space exploration. In addition to his groundbreaking spacewalk, Leonov later commanded a historically significant mission – the Soviet half of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. This mission, which took place in 1975, marked the first joint space mission between the United States and the Soviet Union, representing a symbol of the improving relations between the two superpowers during that time.

Following this historic mission, Leonov went on to command the cosmonaut team and oversee crew training at the prestigious Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. His leadership and expertise in space exploration continued to contribute to the advancement of Soviet space programs, leaving a lasting legacy in the field of space exploration.

]]>

Operation Unthinkable: Churchill’s Postwar Contingency Plan

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 11:54:00 +0000

‘Operation Unthinkable’ was a secret military plan proposed by Winston Churchill and developed by the British Armed Forces and the USA in May 1945. It aimed to launch a surprise attack on the Soviet Union and force Stalin’s communist government to retreat from Eastern Europe, stopping the spread of communism.

The plan, however, was ultimately deemed unfeasible and did not go ahead.

Why was such an audacious plan even considered so close to the end of such a mighty conflict as World War Two, especially against a country that had been a significant and valuable ally?

Growing concerns

Operation Unthinkable was born from Churchill’s growing concerns over the Soviet Union’s intentions in Europe.

Recognising that they were on their way to defeating the Axis powers, the Allied leaders met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to discuss how to re-divide and distribute Europe after the war.

Stalin was deeply suspicious of the other powers, believing they had delayed the Allied invasion of Italy and the invasion of Normandy to cause the Soviet Army to struggle alone against Nazi Germany, to wear each other down.

Russia had lost over 25 million citizens and a third of its national wealth during World War Two, prompting Stalin to believe he had every right to take as much European territory as a prize as he could get away with. Stalin had virtual control of Poland, and was setting up a provisional, communist, pro-Soviet government. (He also had 2.5 million Soviet soldiers around Berlin and Eastern Germany.)

Despite his Yalta Conference pledges of free and fair elections in Poland, it became clear Stalin later reneged on these.

Churchill was determined fair elections were held, viewing the spread of communism as a threat to British interests in Europe and believing a military confrontation with the Soviet Union increasingly inevitable. Churchill had also been alarmed by reports of systematic rape and destruction by the Soviets in Berlin and occupied territories, with infrastructure stripped and sent back to Russia.

However, Roosevelt, being anti-imperial, suspected this was part of Churchill’s ambition to maintain the British Empire’s influence; America wanted to maintain Soviet cooperation to help defeat Japan. Roosevelt pointed out that whilst allies, the US were not there to help Churchill hang on to his “archaic, medieval empire”.

By 8 May, VE Day, Western forces had pushed around 150 miles beyond the Yalta agreed boundaries to a line of contact with the Soviets. Whilst the US were keen to relinquish this territory, Churchill wanted to use it as a bargaining chip, warning against retreating until the Allies were satisfied about Poland and the Russian occupation of Germany.

Thus in early May 1945, Churchill commissioned a contingency military enforcement operation plan for war on the Soviet Union to obtain a “square deal for Poland”.

Allied army positions on 10 May 1945

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / W. B. Wilson / CC BY-SA 3.0

Operation Unthinkable

Codenamed Unthinkable, the plan called for a massive surprise assault on Soviet positions in Europe by British and American troops, with support from German and Japanese forces (rearming between 100,000-700,000 former Wehrmacht soldiers), and to ‘impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire’.

Suspicious of Stalin and to pre-empt any potential future Soviet attack, the aim was to push Soviet forces back beyond the Oder River and establish a new pro-Western government in Poland, hoping this would force Stalin to reconsider his domination of Eastern Europe. The plan would need to be executed quickly while Britain still had its military force mobilised.

The date was provisionally set for 1 July 1945, but while British planners anticipated America would have to be involved, at this stage they were not consulted. Since Roosevelt’s death on 12 April, President Truman and the State Department had continued to see Churchill as an irritation in their dealings with Stalin.

Scepticism and opposition

Although only known to Churchill, his three Chiefs of Staff and the immediate planning team, the plan was met with a great deal of scepticism and opposition. They saw it as unrealistic, and worried it would lead to a prolonged and costly conflict with the Soviet Union.

Once informed of the plan, the USA also opposed it. America were focused on rebuilding Europe and promoting democracy. They did not see the Soviet Union as a significant threat, and worried a military conflict with the Soviet Union may well prompt the Soviets to then ally themselves with Japan.

Churchill continued to push for Operation Unthinkable’s implementation, yet it increasingly became clear the plan was unfeasible and would not achieve its intended goals.

Without America’s support, it was difficult to launch a full-scale military operation. The plan also relied on the support of former German soldiers, and the British military believed the British, US and Polish forces may not have been willing to operate alongside their recent enemy.

The Soviet Union’s scale meant it would have been difficult to deploy Allied forces in a way that would catch them off guard. The Soviet Union also had a powerful military (on 1 July 1945, the Red Army numbered around 7 million men, of whom 6 million were in the western theatre) and would have been able to put up a strong defence. Planners calculated that Soviet infantry divisions exceeded the UK’s by 4:1, and Allied air power had greatly diminished.

Consequences

While the plan was initially approved by Churchill and scheduled for 1 July 1945, on 8 June 1945 the Chiefs of Staff submitted their final conclusions. Due to the huge numerical superiority of the Red Army, it was thought a short, sharp Allied attack into Poland would fail, leaving total war the only outcome.

Concerns that the Soviet Union could respond with a nuclear attack deemed Operation Unthinkable too risky, and it did not go ahead.

At the Potsdam Conference, news of the successful test of America’s atomic bomb reignited Churchill’s hopes of Operation Unthinkable, but it was America’s bomb. Clement Attlee became Prime Minister in July 1945, and with a new government, Operation Unthinkable was abandoned.

It’s unknown if Stalin knew anything about Operation Unthinkable, but he did know the British were stockpiling German weapons and supplies, and may well have received secret British documents relating to Unthinkable, probably via Donald Maclean, later exposed as one of the Cambridge spies.

Sir Winston Churchill (right); Clement Attlee (left)

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

8 months on from his 1945 general election defeat, on 5 March 1946 Winston Churchill delivered a speech in Fulton, Missouri in President Truman’s presence, including the phrase ‘iron curtain’, which would come to describe countries living within the Soviet sphere of influence. Churchill, an unashamed imperialist, helped paint Russia as a dangerous expansionist power, which did not respect ‘military weakness’ and needed to be strongly dealt with. His words set a major precedent in post-war relations between the Western powers and the Soviet Union.

Within months, US Chiefs of Staff, alarmed at the extent of Soviet expansion, began work on their own plans for a war with the Soviet Union. Liaising with their British counterparts to discuss how best to meet the challenge, they devised ‘Operation Pincher’. Thus by 1946, Operation Unthinkable was not quite the outlandish plan it seemed one year prior. The Cold War had begun.

Legacy

Despite never being implemented, Operation Unthinkable is historically significant. It was the first Cold War-era contingency plan for war against the USSR, and reflects the tensions and mistrust that existed between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union in World War Two’s aftermath. It also provides insight into the complex geopolitical dynamics of the time and the challenges of developing effective strategies to counter the spread of communism.

Operation Unthinkable was not made public by the Cabinet Office until 1998, 7 years after the Cold War ended. Despite the document (reference CAB 120/691) being released, maps and plans were never brought into the public domain – either destroyed or still withheld.

]]>

The Red Scare and the Legacy of McCarthyism

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 11:19:26 +0000

In the years following World War Two, Senator Joseph McCarthy instigated a wave of paranoia about Soviet spies in the United States government, culminating in the infamous Red Scare. McCarthyism, which refers to the making of unfounded accusations in government, had reached its peak in 1950 when McCarthy accused the US Department of State of harbouring secret Communists.

With the USSR emerging as the real winner of World War Two and the spread of Communism in Europe, it’s no wonder tensions and suspicions were high.

Cover to the 1947 propaganda comic book ‘Is This Tomorrow’. Image credit: Catechetical Guild, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In China meanwhile, the openly US-backed opposition to Mao Zedong was failing, and tensions in Korea had exploded into full-scale war. Seeing how easily countries like Poland, and now China and Vietnam, had fallen, much of the western world was confronting the very real threat of Communism taking over everywhere: even the previously untouchable United States.

To make matters worse, a perceived Soviet scientific superiority had lead them to test their own nuclear weapons in 1949, many years earlier than US scientists had predicted.

Now nowhere in the world was safe, and if another war was to be fought between capitalism and communism, then it would be even more ruinous than the one which had defeated Fascism.

McCarthyism in politics

Amidst this backdrop, Senator McCarthy’s 9 February outburst becomes a little more understandable. While addressing a Republican Women’s Club in West Virginia, he produced a piece of paper which he claimed contained the names of 205 known Communists who were still working in the State Department.

The hysteria that followed this speech was so great that from thereon the hitherto little-known McCarthy’s name was given to the mass anti-communist fervour and climate of fear that spread across America.

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Image Credit: United Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Now a political celebrity, McCarthy and his mostly right-wing allies (men who had called President Roosevelt a Communist for his New Deal) engaged on a vicious campaign of public accusation against anyone who had any connection with left-of-centre politics.

Tens of thousands lost their jobs as they came under suspicion, and some were even imprisoned, often with very little evidence to support such a move.

McCarthy’s purge was also unconfined to political opponents. Two other sections of US society were targeted, the entertainment industry and the then illegal homosexual community.

McCarthyism in Hollywood

The practice of denying employment to actors or screenwriters who had suspected ties with Communism or socialism became known as the Hollywood Blacklist, and only ended in 1960 when Kirk Douglas, the star of Spartacus, publicly acknowledged that former Communist Party member and blacklisted Dalton Trumbo had written the screenplay for the Oscar-winning classic.

Others on the list included Orson Welles, star of Citizen Kane, and Sam Wannamaker, who reacted to being blacklisted by moving to the United Kingdom and becoming the inspiration behind the rebuilding of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

The ‘Lavender Scare’

The ‘Lavender scare’ was a purge on homosexuals that occurred alongside McCarthyism. The term was coined by journalist Jack Nichols, and it refers to the mass firings and blacklisting of homosexuals in the United States government. In the early 1950s, gay men were associated with Communism after the revelation of a Soviet spy ring in the United Kingdom that included openly gay Guy Burgess. McCarthy’s supporters were zealous in firing large numbers of homosexuals, even those with no connection to Communism.

Homosexuality was viewed with suspicion, and in 1953, President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, which barred any gays from working in the Federal Government. This order remained in place until 1995.

Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn during the Army–McCarthy hearings. Image credit: United Press International telephoto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

McCarthy’s downfall

Although evidence showed that the US had been infiltrated by Soviet spies, McCarthyism eventually lost its momentum. A series of events contributed to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s downfall.

The first was the Army-McCarthy hearings, which focused on his conduct during an investigation into the spread of communism in the army. Televised and highly publicized, the hearing revealed McCarthy’s overzealous tactics.

The second was the suicide of Senator Lester Hunt in June. Hunt, an outspoken critic of McCarthyism, was blackmailed by McCarthy’s supporters who threatened to arrest and publicly prosecute his son over allegations of homosexuality. After being bullied for months, Hunt committed suicide, which led to the end of McCarthy.

In December 1954, the US Senate passed a vote to censure McCarthy for his actions. He died of suspected alcoholism three years later. The fear and paranoia of communism spread by McCarthy in the 1950s lingered in America, where communism is still often viewed as the ultimate enemy.

]]>

Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:01:21 +0000

The reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990 marked the end of the division between the democratic West (FRG) and the communist East (GDR), which had persisted since 1949. However, while West Germans continued their lives as usual, the reunification brought about significant changes for East Germans.

Rather than establishing a new German state, West Germans considered themselves as the continuation of the state, with East Germany being an aberration resulting from 41 years of Soviet rule. The resulting changes in East Germany are often viewed positively, particularly with regard to improved living standards. However, East German-born historian Katja Hoyer’s book, Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990 – our Book of the Month for April 2023 – challenges this perspective and offers a revisionist history of the time.

Hoyer’s book examines all aspects of East German life, including politics and everyday experiences, and reveals that perceptions of life in the GDR and the consumerism of the West aren’t necessarily as we might expect. Here we explore some of the aspects of East German life that Hoyer covers in her book that demonstrate how the commonly held view of authoritarianism in the GDR may not tell the whole story.

The establishment of West and East Germany

Hoyer argues Germany’s formal division into two separate states in 1949 hadn’t always been inevitable. Initially, Stalin aimed to keep Germany unified and neutral. However, Moscow eventually deemed it necessary to establish a socialist state in East Germany as a buffer between the capitalist West and the socialist East. Indeed while the West was rebuilding and forming a partnership with the UK and Americans after World War Two, the Soviet Zone’s gradual nationalisation of the economy made establishing a separate socialist state increasingly desirable to the Russians.

The introduction of the Deutsche Mark in West Berlin on 20 March 1949 alarmed the Soviets, who responded by blockading all land and water traffic to the city from 24 June 1948 (until 12 May 1949 – the Berlin Blockade). The Allies respond by airlifting food and fuel from airbases in western Germany to Berlin until the Soviets restored land access due to fears of political upheaval from the Allied counter-blockade.

Two weeks after the end of the blockade, on 23 May 1949, West Germany was established as a state, soon followed by the creation of East Germany.

Berlin Airlift

Image Credit: Airman Magazine / CC

Stability and contentment

Whilst initially political events following World War Two created a sense of unrest, eventually the GDR provided East Germans with the stability they desired.

Hoyer explains that after years of political upheaval, war, economic turmoil and rapid political change, most Germans were exhausted and sought stability, a settled home life, and a future without war and economic disaster. Thus an anti-fascist, socialist one-party state like the GDR appealed to many East Germans.

During the 1950s, the GDR’s implementation of socialist policies, such as dividing large agricultural estates into smaller segments, had a negative economic impact. Millions of skilled workers left for the more prosperous West Germany, prompting the GDR to impose a closed border between the two states to ensure its survival, especially in Berlin where the construction of the Berlin Wall was deemed necessary.

However, by the 1960s, some stability and contentment were achieved. In 1967, Saturday work was abolished whilst pay remained the same, and just over half of all East German households owned a car (the two-stroke Trabant), contributing to a feeling of satisfaction. Although the stereotypical view of the German Democratic Republic is one of omnipresent Stasi, old-fashioned looking Trabants, food and travel restrictions, Hoyer argues that for those seeking a quiet life, the GDR provided a stable environment.

East German police car (Trabant)

Women’s rights

Rather than focusing on what East Germans lost by its Soviet occupation, Hoyer’s book shines a light on what the East gained that the West never had – in particular around women’s rights.

In 1989, the GDR had one of the highest rates of female employment in the world. This was mostly because state nurseries admitted children from birth and were open from 6am to 6pm, around the working day, enabling women to parent as well as have a career. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, these services ended, making balancing work and parenting much more difficult – factors that continue to make juggling both harder than it needs to be today.

Social mobility

The GDR initiated several social engineering projects that gave East Germans a sense of progress.

Tens of thousands of young people from working-class backgrounds were encouraged to study and pursue higher education, offered leadership positions and awarded scholarships. Additionally, the extension of military service for those who attended university allowed people from all social classes to join the army, creating new opportunities for status, recognition and prestige.

Mixed perceptions

Undoubtedly the Soviet Union viewed East Germany as a pawn to advance its interests during the Cold War, and the authoritarianism and repression that were characteristic of the Soviet Union were also evident in the East German state. The pervasive presence of the Stasi secret police created an atmosphere of fear and unease that they then proceeded to exploit. Furthermore there were severe restrictions on political and personal freedoms.

Unsurprisingly, the insidious reach of the Stasi was a serious deterrent to any potential dissenters. It was common for families and friends to inform on each other, and criticising the regime to almost anyone was incredibly risky and could also be a potentially extremely dangerous thing to do. Fear of losing opportunities, being subjected to a sustained harassment campaign or even torture and imprisonment ensured mass compliance with the regime, despite the hardships it often created.

After the collapse of the GDR, the true extent of Stasi surveillance was revealed: the Stasi had been keeping files on 1 in 3 Germans, and had over 500,000 unofficial informants.

Stasi Records Archive in The Agency of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records

Image Credit: Radowitz / Shutterstock

In the late 1980s, the level of surveillance in East Germany was at an all-time high, yet the information gathered often went unused. This created a division in East German society, with some resenting the constant state of alert and politicisation of daily life, while others sought meaning and belonging in contrast to what they viewed as the superficial consumerism of the West.

Since reunification, many East Germans have faced high levels of unemployment, leading to a significant number rejecting traditional political parties and finding the current system unsatisfactory. Hoyer suggests that recognising the GDR as an important part of Germany’s history, with both positive and negative outcomes, would help further unite the nation.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the widely acclaimed Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she is a columnist for the Washington Post and hosts the podcast The New Germany together with Oliver Moody. She was born in East Germany and is now based in the UK.

Her book, Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990, is published by Allen Lane / Penguin, and is available from 6 April 2023.

]]>

What is the Doomsday Clock? A Timeline of Catastrophic Threat

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 09:17:42 +0000

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock used by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to indicate how close humanity is to global catastrophe. The nearer the clock is to midnight, the closer we are to destruction.

The clock was devised in 1947 – with an initial time of 23:53 – in an effort to convey the urgency of the issue in an instantly familiar format and “frighten men into rationality”, according to the Bulletin‘s first editor. You won’t be surprised to learn from the Doomsday Clock timeline below that the clock has crept considerably closer to midnight since 1947.

Since then, it has been set and reset 22 times, with a recent adjustment occurring in January 2020. In response to concerns about nuclear weapons and climate change, the clock was set to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it’s ever been to Doomsday.

What is the Doomsday Clock?

The Trinity test of the Manhattan Project was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon

Image Credit: United States Department of Energy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The origins of the Doomsday Clock date to 1947, when a group of atomic researchers who had been involved with developing nuclear weapons for the United States’ Manhattan Project began publishing a magazine called Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Two years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this community of nuclear experts was clearly troubled by the implications of nuclear warfare. As a result, the Doomsday Clock first emerged as a graphic concept on the cover of the Bulletin’s June 1947 edition.

Who sets the Doomsday Clock?

From its conception until his death in 1973, the clock was set by Manhattan Project scientist and Bulletin editor Eugene Rabinowitch, largely according to the current state of nuclear affairs. His first adjustment, in October 1949, reflected an increasingly parlous set of circumstances. The Soviet Union had tested its first atomic bomb and the nuclear arms race was just hitting its stride. Rabinowitch set the clock forward four minutes to 23:57.

Since Rabinovitch’s death, the clock has been set by a panel of experts comprising members of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board and its Board of Sponsors, which includes more than a dozen Nobel laureates and other international experts in key technologies.

Any decision to adjust the clock emerges from biannual panel debates. These aim to assess the current state of global imperilment and decide if the world is safer or more dangerous than it was the previous year.

A timeline of the Doomsday Clock

The evolution of the Doomsday Clock through the years

Image Credit: Dimitrios Karamitros / Shutterstock.com

Looking back at a timeline of the Doomsday Clock offers an interesting overview of 75 years of geopolitical ebbs and flows. While the overarching trend has undoubtedly been towards heightening danger, the clock has been set back on eight occasions, reflecting a perceived reduction of catastrophic threat.

1947 (7 minutes to midnight): Two years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Doomsday Clock is first set.

1949 (3 minutes to midnight): The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb and the clock leaps forward 4 minutes to reflect the commencement of the nuclear arms race.

1953 (2 minutes to midnight): The nuclear arms race escalates with the emergence of hydrogen bombs. The US tested its first thermonuclear device in 1952, followed by the Soviet Union a year later. The clock is closer to midnight that it will be at any point until 2020.

1960 (7 minutes to midnight): As the Cold War developed the 1950s saw a succession of nuclear close calls, such as the 1956 Suez Crisis and 1958 Lebanon Crisis. But by 1960 there was evidently an impression that measures were being taken to dampen tensions and allay the threat of nuclear catastrophe.

1963 (12 minutes to midnight): America and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty, prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. Despite tense nuclear standoffs like the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Doomsday Clock assessment heralds the treaty as an “encouraging event” and knocks a further five minutes off the clock.

1968 (7 minutes to midnight): A turbulent geopolitical period resulted in a substantial five-minute addition to the clock. Along with the intensification of the Vietnam War, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by France and China, neither of which signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty, contributed to a ramping up of global tension.

1969 (10 minutes to midnight): With most countries in the world (bar India, Israel and Pakistan) signing the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Rabinovitch detected a significant steadying of nuclear instability and the Doomsday Clock was adjusted accordingly.

1972 (12 minutes to midnight): The threat of nuclear devastation was further diminished thanks to the US and Soviet Union signing two more treaties: the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty.

1974 (9 minutes to midnight): After 14 years of the Doomsday Clock moving in a reassuring direction, the Bulletin reversed the positive trend in 1974. It noted that the “international nuclear arms race has gathered momentum and is now more than ever beyond control”.

1980 (7 minutes to midnight): The US refused to ratify the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, the Soviet-Afghan War began and the Bulletin moved the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight, citing the “irrationality of national and international actions”.

1981 (4 minutes to midnight): Nuclear tensions ramped up considerably. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan prompted the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and America adopted a more hard-line Cold War position following the election of Ronald Reagan. The Hollywood actor turned President argued that the only way to end the Cold War was to win it and dismissed arms reduction talks with the Soviet Union.

1984 (3 minutes to midnight): The Soviet-Afghan War intensified and the US continued to escalate the arms race, deploying missiles in Western Europe. The Soviet Union and most of its allies boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

1988 (6 minutes to midnight): US-Soviet relations improved with the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. This banned all of the two nations’ land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 500–1,000 km (310–620 mi) (short medium-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi) (intermediate-range).

1990 (10 minutes to midnight): The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain signal that the Cold War is nearing its end. The clock is put back another three minutes.

1991 (17 minutes to midnight): The US and USSR signed the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) and the Soviet Union dissolved. The clock was further from midnight than it had ever been.

1995 (14 minutes to midnight): The clock edged three minutes closer to midnight as global military spending showed no sign of decreasing and the eastward expansion of NATO threatened to cause Russian unrest.

1998 (9 minutes to midnight): With the news that India and Pakistan were both testing nuclear devices, the Bulletin noted a heightened sense of peril and moved the clock forward by five minutes.

2002 (7 minutes to midnight): The US vetoed a series of arm controls and announced its intent to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty due to the perceived threat of a nuclear terrorist attack.

2007 (5 minutes to midnight): Along with news of North Korea’s nuclear tests and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Bulletin highlighted the threat of climate change. It moved the clock forward by two minutes.

2010 (6 minutes to midnight): The New START nuclear arms reduction treaty was ratified by the US and Russia and further disarmament talks are planned. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference recognised that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present day and that actions should be taken to keep any temperature increases to below 2 °C.

2012 (5 minutes to midnight): The Bulletin criticised a lack of global political action to address climate change and decrease nuclear stockpiles.

2015 (3 minutes to midnight): The clock edged forward another two minutes with the Bulletin citing “unchecked climate change, global nuclear modernisations and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals”.

2017 (2 ½ minutes to midnight): President Trump’s public dismissal of climate change and comments about nuclear weapons prompted the Bulletin to move the clock forward by half a minute.

2018 (2 minutes to midnight): Under Trump’s administration, the US withdrew from the Paris Agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Information warfare and “disruptive technologies” such as synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare are cited as further threats to humanity.

2020 (100 seconds to midnight): The end of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the United States and Russia and other mounting nuclear concerns were cited by the Bulletin as the clock moved closer to midnight than ever before.

]]>

10 Facts About Kim Philby

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 16:47:26 +0000

Harold Adrian Russell ‘Kim’ Philby was a British intelligence officer who rose to the top of MI6 while working as a double agent for the Soviet Union – and thus one of the most successful Soviet spies of the 20th century.

In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the ‘Cambridge Five’, a spy ring that had divulged British secrets to the Soviets during World War Two and the early stages of the Cold War. Having spent decades betraying his country, friends and family and causing the deaths of thousands, he defected to the Soviet Union. Despite numerous investigations, Philby had managed to maintain his cover for several decades, which made his eventual exposure all the more shocking.

Here are 10 facts about one of the most notorious and intriguing figures in the history of espionage.

1. He first embraced communism while studying at Cambridge

Born in Ambala, India in 1912, Harold ‘Kim’ Philby was the son of a British diplomat. Nicknamed “Kim” after a spy character in a Rudyard Kipling story, Philby attended Westminster School, then Trinity College, Cambridge.

Despite his background, Philby embraced communism during his time at Cambridge in the early 1930s, along with fellow students Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean and academic Anthony Blunt. These men later became known as the ‘Cambridge Five’, (the ‘fifth man’ was later named as John Cairncross by KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky) and were recruited by Blunt to the Soviet cause before the Second World War.

After graduating, Philby worked as a journalist in Vienna (covering the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of France). His connections put him on the radar of a Soviet deep-cover intelligence agent and spymaster, Arnold Deutsch, and he was recruited to spy for the Soviet Union. He was instructed to break off contact with his communist friends in order to be able to penetrate the British establishment.

2. He worked for MI6 during the Second World War

After successfully posing as a patriot, in 1940 Philby was recruited into MI6 by his friend Guy Burgess, a British secret agent who was himself a Soviet double agent. Despite Philby’s interest in communist circles during his time at Cambridge, there was little vetting during his recruitment.

Philby quickly climbed the ranks and by the end of the war he had become head of counter-Soviet intelligence, responsible for combating Soviet subversion in western Europe. In 1945 he even received an OBE for his wartime intelligence work.

3. He was appointed First Secretary to the British Embassy in Washington in 1949

Although this was his official job title, in reality, Philby served as chief British intelligence representative in Washington – the top liaison officer between the British and American intelligence agencies.

While holding this highly sensitive post, he revealed to the USSR that there was a plan to send armed anticommunist bands into Albania in 1950, which consequently assured their defeat. He also transmitted detailed information about MI6 and the CIA to the Soviets, as well about US and British plans for the Korean War.

4. He warned two Soviet double agents that they were under suspicion

These double agents, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, were Philby’s friends and were fellow Cambridge spies. Philby’s warning meant the two men consequently were able to escape to the Soviet Union in 1951.

‘The Cambridge Five’. Left: picture shows clockwise from top left, Antony Blunt, Donald Maclean, Kim Philby and Guy Burgess.
Right: John Cairncross

Image Credit: Left: Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo. Right: http://spartacus-educational.com/SScairncross.htm / Fair Use

5. He evaded full-scale incrimination to avoid embarrassment to the UK and USA

After Maclean and Burgess had been exposed as Soviet spies, the glare of suspicion fell on Philby.

Whilst he was interrogated, he was officially cleared and managed to evade full-scale incrimination for over a decade – partly due to a lack of hard evidence, but largely because many officials in the Foreign Office and in Parliament refused to believe the mounting evidence that was building against him. If the evidence was true, it would have proved a huge embarrassment to the US and British governments.

Nevertheless, under a cloud of suspicion, Philby resigned his intelligence duties in 1951.

6. He was publicly exonerated in 1955

Following revelations in The New York Times, Labour MP Marcus Lipton used parliamentary privilege to ask Prime Minister Anthony Eden whether he was determined to cover up Philby’s dubious activities. This was reported in the British press, leading Philby to threaten legal action against Lipton if he repeated his accusations outside Parliament. Philby was then officially cleared by Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan.

After this, Philby was no longer employed by MI6, and Soviet intelligence lost all contact with him. In August 1956 he was sent to Beirut as a Middle East correspondent for The Observer and The Economist. However, while in Beirut, his journalism served as cover for renewed work for MI6.

1955 Press Photo of former British diplomat Harold ‘Kim’ Philby

Image Credit: Public Domain

7. A KGB defector confirmed Philby was a Soviet mole

In January 1962, suspicions over him were confirmed when Philby was implicated in evidence given by KGB defector Anatoly Golitsyn.

British agents confronted Philby with enough evidence to convict him of espionage. He was offered immunity from prosecution if he cooperated and divulged what he knew about the Soviet spy network. Philby agreed and allowed MI6 officials to record his admissions for three days. (Nicholas Elliott, one of Philby’s closest MI6 friends who’d always believed in his innocence, was tasked with extracting a formal confession.)

After the third day and fearing imprisonment, Philby vanished from Beirut on the evening of 23 January 1963. Rather than cooperate further, it is thought Philby escaped to Russia aboard a Soviet ship arranged by the KGB – from under the nose of British Intelligence. Some believe British intelligence permitted him to escape, rather than deal with the public embarrassment of a trial.

8. Philby confessed to being a Soviet spy in 1963

It took until 1 July 1963 for Philby’s escape to Moscow to be officially confirmed, and on 30 July 1963, Soviet officials announced that they had granted him political asylum in the USSR, along with Soviet citizenship. When the news broke, MI6 came under criticism for failing to anticipate and block Philby’s defection.

Philby was revealed to have been a member of the ‘Cambridge Five’ spy ring. It is believed he shared tens of thousands of classified documents with his Soviet handlers throughout his career.

9. He eventually reached the rank of colonel in the KGB

After his arrival in Moscow, Philby discovered that he was not a KGB colonel (as he’d been led to believe). Although he was paid comparatively well, his family weren’t immediately able to join him in exile and Philby was under virtual house arrest, guarded, with all visitors screened by the KGB.

It was only 10 years later that Philby was given a minor role in the training of KGB recruits, with the KGB fearing Philby would return to London.

In 1968, Philby published a book, My Silent War, detailing his exploits and defending his actions. Philby explained his loyalties were with the communists, and that he considered himself not as a double agent but ‘a straight penetration agent working in the Soviet interest’. He also divulged that during the 1940s and early 1950s, he had been responsible for the deaths of many Western agents who he had betrayed to the Soviets.

10. Philby lived on as a Soviet citizen and national hero until his death in 1988

Philby claimed publicly (in January 1988) that he didn’t regret his decisions, and missed nothing about England except some friends, Colman’s mustard and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. He continued to read The Times (not generally available in the USSR) and listened to the BBC World Service.

However, towards the end of his life, Philby almost drank himself to death, disillusioned with communism and tortured by what he’d done, according to Rufina Pukhova, his fourth wife who he married in 1971.

The Soviet Union 1990 CPA 6266 stamp (Soviet Intelligence Agents, Kim Philby) 20 November 1990

Image Credit: USSR Post / Public Domain

In the 1970s, Philby worked in the KGB’s Active Measures Department. Working from genuine unclassified and public CIA / US State Department documents, he inserted ‘sinister’ paragraphs regarding American plans, ensuring the correct use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases. The KGB then stamped the documents ‘top secret’ and circulated them. He also worked as an occasional consultant to the KGB helping to prepare spies for missions to the west.

In 1988, Philby died of heart failure. He was given a hero’s funeral and posthumously awarded numerous Soviet medals including the Order of Lenin.

In a 1981 lecture to the Stasi (the East German security service), Philby had attributed the failure of the British Secret Services to unmask him as due in great part to the British class system, saying that for them it was inconceivable that one ‘born into the ruling class of the British Empire’ would be a traitor.

]]>

The 8 De Facto Rulers of the Soviet Union In Order

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 15:12:18 +0000

The Soviet Union was one of the dominant world powers throughout the 20th century, and it has left a powerful legacy that is still felt today in both Russia and the West. 8 men led the Soviet Union in its 70 year existence, each leaving their mark and several developing cults of personality either during their lifetime or after their death.

So who exactly were these men, and what did they do for the USSR?

1. Vladimir Lenin (1917-1924)

Lenin was a revolutionary socialist: exiled under Tsar Nicholas II for his political beliefs, he returned following the February Revolution of 1917 and played a major role in the October Revolution the same year.

His political ideology was centred on Marxism (communism), but he believed Russia could never make such a dramatic departure from centuries of autocratic rule by the tsars. Instead, he advocated for a period of socialism, a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, to transition from one political state to the next.

The 1917 revolutions were far from a complete victory however, and the next few years saw Russia engulfed in a bitter civil war. Lenin had assumed that there would be widespread support amongst the working classes for Bolshevism – and whilst there was support, it was not as much as he had hoped for. It took 3 years for the White Army to be defeated.

In 1920, Lenin also introduced his divisive New Economic Plan (NEP): described as a retreat by some, NEP was a kind of state-run capitalism, designed to get Russia’s economy back on its feet following a disastrous five years of war and famine.

A photograph of Lenin by Pavel Zhukov, taken in 1920. It was widely disseminated as publicity material across Russia. Image credit: Public Domain.

By the second half of 1921, Lenin was seriously ill. His incapacitation gave his rival Stalin a chance to build up a power base. Despite attempts to dictate his successor (Lenin advocated for Stalin’s removal, replacing him with his ally Trotsky), Stalin’s influence and ability to portray himself as close to Lenin won out.

Lenin suffered a stroke in March 1923, and died in January 1924. His body was embalmed, and is still on display in a mausoleum in Red Square today. Although he showed little care for the immense suffering inflicted on the Russian people during the revolution, civil war and beyond, Lenin is credited with being one of the most important – and often revered – men in Russian history.

2. Joseph Stalin (1924-1953)

Stalin was born in Georgia in 1878: his real name is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, but he adopted the name ‘Stalin’ which literally means ‘man of steel’. Stalin began to read Marx’s works and join local socialist groups when he was at seminary school.

After joining the Bolsheviks, Stalin met Lenin for the first time in 1905, and quickly began to climb the ranks within the Bolshevik party. In 1913, he was exiled to Siberia for 4 years, returning just in time to play a part in the revolutions of 1917.

During Lenin’s premiership, Stalin consolidated his position as a senior party official, although his relationship with Lenin was far from perfect. The two clashed over questions of ethno-nationalism and foreign trade.

Stalin quickly assumed power on Lenin’s death: as General Secretary of the party, he was in prime position to do so. He ensured those loyal to him were dispersed through his new administration and across the country in order maintain his position of power.

A new ideology, ‘Socialism in One Country’ was adopted by the party, and in 1928, the first of Stalin’s Five Year Plans was announced. This basically amounted to rapid industrialisation (Stalin was concerned about threats from the West) and collectivisation of farming: this was met with opposition, and resulted in the deaths of millions, both through famine and targeting purges of kulaks (land-owning peasants).

A cultural revolution followed, as conservative social policies were implemented and old ‘elite’ culture was bulldozed, in favour of culture for the masses. By the 1930s, Stalin had begun a period known as ‘The Great Terror’, where any potential opposition was quashed in a brutal series of purges.

After initially signing pacts with Stalin, Hitler turned on his former ally and invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite heavy casualties (including famously the Siege of Leningrad), Soviet forces held out, engaging the Wehrmacht in a war of attrition that they were not fully prepared for. The Soviets began launching attacks of their own on weakened German forces, and pushed back into Poland, and eventually, Germany itself.

Stalin’s later years in power were characterized by increasingly hostile relationships with the West, and growing paranoia at home. He died of a stroke in 1953.

3. Georgy Malenkov (March-September 1953)

Malenkov’s inclusion in this list is divisive: he was de facto leader of the Soviet Union for the 6 months following Stalin’s death. With links to Lenin, Malenkov had been one of Stalin’s favourites, playing a major roles in the purges and the development of Soviet missiles during the Second World War.

When Stalin died, Malenkov was his (initially) unchallenged successor. It did not long for the rest of the Politburo members to challenge this, and he was forced to resigned as head of the party apparatus although allowed to remain as premier.

The front page of Pravda announced the severity of Stalin’s stroke – a day before his eventual death. Image credit: Public Domain.

Khrushchev mounted a serious leadership challenge, and following a brief power struggle, Malenkov was forced to resign as premier. Following a failed coup in 1957, he was briefly exiled to Kazakhstan and returned to Moscow once this was over, living the rest of his life out quietly.

4. Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1964)

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was born in western Russia in 1897: he worked his way up the party hierarchy following his role as a political commissar during the Russian Civil War. A supporter of Stalin’s purges, he was dispatched to govern the Ukrainian USSR, where he enthusiastically continued purges.

^{Following the end of the Second World War (known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia), Stalin recalled him from Ukraine to Moscow as one of his most trusted advisors. Khrushchev was involved in a power struggle with Malenkov after Stalin’s death in 1953, emerging victorious as the First (General) Secretary of the Communist Party.}

He is perhaps most famous for his ‘Secret Speech’ in 1956, in which he denounced Stalin’s policies and announced a relaxation of the repressive Stalinist regime, including permitting foreign travel and tacitly acknowledging the West’s more desirable living standards. Whilst this rhetoric was welcomed by many, Khrushchev’s policies were not in fact that effective, and the Soviet Union struggled to keep up with the West.

Khrushchev also backed the development of the Soviet space programme, which in turn helped to lead to some of the most tense periods of the Cold War, including the Cuban Missile Crisis. For the majority of his time in office, Khrushchev enjoyed popular support, thanks to victories including the Suez Crisis, Syrian Crisis and the launching of Sputnik.

However, his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, combined with his ineffective domestic policies, led members of the party to turn against him. Khrushchev was deposed in October 1964 – pensioned off generously, he died of natural causes in 1971.

5. Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982)

Brezhnev had the second longest term as General Secretary of the Communist Party (18 years): whilst he brought stability, the Soviet economy also seriously stagnated during his tenure.

Becoming a member of the Politburo in 1957, Brezhnev ousted Khrushchev in 1964 and took over his position as Secretary of the Communist Party – a role which was tantamount to leader. Keen to minimise dissent in the party, Brezhnev was a natural conservative and encouraged decisions to be made unanimously rather than dictating them.

Colourised photo of Leonid Brezhnev. Image credit: Public Domain.

However, this conservatism also manifested in an opposition to reform, and lack of progress. Living standards and technologies in the USSR began to lag dramatically behind those in the West. Despite a massive arms build-up and an increased global presence, frustrations grew within the Soviet Union.

Corruption also proved to be a major problem, and there was little done by Brezhnev’s regime to combat this. Brezhnev suffered a major stroke in 1975, and effectively became a puppet leader: decisions were made by other senior politicians, including his eventual successor, Andropov. He died in 1982.

6. Yuri Andropov (1982-1984)

Andropov was born in 1914 and his early life is relatively obscure: he gave away a variety of stories about the year and place of his birth and his parentage.

Named Chairman of the KGB (the USSR’s national security agency) in 1967, Andropov wasted no time on cracking down on dissent and ‘undesirables’. Following Brezhnev’s stroke in 1975, Andropov was heavily involved in policymaking, alongside Gromyko (Foreign Minister) and Grechko / Ustinov (successive Defence Ministers).

In 1982, Andropov formally succeeded Brezhnev as General Secretary of the Soviet Union: he was totally incapable of reinvigorating or saving the increasingly worrying state of the Soviet economy, and further escalated Cold War tensions with the US.

Andropov died in February 1984, 15 months after formally being appointed leader. Whilst his time in office is relatively unremarkable, he did begin to streamline the party system, investigating corruption and inefficiency. Some see his legacy as the generation of reformers who emerged in the years following his death.

7. Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985)

Chernenko held the role of General Secretary for 15 months: many see Chernenko’s election as a symbolic return to policies of the Brezhnev era, and he did little to ease hostilities with the US, going as far as to boycott the 1984 Olympics.

For most of his premiership his health was seriously failing and he left little tangible mark on the Soviet Union, dying from chronic emphysema (he had smoked from the age of 9) in March 1985.

8. Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991)

Gorbachev was born in 1931, and grew up under Stalin’s rule. He joined the Communist party and went to study in Moscow. After Stalin’s death, he became an advocate of the de-Stalinization proposed by Khrushchev.

As a result, he rose through the ranks of the party, eventually joining the Politburo in 1979.

Gorbachev was elected General Secretary (de facto premier) in 1985 and he promised reform: he is most well known for two of his policies – glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

Glasnost meant relaxing rules surrounding press regulation and restrictions on freedom of speech, whilst perestroika involved the decentralisation of government, the relaxation of rules on political dissent and an increased openness with the West. Gorbachev and Reagan worked together to limit nuclear armament and effectively end the Cold War.

Perestroika as a policy undermined the idea of a one-party state, and increasingly nationalistic sentiments from countries within the Soviet Union became problematic. Faced with dissent from both within and outside the party, and attacked in several coups, the Soviet Union eventually dissolved, and Gorbachev resigned his office in 1991.

Whilst he may have been the last leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev’s legacy is mixed. Some view his regime as a total failure, whilst others admire his commitment to peace, curtailing human rights abuses and his role in ending the Cold War.

]]>

Who Was the Russian Spy Alexander Litvinenko?

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 13:14:43 +0000

In November 2006, former Russian secret service agent Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital after being exposed to the deadly radioactive polonium-210. Litvinenko’s death caused international controversy. On his deathbed, Litvinenko claimed Russian leader Vladimir Putin was responsible, targeting Litvinenko for unearthing corruption in the Russian secret services.

Alexander Litvinenko is predominantly remembered for his dramatic death and the intense, drawn-out international investigation that followed. He was also a father, husband, son and public campaigner for anti-corruption in his homeland.

So who was Alexander Litvinenko, and what events led to his poisoning in 2006?

A Russian spy?

Alexander Valterovich “Sasha” Litvinenko was born in the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh in 1962. He graduated school in 1980 to be immediately drafted into the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, quickly moving to the Kirov Higher Command School. The same year, Litvinenko married his first wife Nataliya and together they had a son, Alexander, and daughter, Sonia.

In 1991, Litvinenko was promoted to lieutenant-colonel within the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSB). This successor the former secret police service known as the KGB monitored counter-terrorist activity and infiltrated Russian organised crime. His career continued to soar. Litvinenko saw active military service and was awarded the title of ‘MUR veteran’ for his work in the Moscow criminal investigation unit. He was even responsible for planting agents in Chechnya during the First Chechen War, gaining a reputation in the western media as a ‘Russian spy’.

Gangs, corruption and the KGB

In 1994, Litvinenko’s life moved in several new directions. He separated from Nataliya and married ballroom dancer Marina. He was got involved in investigations into the attempted assassination on the Russian oligarch, Boris Berezovsky. Although he later became employed by Berezovsky – a conflict of interest – Litvinenko discovered connections between the leaders of the Russian law enforcement and the mafia, including the notorious Solntsevo gang.

Alarmed at his discovery, Litvinenko wrote a note for Boris Yeltsin and arranged for him to meet with FSB director Mikhail Barsukov. However, nothing happened. The realisation dawned on Litvinenko that the entire system had been corrupted. Litvinenko later explained that, “When force became a commodity, there was always demand for it… As the police and the FSB became more competitive, they squeezed the gangs out of the market. However, in many cases competition gave way to cooperation, and the services became gangsters themselves.”

Boris Yeltsin on 22 August 1991

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Berezovsky then introduced him to Vladimir Putin, who became Russian Prime Minister in 1999 and had formerly worked for the KGB. Litvinenko reported the entrenched corruption to Putin, but during his investigations into the Uzbek drug barons who were receiving protection from the FSB, Putin tried to stall the investigations.

On 30 November 1998, Berezovsky accused four senior officers in the organised crime organisation of ordering his assassination. Just 4 days later, along with 3 colleagues, Litvinenko repeated Berezovsky’s allegation at a press conference. Litvinenko was immediately dismissed from the FSB and ordered not to leave Moscow.

Seeking refuge

Violating the order to stay put in Moscow, Litvinenko and his family fled Russia for Turkey in October 2000. His application for asylum in the United States was rejected, and desperate, Litvinenko asked for refuge at Heathrow Airport during a stopover on a Instanbul-London-Moscow flight. Political asylum was granted on 14 May 2001 on humanitarian grounds.

While living in London Litvinenko began reporting for Chechenpress and campaigning against Putin’s government. Meanwhile, he was convicted in absentia in Russia for corruption – the very charge he had laid against the security services that convicted him. Litvinenko was also involved in intelligence work, alerting the Spanish authorities to links between organised crime and the Russian government in Spain, and he was secretly recruited by MI6 to report on Russian organised crime.

Among some of his published allegations against Russia, Litvinenko claimed the KGB funded the world’s most notorious terrorists including Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda; that the Russian Armed Forces organised a 1999 presidential shooting in Armenia; the Russian apartment bombings of 1999 were staged by the secret services to bring Putin into power; that Putin was personally involved in protecting drug trafficking from Afghanistan; and that Russian secret service agents were involved in the Beslan school siege in order to justify tougher law enforcement.

All the while, Litvinenko continued to mingle with Russians and journalists in the UK despite warnings that a FSB unit had been assigned to assassinate him.

The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the opening ceremony of the International military-technical forum in Kubinka, Russia, 2015

Image Credit: Shutterstock

What happened to Alexander Litvinenko?

Suddenly on 1 November 2006, Litvinenko began violently vomiting. Unknown to him and his family, Litvinenko was suffering with the symptoms of acute radiation sickness. He was admitted to intensive care at University College Hospital where a rare and highly toxic element was found in his body: radionuclide polonium-210.

The day he began feeling unwell Litvinenko had met with two former agents, Dmitry Kovtun and Andrey Lugovoy, in the Millennium Hotel Pine Bar. He had also met with an Italian Mario Scaramella who claimed to have information about the assassination of journalist and FSB critic, Anna Politkovskaya. She has been killed in her Moscow apartment in October 2006, which Litvinenko believed to be the order of Putin.

A high polonium trace was found and despite denying involvement, leaked US diplomatic information revealed Kovtun had left more polodium in the house and car he was using. A posthumous statement the following day made Litvinenko’s claim that Putin was responsible for his poisoning. Putin denied involvement.

Litvinenko died on 23 November 2006. He was buried in Highgate Cemetery in a lead-lined coffin presided over by a priest, Imam and rabbi.

In January 2007 the British police announced they had identified the person they believed poisoned Litvinenko. They had discovered a teapot with sky-high polonium readings which was used to kill Litvinenko and concluded his death was the result of a state sponsored assassination, delivered through a cup of tea. An extradition order was made for Andrei Lugovoy who had met Litvinenko on 1 November. Russia refused the extradition order, making relations with the UK tense.

Meanwhile, Marina Litvinenko mercilessly campaigned for a public inquiry into her husband’s death, taking the matter to the High Court which rule in 2014 that a public inquiry should be launched. Only in an inquiry could secret material be considered – material suggesting involvement of the Russian state in Litvinenko’s murder.

In January 2016, a decade after the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the Home Office published The Litvinenko Inquiry: Report. The report found that Litvinenko was killed by Russian agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, and that there was a “strong probability” they were acting on behalf of the Russian FSB secret service.

]]>

John F. Kennedy: His Life in Pictures

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 13:32:17 +0000

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, is remembered for his glamour and style, while capturing the public’s imagination with his scandals and affairs. Born on 29 May 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, he was part of a large and wealthy Roman Catholic family who were active in the Democratic Party. Following his education at Harvard University he served in the US Navy during the Second World War, participating in the Pacific Theatre of the conflict from 1943 onwards. He did not plan on having a career in politics, instead hoping to pursue an academic or journalistic route. With the death of his older brother, much of the family’s political hopes fell onto him, steering his path towards public office.

In 1946 he ran for US Congress, beating his opponent in a massive landslide. His rise in politics was astounding – he was aged only 29 at the time of his first victory and never lost any election until his death. Following three terms in the House of Representatives he ran for US senate in 1952, beating the popular Republican candidate Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. JFK’s marriage to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier the following year would further boost his popularity with voters. As a US senator he was campaigning to abolish the electoral college system and implement labour reform, while becoming increasingly committed to civil rights legislation.

By the mid 1950s John F. Kennedy became one of the most well known figures in US politics. His 1960 US Presidential campaign would result in him winning the highest office, though with a very narrow margin. His term was marked by many challenges, most famously the Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost triggered a war between the US and the Soviet Union. He also famously promised to send a man on the moon by the end of the decade. On 22 November 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas, during the President’s tour of the state.

Here, we look back at the life of one of the most influential and best known figures of the 20th century, from his childhood until his tragic death.

John F. Kennedy in his Dexter Academy football uniform, 1926

Image Credit: Kennedy Family Photographs Collection. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

The second child out of eight, John F. Kennedy was encouraged by his parents to engage in intense academic and athletic competition with his siblings. Touch football was especially popular with the Kennedy family.

The Kennedy Family at Hyannis Port, 04 September 1931. L-R: Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, Jean Kennedy (on lap of) Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (behind) Patricia Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (behind) Rosemary Kennedy