After World War One the United States did not join the League of Nations, the new international body that attempted to keep world peace and prevent another war from starting. Obviously it failed. So it was in the Post World War Two period that, after America emerged as a world super power, it assumed leadership as the leader of the free world. While some saw this as a plot for world domination, FDR wanted to end colonialism, spread prosperity to all countries and decrease arms. This he believed, would prevent a third world war. (Not to mention America did not colonize but actually helped rebuild Japan and Germany, both of which are economic competitors to America today) Ralph Levering in his book “The Cold War: A Post-Cold War History” says
“Roosevelt embodied the liberal ideas of his generation: international cooperation under farsighted U.S. leadership, both in newly crafted institutions (e.g., United Nations, International Monetary Fund) and in less formal ways; increasing freedom of trade and investment, in order to provide the widespread prosperity that would help to maintain social peace within nations and prevent future wars between them; the gradual spread of democratic institutions, made possible by increased levels of education and prosperity; an end to colonialism and other forms of spheres of influence as the world moved closer together economically and politically and a decrease in the worldwide supply of armaments…. Roosevelt articulated these ideals eloquently in his speeches and messages to Congress and in his radio addresses to the American people. ” (1)
In fact this is why Asian experts in the State department warned of the potential hazard of siding with French colonists in Indochina, and early on pressured the French to make concessions. (2) Ho Chi Minh actually sought US help in the 1950s. Unfortunately in the post-World War II world the United States had a major political opponent in the Soviet Union. International politics over the next 40+ years were predicated on a conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. The ugly side of the Cold war was that the United States did indeed side with right-wing totalitarian dictators guilty of human rights abuses and murder against its own people. This is not to be defended, but even here “People’s History’s” analysis is not always accurate, in some cases missing important perspectives.
The two instances where Zinn is most correct is El Salvador and Iran. In February 1981 the State Department issued a “White Paper”, which blamed “Cuba the Soviet Union and other Communist States” for El Salvador’s political instability. This claim was highly suspect, as there were plenty of domestic reasons/causes for a revolution. Cuba and Nicaragua did train and give arms to leftist forces in El Salvador however. (3) The military dictatorship supported under Reagan was responsible for the infamous “death squads,” whose victims included American nuns. In Iran the US government supported a Shah and the CIA trained SAVAK, Iran’s secret police, which tortured its own civilians. This led to the Iran hostage crisis of 1980, when student protesters stormed the US Embassy.
In the 1950s the CIA did suppress a revolution in Nicaragua, where the revolutionaries threatened American business interests, and the revolution had little if anything to do with the Soviet Union. Zinn does make the right call here, however, a brief look at American actions there in the 80s.
In 1984 the leftist Sandinistas movement took power in 1984, after a somewhat rigged election. This time the Soviet Union and Cuba did assist them, helping them build a large army. Zinn claims the Sandinistas were popular with the people, but their tight economic controls angered many business people as well as farmers. Many of these people either left to America or joined the Contras. Nicaragua faced the same three problems that communist economies faced, rationing, shortages of goods, and a party elite with special privileges. (4) US did not declare war there. Why not, if America was so bloodthirsty? Instead it ended aid, trade, tried to block them from getting international loans, and the CIA mined it’s harbors and disrupted it’s economy. It also gave weapons to an exiled Nicaraguan army called the Contras. The US trained the contras in Honduras, and rich conservatives and other allies of America sent more arms and money. In 1984 Congress cut off US aid, after which Regan funneled profits from secret sales of US weaponry to Iran. (5) This was the Iran Contra scandal. It should be noted Nicaragua had free elections 1990 (6)
Another case where the Soviets intervened was Indonesia, who in 1957 got $100 million in Soviet aid. Three years later they got another $250 million along with large amounts of modern weapons. They even planned to build a nuclear power plant there, but a right-wing coup ended Soviet aid. (7) Indonesia was in fact the third largest communist party in the world, with 3 million members. (After USSR and China of course) and was the largest outside the communist bloc. Zinn could have pointed out that Indonesia sided more with China in the Sinno-Soviet split, which would make the point against Soviet specific expansion. In the late 60s a right-wing military government took power, some say with the help of the United States. Zinn could have pointed out that the military government killed at least half a million communists and communist sympathisers, and in the 1970s banned newspapers and student political activity. (8)
Zinn’s most dubious claim regarding intervention is Grenada. Grenada received independence from Britain in 1974. Eric Fairy was it’s corrupt leader, who was thrown out in 1979 in a leftist coup by Maurice Bishop. In 1983? One of Bishops assistants led a coup against him and the country was in chaos. Neighboring countries asked the US to intervene. Aside from that there were 800 American students attending medical school on the island. US officials feared a repeat of the Iran hostage crisis. (9) There’s no mention in People’s History as to why Grenada was invaded. America invaded, so it must have been bad. He quotes a NY times article saying the students weren’t in danger and they were not mistreated. (10) Yes they weren’t mistreated, but in the midst of a coup whose to say what could have happened. The U.S. government feared another hostage crisis could occur, like the Iran crisis just 3 years prior. Cuba helped build airport at Point Salines. America feared this would lead to a security thread. In autumn of 1983, 784 Cubans were on the island, as well as military personnel from Russian, East German, Libya, North Korean (11)
I’ve mentioned before how the United States tried and failed to suppress the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. The Bolshevik success led to one of the nightmares of the 20th century, not only for people in the Soviet bloc, but for people in the third world suffering under brutal dictatorships supported from both sides of the Iron Curtain. It’s too late for the victims of El Salvador’s death squads or the victims of SAVAK to speculate on a post 1945 world without a USSR. This brings us to today, what repercussions did the United States face for its foreign policy. How does it appear to the world? Does the world hate America? This will be examined in one of the last chapters of this series.
1. Levering, Ralph B The Cold War: A Post-Cold War History Harlan Davidson Inc, 1994 p. 8, 9
2. Herring, George C. America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 McGraw Hill 2002 p. 11
3. Levering, p. 175
4. Levering, p. 177
5. Levering. p. 176, 177
6. Levering p. 169
7. Vadney, T.E. The World Since 1945 Penquin Books 1987 p. 217
8. Vadney, p. 379
9. Chafe, William H The Unfinished Journey: America Since World War II Fifth Edition 2003 Oxford University Press p. 469-471
10. Zinn, Howard: “A People’s History of the United States” Harper Perennial Modern Classics 2005 p. 589
11. Vadney, p. 519
