Red Spies in the White House: An Alternate Cold War
- Thread starter Ulysses Orbis
- Start date
Their lack of nuclear safety resulted in one big accident already implausible. You don't need even decent atomic safety as the Soviets operated their reactor designs since the 1940s and scored only minor accidents on the way. If they are so bad, why did Ignalina and Leningrad with the same flaws and fucked up reactor design not blow up? On the other hand, why so much nuclear safety did not save Japan from pouring radioactive water into the ocean?
Literally, a lead technician eating too much Breton beans and calling off the tests (that caused the accident) due to excessive farting would be more plausible.
The question is when and how many attempts will there be. No one sane in the West would not allow a communist France, even if that means dictatorship.
That depends, how much influence can the White House exert so that Labor is re-elected and therefore the bridges with the USSR do not burn so soon?
The US has a very limited time to conduct their super-secret-spy-business before it gets leaked and they turn 180* around and go the other way as fast as possible. McCarthy and Far-Rightists running the nation will look like a slightly more idyllic Fascism. USSR is already in a much better position so as long as they get leaders that would continue running the same course, they will be much more successful. iirc A lot of problems in technological development in the USSR were caused by lack of funding because most Soviet leaders had their own pet project that they gave funding to instead of rocketry, electronics, avionics. ITTL by 2021 if the world is still split it would be a relatively even playing field between East and West.
If the USSR stays the course with Stalinists in control, funding extreme technological and industrial development at the expense of living standards, and the US swerves to the right and stays that way as a proto-Fascist dictatorship, that is no good ending. It just means even less people live in freedom or at least in a semblance of Freedom. Japan is screwed, China is screwed when the West doesn't invest in them, and the Sino Soviet split happens later, further delaying development (it was bound to happen as China grows and conflicts with the Soviet geopolitical interest). Increased willingness to fight each other means tensions are much higher and proxy wars are larger and more direct. A couple of Soviet Gornostrelki (mountain/rough terrain infantry) brigades might show up in Vietnam, a few more SEAL teams could perhaps be in Afghanistan, or a direct intervention in each other's wars. With the better Soviet technology the Igla will probably be just as feared as the Stinger.
Pangur
Donor
Ireland at the OTL was as anti communist as you get with out going full on fascist. A continuation of Neutral on the side of Britain would be my guess
The nation was basically ruled by the Catholic Church at that time and the powerful church is against Communism for obvious reasons, yes their was a time where the Irish Soviets existed but they were no where near as extreme as the ones in the Soviet Union and were mostly gone by 1923 after the Civil War ended.
Irish soviets - Wikipedia
So yea neutrally is going to continue to last even if surrounded by Communism, a non-neutral Ireland might happen now if the Italian Communist invade the Vatican or something.
This raises a good point on the future of Ireland.
If globalism doesn't happen the way we know it and the European Union fails to show up then its likely that Ireland is never going to experience the OTL Celtic Tiger in the 1990s and instead remain as a poor nation with high poverty, high unemployment, inflation, and low economic growth, maybe a economic boom will happen anyway with the low corporate tax and business friendly environment but it won't be as successful as the OTL boom one.
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With two extremes at superpower, and everybody else trying to keep their head down and stay alive before the nukes start flying, globalism, especially between Pact and American aligned states (hard to imagine Europe supporting far-right dictatorships so no NATO, or not with the same players), Globalism is pretty much dead on arrival. Europe and China can trade with each other all they like but while the USA and USSR go at it then they can't do much to stop it unless both recover extremely quickly. They would also have to pass the USSR (difficult) and the USA (impossible) economically, while both are still years ahead in military technology, since their massive economies can afford to actually build all that stuff while Europe has to save it's technology and resources and China has to preserve it's relations and foreign aid.
Well (for now) that France, without being red, is an anti-fascist democracy governed by a Popular Front and with a USSR that recovers more quickly (and better) from the postwar period and the early fall of China... decolonization will be very different and many decolonized countries will opt for socialism (one that is not so only in name) in this alternative cold war
Franco responds to the French elections
Francisco Franco Is Still Alive, and He Wishes to Remain So
Francisco Franco’s ministers and generals had assembled before a long table, awaiting the arrival of the Caudillo. The advisors all stood at once as the Caudillo entered the ornate meeting room, greeting him with a salute. Despite it being summer, Franco wore a coat with a fur collar over his military uniform. Franco sat at the front of the table, and gestured for his cabinet to seat themselves. Despite his ostentatious appearance, the Caudillo addressed his subordinates in a soft, subdued voice. “We have encountered some problems in our relations with the new French government,” Franco declared emotionlessly. “As you know, Prime Minister Thorez is not a friend of ours. The French Communist Party supported the Republicans during the Thirties, and are openly sympathetic towards the Maquis. Just after the election, the French government decided to recognize the so-called Republican government in exile as the legitimate rulers of Spain. Foreign Minister Duclos arrived at our Embassy in Paris to inform our Ambassador that relations between Spain and Paris are now severed- the French Ambassador has been withdrawn, and our Ambassador will be leaving Paris as soon as that brat son of his recovers from an injury. This should not come as a surprise to any of you. However, the public position of the Communist government is not the full story. Colonel Bascarán, could you please give your report.”
Bascarán stood and addressed the Cabinet. “Our intelligence sources have been monitoring the comings and goings of the new ministers of the French government. A week after Thorez became Prime Minister, Dolores Ibárruri departed Moscow and arrived in Paris for talks with the French government.”
All of the men in the room groaned at the mention of Ibárruri’s name. “Communist witch!” declared one general.
“Ibárruri is still in Paris with a contingent of Spanish Communists from Moscow, who seem to have taken up permanent residence there. Ibárruri met privately with Duclos almost immediately after arriving in Paris. Ibárruri has also met with Pierre Cot, the Minister of Commerce, and most worryingly, Charles Tillon, the Minister of Arms. There was no public announcement of these meetings. The Communists are in coalition with the SFIO, and the SFIO supports the Republican government in exile. Thorez thus cannot be seen working publicly with Ibárruri, for now. But Duclos, Cot, and Tillon all follow the Party Line in Moscow. Thorez has thus adopted a policy of unofficial collaboration with the Spanish Communist Party. We believe that Tillon has agreed to supply Ibárruri with weapons for the Maquis.”
At this statement, there was an outcry among the Cabinet, with several Generals cursing the French and the Communists.”
Bascarán continued with his report. “The situation at the French border looks quite dire. Both sides of the border are now closed, but our spies report that the French Border Police are allowing members of the Maquis to freely enter Spain. We have dispatched a few agents to the French Pyrenees posing as Republicans to monitor the situation. It is too early to tell the full intentions of the French government, but they are planning something. Communists and Republicans are establishing training camps and facilities in the Pyrenees. The French will soon be sending men and weapons across the border- they intend to instigate Maquis insurgencies in Catalonia and the Basque Country. The French policy towards Spain is to empower the Communists- to weaken our control and possibly install a communist government in Catalonia, or even Madrid.”
“This is an act of war! Caudillo Franco, we must strike back against these Red bastards!”
“Not so fast,” the dictator replied. “Remember that our official policy is that the Maquis do not exist. If we were to take open action against France, we would have to explain the situation to the Spanish People- and this could be seen as a public admission of weakness. The French have not declared hostilities against us, and would deny taking any action against us if we accused them of doing so. It may be that French Communist Partisans may be arriving in Catalonia to wage war against us- but if we captured them, Thorez would deny they are acting on behalf of him- and it would be difficult to prove the partisans are no more than volunteers. Even if we were to produce a casus belli, what then? Do we send the Army into France? How long before that becomes a total disaster? Even a scaled back intervention- seizing territory along the border- would be treated as an act of war internationally. May I remind you how hated we are abroad at the moment?”
“The French Army must surely be reduced from years of German occupation. Now I don’t suggest we go marching over the border tomorrow, but it may be possible to win a targeted, limited campaign against the French if necessary. The French public is weary after years of war- if we did it right, we could intimidate the French into backtracking, perhaps embarrass the French enough that the Communist coalition collapses,” said Fidel Arrondo, Minister of the Army.
“Should we fear them at all?” asked the Minister of Justice. “The Maquis invaded the Val d’Aran in 1944 and failed miserably. The Maquis have been a nuisance, why would they become more of a threat now.”
“The invasion of Val d’Aran was rather hasty and haphazard, yes” Arrondo said. “But at that time the French were occupied fighting the Germans. If the Maquis were to recruit ten thousand more Cristino Garcias, more volunteers from the French Resistance, they could be more successful this time. They could launch various acts of sabotage, bombing campaigns, and assassinations, weakening us before launching outright conquests of territory. Perhaps we should confront the French now before this problem is allowed to fester.”
“Military action against the French would provoke a war with the Allies,” declared Foreign Affairs Minister Martin-Artajo. “Harry Dexter White is a Jew, and he still bears in his heart the Jewish hatred for Spain and the Church. I have attempted to open relations with the Allied countries- we have condemned Hitler and Fascism, offering peace- and we have been met with a slammed door. Duggan- the American Foreign Minister- has publicly denounced Franco as a friend of Hitler and enemy of civilization. President White praises the leaders of the exile government. The Reds are in power in London, and Jews have seized control of both America and France. We are squeezed on all sides by the wicked and Godless. I don’t doubt that White would support France if it came to war- the American Navy would embargo us, possibly seize the Canary Islands. It is not impossible that the Americans would declare war on us. The Soviets would certainly send support to the French. We are besieged by enemies, everywhere. The Holy Mother Church is in peril. We must be very careful. The Communists may also incite the Blacks and the Arabs in our African territories.”
“Our immediate concern,” Franco said, “is defending our northern frontier. I think we have explained why we cannot take overt action against the French, and that our foreign policy options are limited. But now we must decide what we must do, instead of what we must not do. We must increase our military presence along the border to catch any partisans bypassing border checkpoints. We must increase aerial patrols along the border, in case the French attempt any parachute drops- although we must also avoid direct confrontation with the French Air Force to avoid starting an international incident. I am still concerned about our issues with manpower. We still have not completely recovered from the Civil War. If Maquis partisans obtain heavy weaponry from the French, we could be looking at a protracted insurgency. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of soldiers would return home in coffins- it would become difficult to hide the existence of the Maquis secret. We run the risk of the Communists inciting public unrest. How can we keep a lid on the rebellion?”
“Caudillo,” said Camilo Alonso Vega, captain of the Civil Guard, “consider that there is a pool of trained military professionals from abroad we can draw upon. The Jewish Morgenthau Plan is making a desert out of Germany, and calling it peace. The Germans are desperate to escape- they are fleeing the country, or trying to. There are millions of veterans who would jump at the chance to escape. The Nazis, or what remains of them, would no doubt support our cause. They spent years fighting the Communists, I think we could persuade them to help defend the last bastion against Communism in Europe. Increase the quota for German refugees, set up a covert operation to actively recruit veterans of the Wehrmacht- it would be easy to organize them, they are already trained militarily. Didn’t our intelligence report that Otto Skorzeny- the rescuer of Mussolini- has recently escaped an allied prison? We are in contact with Reinhard Gehlen, of German military intelligence. Can we not recruit Gehlen and Skorzeny into organizing a Spanish Foreign Legion to be deployed along the border against the Communists? They are men enough to do what needs to be done, without any qualms. If they take casualties, there will be no political downside- their presence here will not be announced, and thus there will not be any official casualties. In any case, the public won’t care about the lives of foreign mercenaries.”
“Skorzeny is certainly a man of many talents,” Franco replied. “If we can bring him to Spanish soil, I would not envy the Maquis who would fight against him. He is very creative. Of course, we would have to keep this affair very secret- we can’t prove to the world that we’re not Nazis if they find out we have a covert Nazi Army. That certainly solves the manpower issue. We would also have to reward them handsomely to attract recruits- but considering the desperate state of Germany they may accept lower wages than under normal circumstances. Let’s see how many fish our nets can catch. And while we’re on the subject of domestic subversion, I think it’s time to acknowledge that we may have a Jewish problem. The Judeo-Marxist conspiracy for world domination is more open than ever, and there has been an influx of Jewish refugees into Spain in recent years. We allowed them to come here without intervening, but I think we now need to apply an iron fist. Revive the Inquisition so to speak- deport all the Jews in the country, make Spain Judenfrei. We made a list of all the Jews in Spain a few years ago, let’s put it to its intended use, quietly and without fanfare. The Falangists, at least, will be pleased with this policy- it’s a gift to them. Ironic- we finally ally with the Nazis after they lose the war!”
President White and the Jews
The accidental ascendance of a Jew to the highest office of the United States proved more divisive among the American Jewish Community than many Gentiles initially assumed. It was true that Roosevelt had courted the Jewish vote for the New Deal Coalition, and thus White inherited the Jewish vote when he became the new leader of the Democratic Party. Ordinary Jewish voters already inclined to support the Democrats thus became White’s strongest supporters. Working-class Jews, who were immigrants and the children of immigrants, saw the White Presidency as a point of personal pride- one of their own made big. In Jewish neighborhoods like the Lower East Side and East Boston (the President’s birthplace), large banners of President White were hung from street poles, and Jews hung framed pictures of President White inside their homes.
Leading Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and B’nai Brith International, however, were far more ambivalent about White. The unusual circumstances of President Winant’s suicide gave rise to various conspiracy theories regarding his death, many of which were explicitly anti-Semitic. The anti-Semitic campaigns of Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee had occurred only a few years before. Jewish leaders were terrified of a potential backlash against an unelected Jewish President, and scrutinized every action the President took for any signs it would promote any negative perceptions of Jews. While Jewish leadership would have welcomed a gentile President who spoke frequently about the Holocaust and against discrimination; the outspokenness of a Jewish President on such issues made Jewish organizations nervous. “You must take no action which would suggest to the American people that you are more loyal to the Jews than you are to the United States,” wrote Nahum Goldmann to the President. “You must be cautious in your rhetoric, and make few public remarks acknowledging your religion.” White’s friendliness towards the Soviet Union was particularly worrisome. The Anti-Defamation League highlighted anti-Semitic literature which claimed White was a Communist agent. While organizations such as the World Jewish Congress wrote to White calling on him to support Zionist settlers in Palestine; dozens of Rabbis penned a letter to President White calling on him to forcefully denounce the Soviet Union in order to prove Jewish loyalties to the United States. The American Jewish Committee fretted about the Morgenthau Plan and the potential anti-Semitism it would spark among former isolationists. The AJC wrote to White, urging him to adopt a more conciliatory approach to Germany. Bernard Baruch, although supportive of the dismantlement of German industry and forced reparations, warned the President the occupation had excesses, and that the President should not take the same approach to Germany that the Radical Republicans took to the South during Reconstruction. Baruch’s increasing hostility towards the Morgenthau Plan occurred only after hundreds of thousands of Germans had already starved.
Jewish criticism of the Morgenthau Plan was undermined by Henry Morgenthau himself, President White’s mentor, being White’s unofficial ambassador to the American Jewish community. Morgenthau frequently interfaced between his old friend Rabbi Stephen Wise and the President. Rabbi Wise and Morgenthau collaborated on immigration issues, seeking to increase immigration quotas in order to allow more Jewish refugees into the United States. The President opposed the Immigration Act of 1924, and supported looser immigration restrictions. While Rabbi Wise welcomed the President’s support for increased immigration, he warned Morgenthau that the President should not be too vocal on the issue, and that gentile politicians should be the public face of any new immigration plan. Representative Emanuel Celler, the most prominent advocate for Jewish immigrants in Congress, was persuaded by Wise that he should not be the primary congressional sponsor of the immigration bill he had drafted proposing an increase in immigration quotas to 400,000. Celler and Morgenthau spoke to Speaker Rayburn, who suggested that his protegee, Lyndon Johnson, sponsor the legislation. During World War II, Johnson had lobbied the State Department on specific immigration cases, successfully admitting several Jewish refugees into the United States. As a southern Democrat of British descent, Johnson was not racially suspect by Congressional racists, unlike President White and Celler. Johnson’s aggressive negotiating style persuaded southern Dixiecrats who were ambivalent on Jewish issues to back his immigration bill. Speaker Rayburn indicated to members of the House that the Johnson bill was a priority for the Democratic Party. While Rayburn shepherded the Johnson bill, the President, per the advice of Rabbi Wise, did not get personally involved in congressional negotiations. However, the War Department of James Forrestal, seeking to build up public support for the Morgenthau Plan, had commissioned several documentaries highlighting footage of concentration camps, bringing the Holocaust and the plight of Jewish refugees to public attention. Public awareness of the Holocaust brought increased pressure on Congress to pass the Johnson bill, while celebrities including Orson Welles and Albert Einstein publicly campaigned on behalf of the bill. The amended version of the Johnson bill, which would pass both Houses of Congress, would provide for the admission of 250,000 Jews to the United States.
While Zionist organizations lobbied the White administration on behalf of the Yishuv, the White administration was not vocal on the matter. President White did not mention the issue of Palestine in public, wishing to avoid accusations of ethnic chauvinism. However, the White Administration privately pressured the British to allow increased Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine. Laurence Duggan brought up the issue with Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, who listened to Duggan's plea for liberal immigration policies in Palestine, but didn't act on the issue. The White administration further indicated it would support the establishment of a Jewish state. President White, having already signed a major immigration bill, was not inclined to take any further bold action in 1946 on Jewish issues, causing some Zionists to vent privately at the President's caution.
Francisco Franco’s ministers and generals had assembled before a long table, awaiting the arrival of the Caudillo. The advisors all stood at once as the Caudillo entered the ornate meeting room, greeting him with a salute. Despite it being summer, Franco wore a coat with a fur collar over his military uniform. Franco sat at the front of the table, and gestured for his cabinet to seat themselves. Despite his ostentatious appearance, the Caudillo addressed his subordinates in a soft, subdued voice. “We have encountered some problems in our relations with the new French government,” Franco declared emotionlessly. “As you know, Prime Minister Thorez is not a friend of ours. The French Communist Party supported the Republicans during the Thirties, and are openly sympathetic towards the Maquis. Just after the election, the French government decided to recognize the so-called Republican government in exile as the legitimate rulers of Spain. Foreign Minister Duclos arrived at our Embassy in Paris to inform our Ambassador that relations between Spain and Paris are now severed- the French Ambassador has been withdrawn, and our Ambassador will be leaving Paris as soon as that brat son of his recovers from an injury. This should not come as a surprise to any of you. However, the public position of the Communist government is not the full story. Colonel Bascarán, could you please give your report.”
Bascarán stood and addressed the Cabinet. “Our intelligence sources have been monitoring the comings and goings of the new ministers of the French government. A week after Thorez became Prime Minister, Dolores Ibárruri departed Moscow and arrived in Paris for talks with the French government.”
All of the men in the room groaned at the mention of Ibárruri’s name. “Communist witch!” declared one general.
“Ibárruri is still in Paris with a contingent of Spanish Communists from Moscow, who seem to have taken up permanent residence there. Ibárruri met privately with Duclos almost immediately after arriving in Paris. Ibárruri has also met with Pierre Cot, the Minister of Commerce, and most worryingly, Charles Tillon, the Minister of Arms. There was no public announcement of these meetings. The Communists are in coalition with the SFIO, and the SFIO supports the Republican government in exile. Thorez thus cannot be seen working publicly with Ibárruri, for now. But Duclos, Cot, and Tillon all follow the Party Line in Moscow. Thorez has thus adopted a policy of unofficial collaboration with the Spanish Communist Party. We believe that Tillon has agreed to supply Ibárruri with weapons for the Maquis.”
At this statement, there was an outcry among the Cabinet, with several Generals cursing the French and the Communists.”
Bascarán continued with his report. “The situation at the French border looks quite dire. Both sides of the border are now closed, but our spies report that the French Border Police are allowing members of the Maquis to freely enter Spain. We have dispatched a few agents to the French Pyrenees posing as Republicans to monitor the situation. It is too early to tell the full intentions of the French government, but they are planning something. Communists and Republicans are establishing training camps and facilities in the Pyrenees. The French will soon be sending men and weapons across the border- they intend to instigate Maquis insurgencies in Catalonia and the Basque Country. The French policy towards Spain is to empower the Communists- to weaken our control and possibly install a communist government in Catalonia, or even Madrid.”
“This is an act of war! Caudillo Franco, we must strike back against these Red bastards!”
“Not so fast,” the dictator replied. “Remember that our official policy is that the Maquis do not exist. If we were to take open action against France, we would have to explain the situation to the Spanish People- and this could be seen as a public admission of weakness. The French have not declared hostilities against us, and would deny taking any action against us if we accused them of doing so. It may be that French Communist Partisans may be arriving in Catalonia to wage war against us- but if we captured them, Thorez would deny they are acting on behalf of him- and it would be difficult to prove the partisans are no more than volunteers. Even if we were to produce a casus belli, what then? Do we send the Army into France? How long before that becomes a total disaster? Even a scaled back intervention- seizing territory along the border- would be treated as an act of war internationally. May I remind you how hated we are abroad at the moment?”
“The French Army must surely be reduced from years of German occupation. Now I don’t suggest we go marching over the border tomorrow, but it may be possible to win a targeted, limited campaign against the French if necessary. The French public is weary after years of war- if we did it right, we could intimidate the French into backtracking, perhaps embarrass the French enough that the Communist coalition collapses,” said Fidel Arrondo, Minister of the Army.
“Should we fear them at all?” asked the Minister of Justice. “The Maquis invaded the Val d’Aran in 1944 and failed miserably. The Maquis have been a nuisance, why would they become more of a threat now.”
“The invasion of Val d’Aran was rather hasty and haphazard, yes” Arrondo said. “But at that time the French were occupied fighting the Germans. If the Maquis were to recruit ten thousand more Cristino Garcias, more volunteers from the French Resistance, they could be more successful this time. They could launch various acts of sabotage, bombing campaigns, and assassinations, weakening us before launching outright conquests of territory. Perhaps we should confront the French now before this problem is allowed to fester.”
“Military action against the French would provoke a war with the Allies,” declared Foreign Affairs Minister Martin-Artajo. “Harry Dexter White is a Jew, and he still bears in his heart the Jewish hatred for Spain and the Church. I have attempted to open relations with the Allied countries- we have condemned Hitler and Fascism, offering peace- and we have been met with a slammed door. Duggan- the American Foreign Minister- has publicly denounced Franco as a friend of Hitler and enemy of civilization. President White praises the leaders of the exile government. The Reds are in power in London, and Jews have seized control of both America and France. We are squeezed on all sides by the wicked and Godless. I don’t doubt that White would support France if it came to war- the American Navy would embargo us, possibly seize the Canary Islands. It is not impossible that the Americans would declare war on us. The Soviets would certainly send support to the French. We are besieged by enemies, everywhere. The Holy Mother Church is in peril. We must be very careful. The Communists may also incite the Blacks and the Arabs in our African territories.”
“Our immediate concern,” Franco said, “is defending our northern frontier. I think we have explained why we cannot take overt action against the French, and that our foreign policy options are limited. But now we must decide what we must do, instead of what we must not do. We must increase our military presence along the border to catch any partisans bypassing border checkpoints. We must increase aerial patrols along the border, in case the French attempt any parachute drops- although we must also avoid direct confrontation with the French Air Force to avoid starting an international incident. I am still concerned about our issues with manpower. We still have not completely recovered from the Civil War. If Maquis partisans obtain heavy weaponry from the French, we could be looking at a protracted insurgency. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of soldiers would return home in coffins- it would become difficult to hide the existence of the Maquis secret. We run the risk of the Communists inciting public unrest. How can we keep a lid on the rebellion?”
“Caudillo,” said Camilo Alonso Vega, captain of the Civil Guard, “consider that there is a pool of trained military professionals from abroad we can draw upon. The Jewish Morgenthau Plan is making a desert out of Germany, and calling it peace. The Germans are desperate to escape- they are fleeing the country, or trying to. There are millions of veterans who would jump at the chance to escape. The Nazis, or what remains of them, would no doubt support our cause. They spent years fighting the Communists, I think we could persuade them to help defend the last bastion against Communism in Europe. Increase the quota for German refugees, set up a covert operation to actively recruit veterans of the Wehrmacht- it would be easy to organize them, they are already trained militarily. Didn’t our intelligence report that Otto Skorzeny- the rescuer of Mussolini- has recently escaped an allied prison? We are in contact with Reinhard Gehlen, of German military intelligence. Can we not recruit Gehlen and Skorzeny into organizing a Spanish Foreign Legion to be deployed along the border against the Communists? They are men enough to do what needs to be done, without any qualms. If they take casualties, there will be no political downside- their presence here will not be announced, and thus there will not be any official casualties. In any case, the public won’t care about the lives of foreign mercenaries.”
“Skorzeny is certainly a man of many talents,” Franco replied. “If we can bring him to Spanish soil, I would not envy the Maquis who would fight against him. He is very creative. Of course, we would have to keep this affair very secret- we can’t prove to the world that we’re not Nazis if they find out we have a covert Nazi Army. That certainly solves the manpower issue. We would also have to reward them handsomely to attract recruits- but considering the desperate state of Germany they may accept lower wages than under normal circumstances. Let’s see how many fish our nets can catch. And while we’re on the subject of domestic subversion, I think it’s time to acknowledge that we may have a Jewish problem. The Judeo-Marxist conspiracy for world domination is more open than ever, and there has been an influx of Jewish refugees into Spain in recent years. We allowed them to come here without intervening, but I think we now need to apply an iron fist. Revive the Inquisition so to speak- deport all the Jews in the country, make Spain Judenfrei. We made a list of all the Jews in Spain a few years ago, let’s put it to its intended use, quietly and without fanfare. The Falangists, at least, will be pleased with this policy- it’s a gift to them. Ironic- we finally ally with the Nazis after they lose the war!”
President White and the Jews
The accidental ascendance of a Jew to the highest office of the United States proved more divisive among the American Jewish Community than many Gentiles initially assumed. It was true that Roosevelt had courted the Jewish vote for the New Deal Coalition, and thus White inherited the Jewish vote when he became the new leader of the Democratic Party. Ordinary Jewish voters already inclined to support the Democrats thus became White’s strongest supporters. Working-class Jews, who were immigrants and the children of immigrants, saw the White Presidency as a point of personal pride- one of their own made big. In Jewish neighborhoods like the Lower East Side and East Boston (the President’s birthplace), large banners of President White were hung from street poles, and Jews hung framed pictures of President White inside their homes.
Leading Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and B’nai Brith International, however, were far more ambivalent about White. The unusual circumstances of President Winant’s suicide gave rise to various conspiracy theories regarding his death, many of which were explicitly anti-Semitic. The anti-Semitic campaigns of Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee had occurred only a few years before. Jewish leaders were terrified of a potential backlash against an unelected Jewish President, and scrutinized every action the President took for any signs it would promote any negative perceptions of Jews. While Jewish leadership would have welcomed a gentile President who spoke frequently about the Holocaust and against discrimination; the outspokenness of a Jewish President on such issues made Jewish organizations nervous. “You must take no action which would suggest to the American people that you are more loyal to the Jews than you are to the United States,” wrote Nahum Goldmann to the President. “You must be cautious in your rhetoric, and make few public remarks acknowledging your religion.” White’s friendliness towards the Soviet Union was particularly worrisome. The Anti-Defamation League highlighted anti-Semitic literature which claimed White was a Communist agent. While organizations such as the World Jewish Congress wrote to White calling on him to support Zionist settlers in Palestine; dozens of Rabbis penned a letter to President White calling on him to forcefully denounce the Soviet Union in order to prove Jewish loyalties to the United States. The American Jewish Committee fretted about the Morgenthau Plan and the potential anti-Semitism it would spark among former isolationists. The AJC wrote to White, urging him to adopt a more conciliatory approach to Germany. Bernard Baruch, although supportive of the dismantlement of German industry and forced reparations, warned the President the occupation had excesses, and that the President should not take the same approach to Germany that the Radical Republicans took to the South during Reconstruction. Baruch’s increasing hostility towards the Morgenthau Plan occurred only after hundreds of thousands of Germans had already starved.
Jewish criticism of the Morgenthau Plan was undermined by Henry Morgenthau himself, President White’s mentor, being White’s unofficial ambassador to the American Jewish community. Morgenthau frequently interfaced between his old friend Rabbi Stephen Wise and the President. Rabbi Wise and Morgenthau collaborated on immigration issues, seeking to increase immigration quotas in order to allow more Jewish refugees into the United States. The President opposed the Immigration Act of 1924, and supported looser immigration restrictions. While Rabbi Wise welcomed the President’s support for increased immigration, he warned Morgenthau that the President should not be too vocal on the issue, and that gentile politicians should be the public face of any new immigration plan. Representative Emanuel Celler, the most prominent advocate for Jewish immigrants in Congress, was persuaded by Wise that he should not be the primary congressional sponsor of the immigration bill he had drafted proposing an increase in immigration quotas to 400,000. Celler and Morgenthau spoke to Speaker Rayburn, who suggested that his protegee, Lyndon Johnson, sponsor the legislation. During World War II, Johnson had lobbied the State Department on specific immigration cases, successfully admitting several Jewish refugees into the United States. As a southern Democrat of British descent, Johnson was not racially suspect by Congressional racists, unlike President White and Celler. Johnson’s aggressive negotiating style persuaded southern Dixiecrats who were ambivalent on Jewish issues to back his immigration bill. Speaker Rayburn indicated to members of the House that the Johnson bill was a priority for the Democratic Party. While Rayburn shepherded the Johnson bill, the President, per the advice of Rabbi Wise, did not get personally involved in congressional negotiations. However, the War Department of James Forrestal, seeking to build up public support for the Morgenthau Plan, had commissioned several documentaries highlighting footage of concentration camps, bringing the Holocaust and the plight of Jewish refugees to public attention. Public awareness of the Holocaust brought increased pressure on Congress to pass the Johnson bill, while celebrities including Orson Welles and Albert Einstein publicly campaigned on behalf of the bill. The amended version of the Johnson bill, which would pass both Houses of Congress, would provide for the admission of 250,000 Jews to the United States.
While Zionist organizations lobbied the White administration on behalf of the Yishuv, the White administration was not vocal on the matter. President White did not mention the issue of Palestine in public, wishing to avoid accusations of ethnic chauvinism. However, the White Administration privately pressured the British to allow increased Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine. Laurence Duggan brought up the issue with Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, who listened to Duggan's plea for liberal immigration policies in Palestine, but didn't act on the issue. The White administration further indicated it would support the establishment of a Jewish state. President White, having already signed a major immigration bill, was not inclined to take any further bold action in 1946 on Jewish issues, causing some Zionists to vent privately at the President's caution.
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Eehhh.... that would have made White based. Obviously, the Montague Plan is beyond that.
The efforts of the Radical Republicans, if actually undertaken, would have broken the back of plantation owner class power over the South and the horrors that it caused. The Montague Plan is just a genoicde.
Ramontxo
Donor
Oh yes of course, I was just pointing (nitpicking really) that not new organisation would have to be made, just add some more "banderas*" to the legion...
(Banners, archaic name equivalent to Battalion, or so I think...)