Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 76

Post-WWII USSR

Khmelko Mikhail Ivanovich

 

Here is an optimistic view of postwar relationships between Great Britain and the USSR.

 

To get a sense of life in the USSR in 1947 it’s worth fast forwarding through these interesting, rather upbeat color scenes of everyday life.

 

You don’t need to no Russian to understand this brief clip from the popular 1947 film Cinderella.

 

The post Post-WWII USSR appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Jackie Robinson

 Joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American in major league baseball.

CAREER BATTING STATISTICS


YEAR
TEAM
GP
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
AVG
OBP
SLG
OPS
WAR


1947
BKN
151
590
125
175
31
5
12
48
74
36
29
0
.297
.383
.427
.810
3.0


1948
BKN
147
574
108
170
38
8
12
85
57
37
22
0
.296
.367
.453
.820
5.0


1949
BKN
156
593
122
203
38
12
16
124
86
27
37
0
.342
.432
.528
.960
9.3


1950
BKN
144
518
99
170
39
4
14
81
80
24
12
0
.328
.423
.500
.923
7.1


1951
BKN
153
548
106
185
33
7
19
88
79
27
25
8
.338
.429
.527
.956
9.3


1952
BKN
149
510
104
157
17
3
19
75
106
40
24
7
.308
.440
.465
.905
8.1


1953
BKN
136
484
109
159
34
7
12
95
74
30
17
4
.329
.425
.502
.927
6.7


1954
BKN
124
386
62
120
22
4
15
59
63
20
7
3
.311
.413
.505
.918
3.5


1955
BKN
105
317
51
81
6
2
8
36
61
18
12
3
.256
.378
.363
.741
2.4


1956
BKN
117
357
61
98
15
2
10
43
60
32
12
5
.275
.382
.412
.794
4.3


Total
Total
1382
4877
947
1518
273
54
137
734
740
291
197
30
.311
.409
.474
.883
—


Season Averages
138.0
487.7
94.7
151.8
27.3
5.4
13.7
73.4
74.0
29.1
19.7
3.0
.311
.409
.474
.883
—








 
 Rookie of the year 1947

Most valuable player 1949
_________________________

Link to: List of abbreviations for  batting statistics

 

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Korean Turmoil

 

In 1945 the unconditional surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones.

 

The 1945 division of Korea was meant to be temporary. The stated Allied intention was to reunify the country once a single government could be established for the peninsula.

However, throughout 1947, Soviet and American negotiators were unable to reach an agreement regarding joint trusteeship over Korea.

In 1947 the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) ruled the southern half of the Korean Peninsula amidst political and economic chaos arising from:

USAMGIK retention of former Japanese colonial officials as advisors, administrators, military and police officers
USAMGIK opposition to the radical social changes promoted by the short-lived provisional People’s Republic of Korea (PRK) which, in 1945 was banned by the U.S. military in the South and co-opted by the Soviets in the north
United Nations elections that divided the country

 

The Seal of USAMGIK

 

Unfortunately, the U.S. military was woefully unprepared for administration of  Korea after WWII. With little knowledge of Korean culture, language or politics, many American policies had unintended destabilizing effects. Waves of refugees from North Korea and returnees from abroad added to the country’s turmoil.

 

The post Korean Turmoil appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Billy Graham

 

William Franklin Graham Jr. (1918 –2018) was an American Southern Baptist evangelist who held huge rallies, broadcasting sermons on radio and television from 1947 until his retirement in 2005.

Graham repudiated racial segregation and emphasized the relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. He particularly reiterated the message of John 3:16 in his sermons.

89.5 KVNE

 

Graham claimed to have reached 185 countries, preaching to 250 million people in live audiences.

He was also spiritual adviser to every U.S. president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.

The post Billy Graham  appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Partition of India

 

The 1947  partition of India into Hindu and Muslim majorities divided three provinces: Assam, Bengal and the Punjab.

 

 

The division of >14 million people according to religious beliefs resulted in large-scale violence, with varying estimates between several hundred thousand and two million deaths.

 

 

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Groucho Marx

Julius Henry “Groucho” Marx  (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian with a devilishly-quick wit and and somewhat off-color humor. Marx had a long stage and screen career, making 13 feature films with his brothers.

Groucho walked with an exaggerated stoop, puffed on a cigar, and sported a grease-painted mustache and eyebrows,

His ABC radio show You Bet Your Life  beginning in 1947,  later aired on NBC television from 1950 until 1961.

 

 

 

 

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Palestine Partitioned

 

 

Britain, which controlled Palestine since 1917, promoted the idea of establishing a Jewish state in the holy land. With sympathy for Jews greatly enhanced after the Holocaust, the Palestine issue was brought before the newly created United Nations In 1946.

A UN plan to divide Palestine into three Jewish sections, four Arab sections and an internationally-administered city of Jerusalem, had strong support in Western nations and the Soviet Union, but was opposed by Arab nations. When the General Assembly voted, 33-13, in favor of partition, its six Arab nations walked out in protest.

 

On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel.

 

New York Times

 

Reactions to the UN resolution were mixed and complex. Most Jews in Palestine and around the world reacted to the UN resolution with satisfaction, but some Zionist did not, feeling the plan was a renunciation of their legitimate claim to national territory. Arab states’ delegations declared they would not be bound by the decision, and walked out accompanied by the Indian and Pakistani delegates. Several Arab leaders vowed to forcefully thwart the partition.

After prolonged parliamentary debate, Britain announced in December 1947 that its mandate would end in May 1948, but it would not enforce the UN  partition plan. The partition plan did not come about smoothly. Outbreaks of violence between Jews and Arabs in mandated Palestine resulted in the outbreak of the 1947 – 48 Civil War.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bazooka Bubble Gum

Packaged in red, white and blue, Bazooka bubble gum was first marketed in 1947 by the Topps Company of New York.

 

 

In 1953 Bazooka packaging began to include small comic strips featuring a character known as Bazooka Joe (although I remember the boy named “Pud” from Fleers Dubble Bubble better) as well as premium offers and fortunes.

 

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Doomsday Clock

The Doomsday Clock  represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe. Maintained since 1947 by the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board, the clock was originally meant to represent the threat of global nuclear war. Since 2007 it also reflects climate change and new developments in the life sciences and technology that could inflict irrevocable harm to humanity.

 

 

 

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Every Man Dies Alone

In 1947 the highly-controversial East German author Hans Fallada published Jeder Stirbt für sich Allein (Every Man Dies Alone), a novel about an ordinary married couple who, after their son was killed in action in 1942, distributed dissident postcards and leaflets in post-boxes and stairwells around their home district in Berlin. After betrayal, they were arrested by the Gestapo and executed in 1943.

Steeped in Berliner dialect, and populated with vivid characters from the city’s underbelly, alcoholic Nazi veterans and ordinary working-class people, the novel struck a chord in post-WWII Germany. Ultimately, it was the tale of futile resistance by a brave and reckless couple. The original German version of the book sold well and was filmed for television in both East and West Germany.

 

An English version of the story in 2016 entitled Alone in Berlin, starring Emma Thompson did not receive many good critical reviews.

 

 

 

 

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