Sources for Cold War Project

Sites
Secret deals were made between the U.S. and Soviet leaders so that both could avert nuclear war, according to the Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia.

Only the White House and Kremlin administration, with little other bureaucratic input, during the Crisis, according to the State Department.

According to the J.F.K. Library, President Kennedy was well aware of the missiles in Cuba before the Cubans and Russians knew that we knew.

As a reference to the Soviet views during and after the Crisis, I used Wikipedia as a guide to a deeper research.

According to Jim Hersberg, professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University, on October 27, 1962, it was considered the climax of the Crisis, where it seemed nuclear was inevitable.

Knowing that the Soviets were offering to remove their missiles in return for the removal of our missiles in Turkey I consulted an Astronautix with the exact specifications of the Jupiter missiles.


Pictures

Soviet Premier during the Crisis, Nikita Khrushchev

The Soviet Flag

The American Flag

American President during the Crisis, John F. Kennedy

A map containing the possible affected areas in Russia from the Jupiter missiles in Turkey.

A map containing the possible affected areas in the U.S. from the missiles in Cuba

A political cartoon of both Kennedy and Khrushchev sitting on each other's nukes with their fingers over the button to detonate them.

Cinderella Man vs. Historical Accuracy

Cinderella Man was a decently accurate movie about the lifestyle and struggles of people during the Great Depression. The movie had shown that Braddock, a once wealthy boxer who had won his share of bouts, was now struggling to keep his family afloat after losing a majority of his money in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Even though the movie did present some historical inaccuracies such as the age of the children during the time of the events taken place, it still had been a mostly historical film. The scenes shown in the film showed that sometimes workers didn't get work for shifts that would vary as the days went by. It also showed that the “Hoovervilles” were sometimes within the city rather than on the outskirts and that it was filled with people that were at unrest once they started to wake up from the shock of the Crash. Another example of the historical accuracy of the film was when the writer put a Jewish star on Baer's shorts, which is what he had fought with even though the start wasn't as noticeable in the film as it was during that time. This movie also showed how rough it was on the house wife and the working man when the city would come to their house and shut off their power, their heat, or stop delivering them milk when they needed it most.

The inaccuracies though are few to count from, other than the ages of the children and the somewhat use of a Brooklyn accent, which was used but not as thickly as Jim Braddock.  The attire and conditions of the time period seem to be accurate and the slang used in the ‘20s was used in the movie making it even more accurate. The director of the film really appreciated the true story behind this event in history but he knew he couldn't make as much money as he could had he gone with the complete, undying truth, he knew he had to improvise the story in  to get his point across but to still earn money, because like Jim Braddock, he had a family to support as well.

369th Infantry Regiment (First African American Regiment to serve with the AEF)

The Coat of Arms of the 369th Infantry Regiment.

Wartime poster of the 369th fighting German soldiers, with the figure of Abraham Lincoln above.

Soldiers of the 369th (15th N.Y.) who won the Croix de Guerre for gallantry in action, 1919. Left to right. Front row: Pvt. Ed Williams, Herbert Taylor, Pvt. Leon Fraitor, Pvt. Ralph Hawkins. Back Row: Sgt. H. D. Prinas, Sgt. Dan Strorms, Pvt. Joe Williams, Pvt. Alfred Hanley, and Cpl. T. W. Taylor.

Questions of The Great War

When and why did World War One break out?

On June 28,1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by a slav nationalist, this event is what got the dice rolling.


When and why did the U.S. get involved in World War One?

The breaking point that would thrust America into the First World War was the Zimmermann telegram, in which the Germans offered Mexico, American lands in return of joining the Axis powers. The telegram was intercepted by the British and they with held the information about one month after its interception.


What were the casualty rates for various countries involved?

Take a look at this picture for information.

When and why did the war end?

Because the Germans, after a failed offensive movement towards Paris, was forced to sign an armistice on November 11, 1918.

"Postcards" from the Great White Fleet Voyage

1 January, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Happy New Year! Today, I was initiated by King Neptune himself! It is a tradition in the Navy that all those who are inexperienced, people who have not crossed the Equator before and of course, being an officer, I was one of the first. Since I had heard tales of these events I gave into the “authorities” knowing resistance was punishable by a longer time in the initiation. I had my head shaven with a wooden razor, covered in all kinds of lubricants, had a nasty dough-ball shoved in my mouth, and was dunked into a canvas pool from a chair mounted on our forward turret. This is the best experience I will ever have in the Marines. Now we are back to standard routine.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

18 January, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Greetings from Rio de Janerio, Brazil! We have been in port for several days now and we are enjoying every single second of it. The people are very warm and welcoming to us and have given us plenty of gifts and treats. We did have an incident at a local bar though, where a local fisherman tried to hit another with a bottle and missed which caused a fight between the locals and our sailors. Thankfully, the officers of the Louisiana and local authorities ruled that the civilians were the aggressors and invited us to enjoy the rest of our stay in Rio. The first division commander is suffering from gout, I hope he gets well soon and doesn’t have to leave the cruise.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

4 July, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Happy Independence Day! Right now I am in San Francisco and it feels great to be an American on American soil once again after stepping on foreign soil five times already! But some curiosity has struck me today. Why are we on this voyage? Is it because we just want to do it or is it for a greater purpose such as intimidation or to flaunt ourselves? The U.S.S. Maine and Alabama, our home ship, have been replaced by the U.S.S. Wisconsin and Nebraska due to mechanical issues but I’m sure they’ll be under way soon enough. We had to refuel several times already, I do not think that these “Black Diamonds” are a suitable resource to power these big beauties of the sea. Hopefully we do not continue to use this resource much longer.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

31 July, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Hello from somewhere in the Pacific. I have no idea where we are but we are rumored to be heading towards New Zealand. Since we were in San Fran we have only stopped in Pearl Harbor. Something doesn’t seem right about this ship or Pearl Harbor. It feels as if something is going to happen in the future to this ship and that Naval Station. I just can not put my finger on it. Well ever since Pearl, we have been on the open ocean and it gives me a sense of how small we really are compared to this world. I think I know the answer to my question, as mentioned in my previous postcard. I think we are on a flaunting tour of the world in hopes of intimidating the other super powers of the world. Hopefully no one actually attacks.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

11 August, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Greetings from New Zealand! These natives gave us a very warm reception and invited us to watch their tribal ceremonies at a village. At the end of the dances, one of the natives bounded from the circle of dancers. He halted before the admiral and me; the native dancer broke into a broad, toothy smile and explained, "Bully!" Even these natives know about President Roosevelt, it is amazing how influential he is around the world. This land is beautiful to, it is so beautiful in fact that I would be surprised if they never film a movie here. Hopefully I will visit here again.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

1 September, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Greetings from Melbourne, Australia! We have already visited Sydney and we had a sailor fall asleep on a bench in their park and the Australians were so hospitable that they let him sleep. But Melbourne is a whole lot different. The citizens gave us the key to their city! THE KEY TO THEIR CITY! Most of our sailors are starting to feel the wear and tear of all the parties, which all the countries we have visited, have hosted for us. It will get interesting now as we find out how the sailors will start reacting after getting little sleep and constantly being monitored by an unknown number of people. Thankfully, no country has considered us a threat yet, otherwise we would be in trouble. But we still have a long way to go before we are done.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

20 October, 1908/U.S.S. Missouri

Greetings from Japan! Right now we are in Yokohoma, a very industrial city on the main island of Japan. The Japanese people are very hospitable to us, but I have feeling it won’t last long; something just doesn’t seem right about their hospitality, it feels like they have a strong hatred of us. One of the sailors in the fleet had a very close call on our way here. We were caught in a typhoon, these big beauties didn’t have any trouble getting through it though, but one sailor was swept of the deck of one ship and thrown onto the deck of another. He would have drowned most definitely had he not been swept onto the other deck. I was also celebrated by the people for saving their flag from burning.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

31 January, 1909/U.S.S. Missouri

We are almost home! One more ocean and we will be back where we started. I can’t believe the recruiting poster, after 8 years, would finally come true. I finally was able to meet a whole lot of people and literally see the world. Of course, we really didn’t have the time to learn a new trade but we learned valuable communication skills and a better understanding of the world, which I think is more valuable than any trade in the world. That is why I joined the Navy/Marine Corps, to learn and explore the world and it looks like my wish came true. Thank you for all the support at home, my crew and I really appreciate the gifts and warm words of wisdom you have given us through this journey. I hope to see you soon. This will be my last postcard before we see each other again and I thought I would make it special with our state’s ship.

Sincerely,
Major Charles Darwin, USMC

Spanish-American and Philippine War Political Cartoons

In this first cartoon you will see a depiction of Uncle Sam teaching a class with four kids in the front and multiple teenagers in the back, with a couple of side characters. What you will notice first is that Uncle Sam is directing his attention to the four kids in the front and looking very sternly at them. The are several people portrayed in this cartoon for example: the four children in the front are portrayed as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines; there is an Indian in the background holding his book upside down; a Chinese kid in the doorway; and an African American washing the windows while Uncle Sam teaches the "new kids".






Both pictures are from Humboldt State University.