Truman and the Creation of Israel
With the growing pressure for a new state of Israel after the atrocities committed against the Jews in World War Two, President Franklin D Roosevelt's adopted a neutral policy towards Palestine. Roosevelt felt like the United States needed complete cooperation from Jews and Muslims before they could get involved. When Roosevelt passed away in April of 1945, Harry Truman was thrown into the presidency of the United States. Along with the ongoing war with Japan and difficulties with the Soviet Union, there was immediate pressure from Zionist leaders to get something done. Truman said "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets have fallen on me"(Levantrosser). When Truman took office, his administration placed American interests first and made their policy consistent with Roosevelt's policy. Although he remained neutral, the Palestine issue was one of Truman's greatest concerns. He wrote Virginia C. Gildersleeve: "The Jewish and Arab situation in the Near East is a most difficult one and has caused us more difficulty than most any other problem in the European Theater..." (Donovan). When the statistics came into focus, of the hundreds of thousands Jews that were displaced, Congress was forced to make a decision. The United States Congress would eventually tell Truman that the Jewish immigration policy into Palestine was to be Great Britain's situation because they held a League of Nations mandate over Palestine. Truman ignored this advice because he felt as if Congress cared more about their own interests and the Arab reaction, rather than focusing on the Jewish suffering caused by Adolph Hitler during World War II. Truman saw the suffering that the Jews went through and it affected h...
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...of the situation, "The position of the Jews in liberated countries is desperate. The political pressure in Palestine is becoming unbearable. And so is my personal position as President of the Jewish agency. This is the hour to eliminate the British White Paper, to open the doors of Palestine and to proclaim the Jewish state" (Ganin). The British negative attitude gave the militant Zionists who wanted a new policy towards England and for new activist leadership a reason to take action. They felt, "...it's astonishing how fast they forgot about that..." (Silverberg). The Zionist leaders saw that after World War Two, Britain was exhausted economically and psychologically. British power had weakened because of the war. The Jewish community realized that they would not be able to rely on Britain for help and so they turned all their attention to the United States (Ganin).
Imperialism, Colonialism, and war had a huge impact on the Middle East, and it can also be thought of as the source of conflict. According to the map in Document A, it shows that the size of the Ottoman Empire grew smaller after the first world war, along with this change came new boundaries. These borders were created by the victorious European countries that won World War I, and made different ethnic and religious groups separated and grouped together with others. Great Britain's took over Palestine mandate and developed the Balfour Declaration that promised Jews support in making a home in Palestine. Most of the Palestine land was populated with Arabs. As soon as Jewish immigration increased, so did the tension between the two groups because each felt like they deserved the Palestine land. Zionism began early in the history of Judiasm and it was the movement for the Jews to establish a home in Palestine, and return to their holy land. During the Holocaust, six million Jews were killed and the deep-seeded hatre against them increased
...Palestine. The main points of the White Paper put the plans for partition as impractical and enforced restrictions on Jewish immigration and the transfer of land. The White Paper said that with the Jewish population at 450,000 having been settled in the mandate, the points in the Balfour Declaration have been met. “His Majesty’s Government therefore now declare unequivocally that it is not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State.” Even though much hope seemed to be lost at this point, faced with the impending Nazism in Europe, Zionist Jews and non-Zionist Jews had felt the pressure to unite and thus led to the Biltmore Conference.
Vanden Heuvel, William J. “The United States and Its Leaders Were Not to Blame for the Holocaust.” World War II. Don Nardo. Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Print.
Criticisms of Truman’s actions fail to consider that he entered a leadership position set on an ideological collision course, was forced to further an established plan for an atomic monopoly, and dealt with a legacy of US-Russian tensions mobilized by Roosevelt prior to his death, all while being influenced by an alarmist and aggressive cabinet. Upon reviewing criticisms of Truman’s negotiations with Soviet diplomat Vyacheslav Molotov and his involvement in the atomic bomb drop, the influence of Roosevelt’s legacy and Truman’s cabinet will be discussed in order to minimize his blame for starting the Cold War. History does not often remember President Harry Truman fondly, with many revisionist scholars characterizing him as an ornery and undiplomatic politico who severely damaged US and Soviet relations.... ... middle of paper ...
In 1916, The Sykes-Picot Agreement was signed between Britain and France aiming to control and influence the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, who was the sole controller of the region. Followed by The Treaty of Sevres in 1920, new borders were drawn by the 2 European countries for Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Syria among other Levantine countries. However, the Kurdish population who resided among these geographical borders were not given any land for them, but divided within the new borders giving them harder time than before. As for the Palestinian case, both Zionist and Palestinian nationalism movements arose during the late 19th – early 20th century. What raised the Zionist nationalism movements further was the Balfour Declaration in 1917 which supported the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine while protecting the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities. Ever since then the two populations are, with unfortunate luck, trying to be independent nation states.
When millions of Jews were perishing in the holocaust in the early 1940s, we stood by and did nothing. All of sudden, we couldn’t afford to go out and do humanitarian works. We couldn’t even let refugees from the Holocaust enter the US. God’s will seems to follow the economy of our country; we couldn’t afford a war while we were coming out of the Great Depression even though the Nazi’s were committing one of the greatest crimes against humanity of all times. As George Norris notes that even when two countries did the same thing in 1914, the US did not react justly. Both England and Germany declared illegal war zones; the US protested Germany yet submitted to England (Doc 10). The US has policies and philosophies but applies them as it is most profitable to our county. Norris goes on to explain how war brings prosperity to the wealthy saying: “war brings prosperity to the stock gambler on Wall Street-to those already in possession of more wealth than can be realized or enjoyed” (Doc 10). Of course when the Jews needed our country, we were more concerned with our economy and their land served no purpose for our country. President William McKinley, while claiming humanitarian justification for the Cuban invasion, clearly shows that American economics were the real priority; his campaign poster shows that the US prospers and banks prosper after the
President Harry Truman came into office right at the end of World War II, after the death of President Franklin Roosevelt. Almost immediately after becoming president, Truman learned of the Manhattan Project, and had to decide whether or not to use the atomic bomb. With the advice of James Byrnes, Secretary of State, Truman decided to drop two atomic bombs on Japan, in part to demonstrate America’s power to the world and gain a political advantage in Europe (Offner 294). After World War II ended, there were negotiations about Germany, and it was decided that Germany would be split into two halves; the western half would be controlled by the United States and its allies, while the eastern half would be controlled by the Soviet Union. This situation led to increased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union because of the two nations’ different political and economic systems.
...one of the darkest periods of history, filled with madness and murder. Following the war many people asked why the Jews succumbed to the Nazis like “Lamb at the slaughter”. One cannot forget or ignore the many shows of resistance amongst the Jews such as the Jews who fought in the forest of Eastern Europe and also the Jews who started the uprising in ghettos and in concentration camps. One result of the Holocaust is that the state of Israel was no doubt established because of the Holocaust. As a result of the great catastrophe which occurred to the Jewish people many nations realized that establishing a state was a necessary step for the protection of Jews. With the end of the war and the unconditional surrender, international courts were set up for the quick trials and sentencing of the Nazis for their war crimes against the Jewish people and against all humanity.
President Harry Truman, 33rd president of the United States, had to face one of the most effective decisions of mankind. The atomic bomb was first served as an idea which was created underneath the United States government. With a nuclear weapon like the atomic bomb, came great responsibility. The idea of how to use and regulate the bomb was not yet implemented. Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb changed the way Americans thought about war because of its traumatic after effects.
And so many of the young people fell in battle. And, nevertheless, his image in Jewish history -- I must say it -- his image in Jewish history is flawed.” President Roosevelt ended up hurting his image and his reputation to all Jews that witnessed the holocaust and to some who weren't even born in that time. This shows that being indifferent can hurt the person doing it even if it is just their image or mentally.
Truman’s accomplishments in his domestic policy were impressive, considering the hardships the nation was experiencing as World War II came to an end, and the resistance of Congress (which was greatly made up of Republicans and conservatives) to liberalism. The president was able to pas...
FDR and the Holocaust by Verne W. Newton provides a basis for scholarly discourse for the Hyde Park Conference of 1993. The book includes essays, articles, and chapters from different scholars specializing in the Holocaust and Roosevelt in which they examine FDR’s response to the Holocaust. The first chapter of the book is a summary of the participants’ remarks of the “Policies and Responses of the American Government towards the Holocaust,” which was prepared by rapporteur J. Garry Clifford. The objective of the conference was to determine through discussion whether or not the controversy over the Roosevelt administration’s response to the Holocaust was correct. Following this chapter, the first section of the book is filled with essays, articles, and chapters submitted by participants at the conference. The second section of the book includes papers by historians who were not participants at the conference, but whose contributions are relevant to the issues discussed. The articles written by the scholars throughout the book look at the policies between 1933 and 1942, addressing the critiques of FDR and his failure to stop the genocide of the Jewish community in Germany. The overall book not only looks at the rescue efforts during the war and the possibilities for future research and analysis, but also supplies a definitive resource for a pivotal time in United States history.
“Many Jews were fleeing Europe from Hitler so that they can reclaim the land they believed was their Biblical birthright, (Document 4 Excepts from the Israeli Declaration of Independence). Leaders were petitioning Great Britain to allow Jewish people to begin migrating into Palestine, then in 194 8the formal state of Israel was formed. “The Balfour Declaration Britain promised a national home for the Jewish people as seen in” (document 2). However, people were already living there so the natives felt like they were getting there home taken away from
Later Truman sent a letter to the United Nations supporting the admission of 100,000 Jews into Palestine. Soon afterward the President received a second letter from the King of Saudi Arabia. This one began: Dear Mr. President.”
Balfour dilatation. For many reasons, Weizmanns persistence, certain sympathies within the British cabinet towards the religious aspects of Zionism, and most importantly, the chance to secure british strategic interests, the british declared support of the zionist objective in pale sine.