Lincoln Brigade's Return from War: Suspicion and Disloyalty Await - Essay Sample

Introduction

Following the victory against fascists, Lincoln brigade was in a state of dilemma. They did not know whether they were going to be received as heroes or condemned by America. However, on arrival from the war, they realized that the government had not changed its opinion about the Lincoln Brigade. They were still perceived as a threat to the American government due to their ties with the Soviet Union. As a result, they were treated with a lot of suspicion and disloyalty. Some of their leaders were removed from key government positions to frustrate their policies and agenda. Their activities targeting the Franco dictatorship were frustrated by the government. Its members were arrested, detained and tortured because of their communist beliefs. All these events occurred in the period building up to the Cold war. Based on the government's treatment of the Lincoln brigade the victim of Cold War dynamics. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the main reasons why Lincoln Brigade were victims of Cold war dynamics. Also, it would explore the event explaining how they fell victims of the dynamics.

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The Lincoln Brigade become a victim of Cold War dynamics because of its attack on US potential Cold War allies. After World War II, America fell out with its war ally, the Soviet Union. The difference between the two nations created a center stage for what was to become the Cold War. The US was against the Soviet Union communist idea. As a result, it supported all those nations perceived to enemies of the Soviet Union. The US perceived Franco as a strategic ally in the Cold War against the Soviet Union (Peter, Nash and Melvin 228). Therefore, it had to ensure the stability of the Franco administration by shedding off the political threat it was experiencing. At that time, the brigade was spearheading activities targeting the removal of Franco dictatorship from power. The American comes to its defense through a series of attacks on the Lincoln Brigade veteran. In 1946, the government through the congressional committee of Un-American Activities initiated an investigation on the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee committee comprising mainly of the Lincoln Brigade veterans (Peter et al. 228). The investigation aimed to gather information relating to the identity of members and donors. However, the committee refused to provide the information, thus leading to arrest and prosecution of its officers. Among the people sentenced to jail during the raid was Dr. Edward Barsky. He was a key proponent of Communism idea America. Therefore, experts perceived the 1946 January arrest as early attempts to fight communism (Peter et al.229). The raid of the Anti-Fascist Refugee committee best explains the case of how the Lincoln Brigade becomes victims of the Cold War. Dynamics. Their frustration of Franco, a potential ally of the US in the Cold War forced radical action against their activities.

The Lincoln brigade fell victims of the War's dynamics due to suspicion of its link to the Soviet Union. The US government had its suspicion that the Lincoln brigade was working for the Soviet Union. The belief was based on the idea that that the veteran had worked together with the Soviet Union on several occasions. For example, when President Roosevelt announced US nonintervention in the Spanish War, Lincoln brigade defied its order and sent its members to fight alongside the Soviet Union and Spain's legal government to fight for democracy. The Lincoln brigade sent twenty-eight thousand volunteers to Spain (Peter et al. 1). Such a higher number affirmed its disregard for the government of the US. The brigade also affirmed its link to the Soviet Union a period before World War II. The US had announced its decision not to participate in the war. However, the brigade was piling pressure on the government to join the anti-fascist lead by the Soviet Union. The two incidences made the US government link Lincoln to the Soviet Union. In December 1947, the attorney general listed several organizations believed in working against the government. Among the listed groups included Abraham Lincoln brigade and Veteran Abraham Lincoln brigade (Peter et al. 229). Following the announcement, drastic actions were taken against the two organizations. Their activities were threatened by the government's that they should be registered as a foreign government. The officials of the Lincoln brigade were forced to resign thus paralyzing their activities.

In addition to the deregistration of the Lincoln Brigade, the government undertook a series of a crackdown on members of the outfit. The crackdown aimed to thwart the rise of Communism sympathizers in the country. The government ordered the arrest, detention, and deportation of individuals perceived to be communism sympathizers (Peter et al. 229). Several members of the Communist party fell victim of the move. 1947, John Gates, Steve Nelson, Bob Thompson were arrested and charged in the federal courts. The foreign veterans were deported back to their foreign countries (Peter et al. 229). Some members of the brigade were subjected to a criminal investigation by the FBI. The crackdown was a major blow to the activities of the brigade in America. Some of its officials decided to resign, thus impacting on the fight against social injustices. The human rights movements had to halt their activities to avoid the government's retaliation.

The government also frustrated the promotion of members of the brigade to key position citing their link to communism. In 1945, the congress committee blocked the promotion of fourteen communist officers serving in OSS (Peter et al. 226). Among those affected by the decision was Abraham Lincoln whom they had reason to believe was a supporter of the Soviet Union communism idea. Others were Irving Goff, Milton Wolf, and Vincent Lossowski (Peter et al. 226). The members of the brigade presented a strong argument citing their heroic act in World II and loyalty to the government. However, the congressional committee was not convinced by their testimonies. They considered them to be loyal to the Soviet Union than to the US. As a result, Congress threatened a cut on budgetary allocation for OSS until Lincoln and his team were removed from the service (Peter et al. 226). The decision treatment of the brigade offers a clear case of how they were victims in the dynamics of the Cold War. The previous link to the Soviet Union to the US under question. As a result, the government relieved them from their position in the government.

Given the events following the end of World War II, it is clear that the Lincoln brigade were victims of Cold War dynamics. Members of the brigade were subjected to frustration, intimidation, and crackdown by the government. They were arrested, charged, and detained for their communism. Others were deported to their countries of origin. The government also deregistered Abraham brigade. Congress also passed a resolution for their withdrawal from the OSS. However, the US to victimize the brigade was because of its close ties to the Soviet Union and support for Communism idea. The US frustrated the brigade as a way of ensuring the political stability possible ally in the Cold War.

Work Cited

Peter, Carrol, Michael, Nash & Small, Melvin. "The Good Fight Continues." New York University Press. (2006)