Vodkapundit - Alternate History

Alternate History

Posted by Stephen Green · 2 March 2005

WASHINGTON May 9, 1945 12:20PM E.W.T.

A Republican leader in Congress charged that President Truman's declaration of "victory in Europe" yesterday was "dangerous and premature."

"This so-called victory," said Congressman Hugh Scott (R, PA) to reporters on the Capitol steps, "does not bring us any closer to peace, or bring any more freedom to the world."

"Our Democratic president claimed he was fighting to prevent tyranny, but what has he really accomplished? Communists are making inroads in France and Italy, and Stalin controls Poland. Wasn't preserving Polish freedom supposedly the reason this so-called 'World War' began in the first place?"

"President Truman and the Democrats have let us down," added Republican House Conference Chairman Roy Woodruff. "It was Japan who attacked us, yet Tojo and Hirohito remain at large, three and a half years later. The Democrats' foolish European campaign has cost us thousands of lives and millions of dollars, and distracted us from our real enemies. Japan attacked us on December 7, 1941, not Germany."

Other Republicans, and even some centrists, argue that Germany was never a threat to the United States. "They had no navy, no rockets that could reach our cities," said one peace activist. "It's not like Germany was ever going to invade us. They never even got across the English Channel."

Still, Democrats maintain that the European Theater was vital to American interests. In a quiet session with reporters yesterday, President Truman defended his actions, and those of his predecessor, the late Franklin Roosevelt. "I'll tell you what," Truman said in his simple Missouri way, "beating the Germans sent a message that Nazism won’t be tolerated, not while I'm in charge."

Others aren't convinced. Speaking off the record, a Republican Senatorial aide said, "We've just replaced one form of tyranny [Nazism] with another [Communism]. We'll never make progress in Europe. Two world wars in 25 years have shown they just aren't ready for peace or freedom over there."

Only one day after "V-E Day," German insurgents were already threatening the peace. This morning, snipers killed two American soldiers on patrol outside of Munich, and British soldiers in the port city of Bremen located a weapons cache. Presumably, the weapons were hidden to support a guerilla campaign against the Allied occupation.

At least one Republican sounded more hopeful. "Sure, getting rid of the Nazis makes us look bad," said former Republican presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie. "But just because it helps Truman doesn't mean it's bad for the country. We'll see."

UPDATE: Apparently, I nailed that so-fair-it's-painful tone of modern journalism a little too well. Already, two people have asked if I made up the quotes, and another added a stirring defense of our involvement in the European Theater of War 60 years ago.

The "story" is fiction. It's made up. Other than the names and dates, it's entirely fake.

UPDATE: Why, it's enough to make a blogger blush.

Comments

When I was in high school (Ike was Pres) we used to say - what goes around comes around.

Posted by: Rod Stanton at March 2, 2005 12:32 PM

Is this quote from future Senator Scott for real?? or are you just spoofing on Soderbarg's comedy central appearance. If it's not made up, it explains why I never liked that long-time Pennsylvania senator.

Posted by: Tony Lynch at March 2, 2005 01:12 PM

Is this an actual news story from the Truman era, or did you make that up? It sounds like the parallels are a little too conveniently perfect for this to be real.

Posted by: Darren at March 2, 2005 01:14 PM

It's all made up, hence the "Alternate History" headline.

Posted by: Stephen Green at March 2, 2005 01:15 PM

Read the book "A Man Called Intrepid", and you can see why we went to the German theatre in WWII. Germany wasn't just in Europe-- they were in Canada, Mexico, South American, African, and Balkans... Nazi spy-rings were in the United States, promoting isolationism before Pearl Harbor, and making huge deals with sympathetic business leaders that would fund Nazi endeavors. Germans were also atonishly close to developings nuclear weapons, especially since they had a huge heavy-water plant in Norway, and had taken over Denmark where Neils Bohr was doing work on splitting the atom, and released his findings to anyone who wished to read them, academics or military leaders alike, until the BSC (or the Baker Street Irregulars) smuggled him out. Japan was a threat, but Hitler had everything at his fingertips to wage war, including technology and factories that the Japanese did not. He planned on attacking the United States eventually, and he had an ample Navy for that-- the capacities of the Bismarck should have proved that.

Posted by: Amy at March 2, 2005 01:26 PM

Whoops, didn't see "alternative reality" headline. Even so, I still recommend "A Man Called Intrepid", lol.

Posted by: Amy at March 2, 2005 01:28 PM

One senator commented, "I don't see how we have a right to foist our way of life on the Europeans Hitler is killing. Well, at least we can hope that the Nazis still have a chance to kick us out."

Posted by: Jim at March 2, 2005 02:41 PM

Good God...great minds think alike.

http://www.drumwaster.com/archives/00907.html

I hope that doesn't screw up the comments, but it looks like your politicians were from the same states mine were...

Posted by: John Cross at March 2, 2005 03:14 PM

Er, didn't Germany declare war on us?

Posted by: Ugh at March 2, 2005 03:33 PM

Beautiful job, Stephen. That's on a par with Rand Simberg's great "today's reporters cover WW2" parodies.

What makes it even funnier is that I know there were people who did talk like that way back then. And their viewpoints have rightfully been thrown into history's trash heap.

Posted by: wolfwalker at March 2, 2005 04:26 PM

--Er, didn't Germany declare war on us?---

They just bombed Pearl Harbor.

Posted by: Sandy P at March 2, 2005 07:59 PM

While Germany did declare war on us, FDR undertook acts of war against Germany first.

In particular, orders to US forces to shoot German submarines on sight, as well as the provision of US military aid to Great Britain (in defiance of the US Neutrality Acts), and relieving British military forces in places like Greenland made a mockery of the concept of neutrality.

During the hunt for the Bismarck, for example, US airmen and a US Coast Guard cutter provided vital targeting information to British forces---this was long before Pearl Harbor.

Note that, IMO, this was the right thing to do---Hitler's Germany was clearly a threat to the United States. But it also violated international law.

Posted by: Dean at March 2, 2005 08:25 PM

Glenn Back had a good point....the first nation we invaded after declaring war on Germany...was Morocco.

Posted by: John Cross at March 2, 2005 09:02 PM

>> Glenn Back had a good point....the first nation we invaded after declaring war on Germany...was Morocco.

Posted by: wolfwalker at March 3, 2005 07:17 AM

Oops, that last comment didn't post right. What I meant to say was: Glenn's wrong. Morocco wasn't an independent country when we invaded it; it was a French colony. Anyway, we didn't invade Morocco until October 1942. US Marines went ashore at Guadalcanal two months earlier. So if you go by who was in control at the time, the first country we invaded was Japan. If you go by who ran the place prewar, the first country we invaded was Britain, because Guadalcanal was part of a British protectorate.

Posted by: wolfwalker at March 3, 2005 07:20 AM

I would not be surprised if there were some comments such as this during the 1944 election, though by 1945 they probably subsided. In spite of all the current talk about how "unified" we were during WWII, according to an article I read recently (wish I had the link) in 1944 FDR only got 53% of the popular vote. I would not be surprised if some Republicans at the time complained about the retaking of the Philippines as an "election year stunt" (we invaded in October 1944), and I would not be surprised if in Europe the decision to try Market Garden (of "A Bridge Too Far" fame) in September 1944 was influenced by election.

Posted by: Steve at March 3, 2005 07:35 AM