In the Muddy Trenches: World War One

Trevor's Journal, July 3rd, 1917.

I get the feeling we don't have much time here. I know Mykola is onto us. I just don't know what his next move is.
We're in France right now, watching as the first American troops to join the efforts of the Great War land. A lot of the Frenchmen are cheering, glad to have them here. France is looking pretty awful right now. There are trenches, bombed buildings, craters in the streets and fields, dead horses... it's not a pretty sight. But I think in the midst of so many others, Mykola has more trouble finding us.
Currently, Dominik and Marin are helping at a hospital for wounded soldiers, just like when we went to visit George Washington's camp. I think Marin has found her calling. She's usually so listless whenever we go anywhere, nervous and unsure of herself and of her safety. Now, she's got all these men to help take care of, and she's determined to do her part. I'm amazed she can handle seeing such destruction. I guess I know what she'll probably be when she grows up!
Dominik is somewhat annoyed with me. As soon as he figured out we were in the time period of the Great War, he demanded we go to the Eastern Front so he could join his fellow Russians in the last offensive against the Germans in Galicia. Uhhh, not a good idea. Those guys are getting slaughtered over there, the offensive was a huge failure and hundreds and hundreds of men died. It could even be totaled in the thousands, no one really knows. Dominik insisted he wanted to fight anyways, he explained that was the battle that started the spirit of the Revolution among his people. I need to remember to have a talk with Dominik later and show him what happens in his country after the Communists take over. He's still got his Red pride because he fought in World War Two. I don't think he realizes he would probably have been sent to the Gullag if he'd survived the war. Poor guy.
It's sad to see such a beautiful country in so much peril. I've seen France before this war. It was beautiful, the countryside was beautiful, everything was so pretty. You can hear a regular booming sound on the horizon. The battles are not that very far off.
World War One (or, as to these people and all the way up to World War Two call it, "The Great War") was a war that took several years in the making. Actually, to be specific, it took from 1871 to 1914 to begin. Tensions were on the rise between France and Germany, after a war between them called the Franco-Prussian War. France had to sign a treaty they did NOT like, which entailed things like giving up parts of France to Germany and letting the then King Wilhelm 1 of Prussia be crowned Kaiser of a unified German state- in France's own Hall of Mirrors in Versailles palace. Needless to say, the French were not happy about that.
The day that really got World War One under way  was the day that the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian named Gavrilo Princip, a man who was part of a secret society called Black Hand, whose purpose was to break up parts of Austria-Hungary Southern Slav providence and join them with Yugoslavia. (present day Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo.)
It started an upheaval all right- it started a war. The emperor of Austria-Hungary, Franz Joseph, declared war on Serbia for the killing. Eager to get in on the action and because they had a treaty with Serbia, Russia announces full mobilization of their army to defend Serbia. Germany, also eager to gain new territory, declared war on Russia. While they were at it, they declared war on France, then on Belgium and did a quick invasion so they could get into France quicker. As a result, England, angered that the Germans invaded Belgium, declared war on Germany. Right after that, Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. Guess how fast this all took place?
Nine days. In nine days, a good chunk of Europe had declared war on each other. Everyone was chomping at the bit to get into the fight. America didn't join the efforts until 1917, after a telegram from the German Reich's Foreign Secretary was discovered by the British and contained promises to Mexico that if they joined the war, they could have parts of America to themselves. Yeah, America wasn't going to stand for that, so they joined the Great War.
That's where we are today. We're watching the troops land from their American ships. I feel sorry for these guys. They have no idea what kind of war they're going to be facing. One of the most brutal wars in history. These guys are going to spend months in muddy, wet trenches. They're going to be exposed to horrible diseases, which many of them will die from. Both sides of this war are facing horrible conditions and wounds. It's sad. It's very sad to see people killing other people over these things.
I should go now. Marin and Dominik could probably use some help. On a good note, I'm glad to know that this war will end in a year, on November 11th, 1918. War is so horrible. Even when it's fought for the right reasons-- like World War Two, to stop the Nazi onslaught-- it's still horrible.
I hope that in the future, we don't have to face something like this again.
Gotta go. Something's got everyone stirred up near the medical tents. Better go find out what's going on and make sure Marin isn't in the middle of some disaster.

Today in History: I couldn't find anything in history for today in 1917, so I jumped a year and went to 1918. Today on April first, the British, Australian and Canadians troops had successfully executed a counter attack and had taken back some territory the Germans had occupied. The area was called Moreuil Wood, and this battle was one of many that began the successful advancement of the allied troops.


Little Known Fact: Since Marin teased you all with that painting of Joey, the War Horse, which all of you horse lovers know about, did you know that the painting of Joey wasn't actually created until production of the movie began a couple years ago? Everyone thought the painting was real because the author of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo, begins his book describing a small dusty painting in a real place, the Iddesleigh town hall in Devon, England. Visitors to England who had read the book were convinced it was real, so they'd go to Iddesleigh asking to see the painting of Joey done by Captain Nichols. The film artist who did the sketches of Joey that appeared in the film, Alexandra Bannister, was asked by Michael to do a painting of Joey like he'd described to satisfy tourists and help sooth the locals of Iddesleigh who were getting very agitated that everyone kept asking to see the painting of Joey. So now you know that Joey the War Horse never actually existed, but we sure got a good story from the author, didn't we?

Rebels! The American Revolutionary War

Trevor's Journal, sometime in the winter of the late 1770s. Date unknown.

Well, we're alive. And safe. Both a miracle in my opinion. We've arrived sometime in the Revolutionary war. I'm not sure when or where, exactly. All I know is it's cold, several of these American soldiers are sick, and past Trevor is driving me insane. Can you imagine? He hid 4T-2 in a grain barrel that we slept next to every night for the last week or two and he didn't remember where it was! I guess it doesn't help that I didn't remember either. I am, after all, him. I just can't believe he's so selfish. I am eager for his trip to Czechoslovakia. Plus, he's got his own 4T, so he can go whenever he wants to. Except he chose to stick with us for another round. Sigh.

It's hard to guess what year we're in during the war. Most people don't realize that the Revolutionary war lasted eight years. Eight years! Can you imagine having war in your homeland for eight years? This is why I'm not sure what time period we're in, and I don't think it's wise for me to ask someone. People don't get it when a time traveler asks what year it is. They think you're crazy.

The official "date" that the war started is April 19th, 1775. There were a lot of events leading up to it, though. For starters, the British had begun to get very oppressive. They begun to tax the American people on things that the British people didn't get taxed on, treating the American colonies like they weren't British citizens. This made everyone pretty mad. At one point so many people got mad at the outrageous tax on tea that they snuck onto a ship at night and dumped it all into the water. This outraged the Brits and the King and they sent troops to keep the colonies under control. This made the Americans all the more resentful- they were being treated like criminals.

The day things escalated was the sad and fateful day of March 5th, 1775. This event has become known as the Boston Massacre.

Oh, past Trevor is trying to get my attention. Just a second...

Ahem, I'm back. Past Trevor was begging me to take him to go meet George Washington. Honestly. I'll take him to meet him later. I feel like I'm talking to a child... not to my own self who is me. I can treat myself kinda bad sometimes. That's just weird.

Oh, yes. Back to the slave trade that lead to the Civil War. Wait... no, that's not right. I was talking about Boston Massacre. I'm sorry, I have been under so much stress lately that I'm not even remembering what era I' m writing about. 

Boston Massacre was started by a group of civilians (obviously in Boston) yelling at a British sentry. They started insulting him and threatening to hurt him, which was not a nice thing to do. This was because they were starting to get really mad about the taxes and being treated like criminals and all that. Eight other soldiers came to the rescue of the sentry, and the crowd started to throw things and yell threats. Most of these British soldiers were young, and without orders they fired their guns into the crowd, killing three people and injuring others. Two other people died later on from the wounds.

That was it for the Americans. War began against the British, starting with the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19th, 1775.

The war was brutal to both sides. The British lost about 24,000 men to injuries and death. The Americans had approximately 8, 445 men wounded, 10,000 died from disease, 8,500 who died in British prisons and about 8,000 who died in combat. That's over 34,000 men. Pretty sad.

The war ended on September 3rd, 1783. It ended in Yorktown, Virginia. Actually, interestingly enough, if the Americans hadn't won the battle of Yorktown democracy in America could have had a very different outcome.  To quote ushistory.org: "The war virtually came to an end when General Cornwallis was surrounded and forced to surrender the British position at Yorktown, Virginia. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris made it official: America was independent."

If the Revolutionary War hadn't happened, sad as it was to see two countries kill each other over things that may have been settled democratically (had they relented and tried to see past their own selves) it was one of the most important wars America has ever been in. Without it happening we wouldn't have had a start in Democracy. This is huge. Can you imagine America belonging to Britain all the way up to World War Two? What would have happened then? Who would have won World War Two?

We don't know. Whatever would have happened, we can rest assured that God had a plan through the bloodshed to create one of the strongest nations in the world.

Today in history: Today the Siege on Boston began on March 2nd, 1776. General George Washington (later to become the first President) ordered the bombardment of Boston on this day in attempts to take the city over. By March 17th the city was under American control. So today you can realize that 239 years ago the siege on Boston began. Kind of exciting, right?

Little Known Fact: Most people don't realize that George Washington was not a very good General. He was a very good man and full of love for his country and America (which is why he made a wonderful President. He was a very humble man and hadn't actually wanted to be President, he only agreed after telling everyone he wanted the government to be run by the American people.) but not a very good military commander. One example was when he ordered a surprise attack to take over Fort Ontario in 1783. Five hundred American soldiers marched towards Fort Ontario in February. They marched in the night, but there was one problem, They couldn't find the fort! By dawn the next day they'd marched in circles for over four hours and were still a mile away from the fort. The element of surprise was lost, so the men retreated without firing a shot. Though George Washington himself was not involved with the march, there were a couple of instances of this happening under his command. He had a bit of trouble keeping all his men together. Inspiring them, yes. Keeping them in order... not so much. We're just glad he did a far better job as a President than a General! 

Sailing to America: The Pilgrim Voyage on the Mayflower

September 6, 1620
Trevor's Journal
Marin, Dominik and I are dressed in these very interesting pilgrim outfits and are about to board the Mayflower with the rest of the pilgrims on this historical day. The Pilgrims already tried two times to leave England, and both attempts failed because the other ship they were to use, the Speedwell, kept leaking. They finally ditched the Speedwell and are just going to use the Mayflower instead.
There are a 102 people in line to get onto this ship that's headed for America- crew not included. With the crew included, there's about another thirty, which brings the grand total up to 132 people getting on this ship. Can you imagine- 132 people are going to ride this ship for 66 days, together, in a ship that's only about 100 feet in length from the tip of the prow (that pointy thingy at the front of the ship) to the tip of the stern. (the back part of the boat.) Let's not even mention the rest of the dimentions- but I will anyways, for history's sake. I think the deck is about twenty-five feet across from side to side, and that's at the widest point. There are three levels on the boat, but guess what? The ship can only hold 180 caskets of wine at a time. Apparently this is a merchant's ship.
These people are braver than me. I'm coming along because I have to get 4T2. (Trevor's Time Travel Teleport 2) I hid it on the Mayflower four years ago, when I made the first voyage on the ship. In fact I need to keep an eye out for myself, he no doubt will recognize me...
Ahem, back to the subject about the Mayflower. That is why I'm writing in this journal, so I don't forget any of the facts about the ship this time. I forgot them all last time!
Ah, I see Mr. William Bradford is here. He's a good man. He later was the one who came up with the idea of creating a Mayflower Compact. This was because Mr. Bradford was worried when he noted that a lot of the men didn't care one bit about the rules of the Pilgrims. Actually, a lot of these people that are in line today are not Pilgrims at all. We've got three groups here today- Separatists, (aka, the Pilgrims) Sympathizers (they're not Separatists, but they feel bad about the persecution that's happened to them. More on that later) and Hired Hands. Hired Hands are just along for the ride and to help out.
Knowing how the voyage is going to go once we get on sea, I remembered that Mr. Bradford was upset that a lot of the men didn't care about rules and wanted to have their own liberty and do what they want. So when we reach Massachusetts (we actually aren't trying to go to MA, we're trying to get to north New York, but a storm blows the Mayflower off course and we end up in Cape Cod) Mr. Bradford is going to have everyone draw up a compact that sets the rules for the community they're going to settle. Every male head of the family is going to have to sign that compact, if they want to go on land. Actually Mr. Bradford is quite smart- they had to sign it before they went to shore. That means a lot of them signed it probably because they wanted to go to shore, but it worked out in the end, didn't it? The compact became the first form of democracy.
It's almost time to board the ship. I'm a bit anxious, I just want to find 4T2 and get off, but we may end up stuck on the ship if I'm not fast. To be honest, I don't actually remember where I stuck that watch. Somewhere where I didn't want anyone to find it. But now I can't even remember where it is! Probably shouldn't let Marin or Dominik know that.
Oh, you know those pictures you see of pilgrims wearing black and white clothes with weird belt-buckle hats on their heads? That's not what they wear. It's a common misconception. They wear a variety of colors. One lady here, Mrs. Mary Ring, is wearing a pink blouse, a brown skirt with flowers on it and a brown hat. I find it odd that all the pictures you see of pilgrims in the future depict them wearing only black and white. How dull. In truth, they're fine with a variety of colors, which is nice. Black and white is very grey.
I'm going to have to go now. People are starting to board. Marin's pulling my arm, telling me to stop writing. In conclusion, I'll address that topic I mentioned earlier: The sympathetic people who are boarding this ship are not Pilgrims. They don't have the same beliefs. I believe some of the Pilgrims refer to them as "strangers", but not all of them. They're just wanting to make a new life in America, just like everyone else. See, you learn something new everyday, don't you?
Time to board. Hopefully we'll find 4T2 and be off of this ship lickedy-split...


Little Known Fact: Most people don't realize that the Pilgrims did not name Plymouth, Massachusetts, for Plymouth, England. In fact, the Pilgrims didn't name it at all- previous explorers did! It was sheer coincidence that the Mayflower departed from the harbor Plymouth in England and ended up in Plymouth harbor Massachusetts. Remember, they weren't originally aiming for Massachusetts, but New York. 

Today in History: To be honest, nothing exciting happened on this day. Someone named Gustaf Bonde, a Finnish-Swedish politician, died. And today was a Tuesday 395 years ago. Not too much happened. Perhaps the children of 1620 are doing a history lesson, even as we read this... who knows? Someone must have been, for by 1650 there were half a billion people living in the world. So you can know that 395 years ago, some child who may even be your age was doing a history lesson. Just like you!

Trail Blazers: The Oregon Trail

There is a very popular game that many homeschoolers I've met played when they were young. Titled The Oregon Trail, the game consisted of going down the trail, doing your best to survive plagues, sickness, disease, attacks and getting lost in the middle of nowhere. It was a fun game, and very educational, too.
Unlike the game (for those of you who are familiar with it) there is no "reset" button. If you died that was it, everyone moved on without you. I'm sure you know this, but think about it for a moment. You leave everything you know and love. You realize that those you leave behind in the Eastern cities of America you'll probably never see again. You may not even survive the trip. Many don't, and you hear about the dangers of Indians and cholera. Why then, would you leave your home, your friends and go on a journey that a lot of people die trying?
Because there's something about the promise of new land, a bold adventure and a new life that draws certain people to try and conquer. Kinda like that saying, "I climb the mountain because it's there."
The Oregon Trail got it's first start in 1811, by fur trappers and traders who would travel to the Western united states to gain their fortune. For the most part, the only fur trappers who had spent any amount of time in the now present states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California were the Russians. For years the Russians had the largest supply of fur in the world, most notably getting their furs from Siberia and Alaska. They ventured into the Western states as well, trading with the Indians for the valuable furs. The business was good and it brought many other trappers from the Eastern states as well.
At first, the only way to get to the Western states was to ride on horseback or travel on foot. It wasn't until 1836 that the first wagon train started it's journey from Independence, Missouri, on a trail that had been cleared for wagons. Even then the route was still fairly dangerous.

From Wikipedia:

From the early to mid-1830s (and particularly through the epoch years, 1846–1869) the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and businessmen and their families. The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail (from 1843), Bozeman Trail (from 1863), and Mormon Trail (from 1847) before turning off to their separate destinations. Use of the trail declined as the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer. Today, modern highways such as Interstate 80 follow the same course westward and pass through towns originally established to serve those using the Oregon Trail.

So as you can see, the Oregon Trail didn't only lead to just Oregon, it had separate branches that could bring people to Utah, California and Washington, as well as Idaho.

Many of the people who live in these states today are descendants of these brave pioneers, who often faced things like thunderstorms, hail storms, stampedes, and all kinds of scary accidents.

A good website to look at is the http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/ which gives lots of references and statistics as well as the history of the Oregon trail for those who want to know more about it. According to their site, they proclaim that the leading cause of death was getting run over by the wagons.

Oregon Trail Center:

Major threats to pioneer life and limb came from accidents, exhaustion, and disease. Crossing rivers were probably the most dangerous thing pioneers did. Swollen rivers could tip over and drown both people and oxen. Such accidents could cause the loss of life and most or all of valuable supplies. Animals could panic when wading through deep, swift water, causing wagons to overturn. Animals could cause very serious injury to their owners. People could be crushed by wagons or animals, thrown by horses.  

According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. Both children and adults could slip while getting out of a wagon and fall beneath the wheels. Children were especially susceptible to being run over by heavy wagons. Firearms were the second leading cause of emigrant injury and death and a surprisingly large number of pioneers were injured by accidental firearm discharges. The third cause was stampeding livestock. Other causes of injury or death included attacks by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, hailstorms, grass-fires, gunpowder explosions, snakebite and suicide. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp, killing several people.  Cholera was the main scourge of the trail.

Sounds pretty harsh, doesn't it? Makes you think twice about heading out on such a venture. And yet these people did it. Why? Why would they risk it? Because to them it was worth it. The idea of having their own place that wasn't crowded, living in a new land and creating their own rules gave people a new sense of freedom. Don't you like the idea of living in an area where you create your own rules, and you had as much land as you wanted to have the animals you wanted? It sounds kind of fun, doesn't it? That's the reason Marin and I moved to Hawaii, 12 A.D. So we could have the whole place to ourselves and have all the animals we wanted.

We can all learn something from the pioneers. Perseverance, determination and trust that God will get us through whatever we start can be seen in the lives of these trail blazers. I hope we all learn to be a bit more like them.

Little Known Fact: I'm sure we've all heard stories or seen movies about Indians attacking wagon trains, making off with children and shooting the men. Well, did you know that Indian Raids was the least cause of death on the Oregon Trail? Most of the Indians were fine with the wagon trains that moved through their territory. In fact, a lot of them traded buffalo robes and other items with the pioneers for things like knives, clothes and food. There were some instances where Indians did indeed attack the pioneers, but for the most part they were pretty good with all of the new settlers.

Today in History: Well, there doesn't seem to be much that went on today in history that has survived in the archives. The only thing we could find:

Henry J. Lutcher, American business partner and sawmill owner, died

Well, whoever Henry J. Lutcher was, we hoped he lived a good life!

Thanks to Oregon Trail Center and Wikipedia for provided some of the information used in this post.

Come back next week for some good reads on the Oregon Trail!

The Duel: America and the Cold War

From the sounds of it, some of you are not quite sure what the Cold War is. And from my research online, you’re not alone. A lot of kids don’t know what it is, there doesn’t seem to be any kids books on the subject that are suitable for children. Why is this? Why do history books seem to skim over the subject?

Simple: because the Cold War wasn’t a war. Well, at least not in the sense that it was fought by soldiers, tanks and guns. It was a war that was fought by diplomats and ambassadors, by two countries trying to convince others to accept their ideologies.

The Cold War began not long after WWII. The Russians took over several of the countries that the Nazis had conquered and added it to to their kingdom- or, as they preferred to call it, the U.S.S.R. United Soviets Socialist Republic. They also took half of Germany, dividing Berlin into two parts, Eastern and Western Germany. The Russians had Eastern and the Americans were helping Western.

Russia and America: Russia (the Big Bear) and America (the Noble Eagle).

Both America and Russia were working hard to win other countries over to become like them. For America, we were trying to coax war-torn Europe to accept democracy. Russia was attempting to make Europe into a Communist continent.

Yet if you were to ask an adult what the Cold War was, this is probably the answer you’d receive: “When the world nearly ended.”

Wait a second, if the war was a political war that was all about winning over other countries to join you, then how on earth did the world nearly end?

Well, that’s the other part of the Cold War, and one of the reasons it’s skimmed over so fast. Because this event only lasted thirteen days. May I acquaint you to The Cuban Missile Crisis.

This and the building and destruction of the Berlin Wall are probably some of the most famous moments of the ongoing war on Communism. But because of the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis, we’re going ot focus on that today.

The Crisis didn’t begin until October of 1962, when it was revealed that nuclear missiles had been put on Cuba by the Russians and aimed at the United States. Cuba was only 485 miles off the coast of Florida. A little too close to be comfortable there, as nuclear missiles have a range of 1,266 miles. Which means the Russians could have blown up anything between Florida and Washington D.C. Not a pleasant thought there, eh?

But the crisis really began several years before, when the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959, three years before the missile incident. At first Castro just seemed like a young guy who wanted to rule Cuba, a bit of a burr for the Americans, who kinda wanted to have Cuba as one of their own states. Then he began to become more and more threatening, as he announced he was going to align Cuba with America’s longtime enemies- the Soviet Regime. Anndddd let’s just say the Soviets were all for driving the Americans crazy, diplomatically or with weapons.

It was well known by the world that America had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey in the year 1959, and that they were aimed at Russia. Why did we do this? Well, several countries around the U.S.S.R. were afraid that their big neighbor the bear may encroach on their borders- in other words decide it was for the benefit of the other country to be taken over by the Soviets. Obviously this was not the case, but that was often the claim they made about the countries they took over, that and, “This is our sphere of influence.”

This is not to say we didn’t have some of our own ideas about getting other countries to align with us. We too, tried to play a ball game in Europe and persuade everyone to support Democracy, and when it came to Cuba, we even tried to invade it! No, we didn’t send American soldiers to do it, we asked Cuban exiles to try and take back their country. It did not go well, and it ended up with the Cuban dictator, Castro, being more riled than before. He wanted America to see him as a world power, too.

Photo taken by a spy plane that shows the troops and missile bases in Cuba.

Believe it or not, the missiles in Cuba were not discovered by us until they’d been there for a couple of weeks, and we didn’t realize they had Russian troops there either. It wasn’t until after the confrontation that we discovered that there were about 40,000 Soviet troops and that the missiles were nuclear.

When President Kennedy (Better known as JFK) found out about the missiles, he was pretty upset. How was he supposed to tell America that there were warheads aimed right at them less than five hundred miles off the coast of Florida? He knew they would panic, but he didn’t know how to get the Russians to take it away. Because what the Soviet leader Khrushchev wanted was for the Americans to retreat their support of West Berlin so the Soviets could have it. Which wouldn’t be very nice to the Germans, and certainly the rest of the world would not approve if they found out. That would make America look like they were willing to exchange someone else’s freedom for their safety, something we could not afford to do.

So it was announced to the American people that there were indeed missiles on the small Communist country. Kennedy also announced there would be a blockade around Cuba, not letting any Soviet ships or submarines come in and deliver arms and forces to the Cuban. Immediately, all over the country everyone began to do the Duck and Cover exercises. (How many of you have watched Iron Giant? Though it’s got some swear words, it’s a very good depiction of the constant fear in the Cold War- in a funny, humorous way. In one scene the main character is watching a tape at school that shows them how to duck and cover. There’s a really funny song that goes along with it. I’ll post it at the end of this.) Though few people knew it at the time, the government leaders knew the truth: duck and cover would not work if a nuclear missile was fired. Nothing would be left.

It was a scary thirteen days as the American President and Soviet dictator negotiated, argued and tried to figure out how to avoid nuclear war. The Soviets said they’d fire the missiles if America a) tried to invade, b) bombed the missile base, c) fired their missiles from Turkey. They also said the blockade against Cuba was enough to make them want to fire their nuclear warheads at us. We said we’d retaliate if they fired with our nuclear missiles. In other words, if the Russians tried to fire on us, we’d fire on them, resulting in the first ever nuclear war. Which pretty much means the entire world would have been blown up and unlivable. Yeah, not good.

A newspaper that headlined the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

What ended the Crisis was when President Kennedy made a secret deal with Leader Khrushchev. He told him that if he withdrew the missiles from Cuba, we’d withdraw the missiles from Turkey. Believe it or not, even though Khrushchev was a dictator, he really didn’t want to go to war with us. He wanted to make Russia look big and threatening and scary, (the big bear, as Russia was called) but he didn’t want to blow up the world. So he agreed to the deal and withdrew the missiles.

Our history books may seem to skim over this important (and very scary) time in history, but there is a reason: how do you tell in a few short pages everything that happened those thirteen days? I didn’t even began to touch on the subject, there’s so much more to cover- submarines, a blockade, a plane that went down, another plane that flew over Russia by accident, a close call between a Soviet and American vessel, etc.

The fact is, if you want to know more about the Cold War you’re going to have to research it. Even though it wasn’t a war, it’s something everyone needs to know about, so we can avoid it as much as possible in the future. Though the Crisis was only a small fragment of the many years of the Cold War, it is still known as the ultimate showdown from those years.

Little Known Fact: Most people (and this may include your parents and grandparents) don’t realize how close a little Soviet submarine named B-59 came to starting World War Three. The Captain of the sub, a man named Vitali Grigorievitch Savitsky, panicked when he couldn’t reach Moscow. He was surrounded by American warships in the caribbean ocean, who’d warned him if he tried to go to Cuba they’d blow him up. Captain Vitali thought that war had begun with America and that’s why Moscow wasn’t answering, so he ordered his nuclear missile to be fired. On a submarine, not only do you have to have the Captain’s consent to fire, you must get a “yes” from the political officer and from the sub-flotilla commander. From Wikipedia: The three primary officers on board – Captain Valentin Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and entire-sub-flotilla commander Vasili Arkhipov, who was equal in rank to Savitsky and also second-in-command of B-59 – were authorized to launch the torpedo only if they all agreed unanimously to do so. But Arkhipov alone opposed the launch and eventually persuaded Savitsky to surface the submarine and await orders from Moscow. This presumably averted nuclear warfare which would likely have ensued had the torpedo been fired.

Thanks to sub-flotilla commander Vasili, we are all here today because he refused to let that missile be fired!

Today in History: Well, it appears today (the 8th) was a busy day for the world! Here’s what I dug up from different sources:

- Algeria admitted as 109th member of UN

- North Korea reports 100% election turnout, miraculously 100% vote for the Workers' Party (Communist party)

- Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO manoeuver called "Fallex 62", which uncovered the sorry state of the Bundeswehr (Germany's army) facing the communist threat from the east at the time. The magazine was soon accused of treason.

Come back next week when Marin and I find ourselves in hot water out in the Atlantic! 

The Dark Storm: America in World War Two

If there’s one event in history that none of us ever forget, it’s World War Two.

Though it was the second World War, it is remembered as the most horrific and horrible war in the history of mankind. Thousands of Christians shuddered and wondered if the end of the world had come, and to many it certainly seemed it had. Hitler’s Nazis stormed Europe, shocking everyone with their lightning war techniques known as Blitzkrieg (Literally means “Lightning War”), the Nazis swept through their neighboring countries with little or no resistance. At the same time, Russia overtook several of its neighbors and invaded half of Poland, (the Nazis invaded the other half that bordered their country) Italy took over parts of East Africa and the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and several outlying islands. The entire world had seemed to go crazy over the course of three years.

It wasn’t until the attack of Pearl Harbor that America joined in the war. We’d been sympathetic to the British and their allies (who joined the war on September 3, 1939, after the Nazis and Soviets invaded Poland) for two years prior to that, and had sent many supplies and even some soldiers over to England to help with the fight. But from 1939 to 1941, Americans quarreled among themselves on if they should join the war or stay out of it.

“It’s so easy to look back and say, ‘Well, all the things that the people who wanted to stay out of the war were wrong,’” author Lynne Olson wrote in an interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “...But back then, in ‘39, ‘40 and most of ‘41, people didn’t know what was going on in Europe. No one had any idea what was going to happen.”

Lynne goes on to say that, “Americans looked on the war in Europe kind of like a movie. It was something that just didn’t affect them. We didn’t have the technology. We didn’t have the instant communication. (i.e, social media) We didn’t have the ability to travel- the ability to travel quickly- to Europe like we do now. And so most Americans- not all, but most Americans, especially those living in the heartland- really didn’t feel that they had anything in common with Europe. They hadn’t been there. They thought this was a distant place that they really had nothing to do with, and they felt that way until 1940.”

No one could come close to guessing what was going on behind the front-lines, what the Nazis were doing to Jews and to prisoners of war. And no one would find out until the Third Reich was crushed in 1945, when the horrors of the concentration camps came into view.

But we’re going to focus on something a little different. We’re going to talk about the Home Front of America during World War Two. Particularly the war on espionage, a topic most of you might not know about.

Espionage is defined the by Google dictionary as “the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information.”

In other words, espionage is spying. Real life spies.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “FDR” was adamant that such a surprise attack like that could not happen again. The FBI was pressured to find subversives (those who are sympathetic to other countries other than America and give them information) and put them behind bars, before a disaster like Pearl Harbor could happen again. It didn’t help that for the purpose of finding spies and traitors, the military created the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services. With the FBI and the OSS on the case, you’d think they’d be happy to help each other with the many cases that would pop up during the course of the war.

Wrong. They were rivals.

It’s a long story as to why they were rivals, but OSS agents and FBI agents didn’t get along very well. They were determined to one-up each other and catch the most bad guys. Sounds ridiculous? It really happened!

During WWII, the FBI and OSS caught 44 German spies, 3 from Ireland, (strange place to have a spy from, but it’s true) 15 from Japan, and 26 from Soviet Russia, who would later join the Allies after the Germans attacked them. That’s a lot of spies!

Because of how many pages it would take to cover all these stories, Marin and I have narrowed down the list to two groups of spies we think you’d be the most interested in hearing. The first group landed in America from a submarine in 1942 on Long Island and Florida. The second group came to American shores 1944 on the coast of Maine.

Enter Operation Pastorius and Operation Elster, the two most intriguing spy stories from WWII.

The men involved in Operation Pastorius.

Operation Pastorius was a plan that the Nazis came up with in 1942, after they declared war on America. The plot included landing four spies in Florida and four on Long Island, loaded with explosives, fake IDs and $175,000 dollars in American money. Their mission was to poison New York’s water system, blow up Jewish owned stores and derail trains. They planned on being in America for two years, terrorizing the people and making no one feel safe.

Believe it or not, what blew the plan was the leader of the group himself. George Dasch had been put in charge of the mission. He had come ashore with the Long Island group, and they encountered a Coast Guard man who was on his rounds. After failing to get the man to be quiet by threatening him, Dash tried to bribe him. The Coast Guard pretended to take the bribe, but the minute he got back to his unit he told his commanding officer.

According to several documents and sources, Dasch “realized that the mission was going to be doomed after the encounter with the Coast Guard, and decided he had a secret of his own. The day after the landing at Amagansett, he called Ernest Burger, the most guarded and disciplined member of the team, into the upper-storey hotel room the two men shared. He walked over to the window and opened it wide. "You and I are going to have a talk," Dasch said, "And if we disagree, only one of us will walk out that door—the other will fly out this window." He then revealed the truth to Burger: he had no intention of going through with the mission. He hated the Nazis and wanted Burger on his side when he turned the entire plot over to the FBI. Burger smiled. Having spent seventeen months in a Nazi concentration camp, his own feelings for the party were less than warm. He too had been planning to betray the mission. They agreed to defect to the United States immediately.”

The other six members, Herbert Haupt, Edward Kerling, Richard Quirin, Heinrich Heinck, Hermann Neubauer and Werner Thiel had no idea about the plan. Dasch presented himself to the FBI, told them the whereabouts of his colleagues, and the rest of them were rounded up. All but Dasch and Burger were executed for espionage, a crime deemed worthy of death during war time. To this day you can still visit the sites where the Nazis came ashore, and in the FBI courthouse where they held the trial, there is a plaque recounting the capture of eight Nazi spies.

William Colepaugh and Erich Gimpel

Operation Elster took place on November 28th, 1944. Two spies named Erich Gimpel and William Colepaugh (an American) were put ashore by two German submariners, who are possibly the first enemy of America to land on American shores in uniform since the Mexican war of 1840s. (Hmmm, so the Nazis came ashore exactly a hundred years later…) Erich Gimpel, a trained professional spy had been given instructions to find where the atomic bomb was being made and how far in the process the Americans gotten with it. If the opportunity presented itself, Gimpel was to sabotage the project.

His mission went wrong because of William. An American born German, William decided he liked Germany better and sailed to the Third Reich during World War Two. He presented himself to the Reich government and said he wanted to be a spy on America. Erich Gimpel heard about him not long before he had to take the trip to America himself. To survive as a spy in the United States, Gimpel had concluded, he would need to take along "a proper American. He must know the latest dance steps and the latest popular songs. He must know everything about baseball and have all the Hollywood gossip at his fingertips." That said, Gimpel had to wonder where he would find "an American who was prepared to work against his own country and who at the same time was courageous, sensible, and trustworthy."

William was eager to betray his country- but he wasn’t exactly the other three characteristics that Gimpel was looking for. Still, he was the only American Gimpel could find, so he settled with William.

It was about a month into the mission that William decided to hit the bars one night in New York City. He got drunk, decided he would steal the money he and Gimpel had brought with them to America ($60,000 in small bills, the equivalent of $656,000 today) and took off for Central Station. Erich found out what happened and decided to turn the tables. He went to Central Station, found the bags and claimed to be the owner. After successfully identifying the items inside the cases, he whisked the baggage away and left William to fend for himself. In turn, William got angry, found a friend of his and hit the bars for several nights in a row. On one particular rowdy night, he confessed he was a spy for Germany. When his friend realized that William was telling the truth, he called the FBI and they picked him up.

In only a matter of days before they found Erich. Caught and tried, both William and Erich were sentenced to death, but the sentence was postponed when FDR died in office. Right after that, the war with Germany ended and President Truman pardoned the spies, saying that, “we are no longer at war with Germany, and so they are no longer enemies of America.”

Overall, there was a lot more involvement with WWII than most people realize. Not only did we have spies among us, but they were on deadly missions to destroy us from within. It is by the grace of God none of these missions were ever completed, and we can all be thankful that the war ended the way it did. Otherwise history would have had a very different story.

U-1230 and it's crew.

Little Known Fact: Did you know that the U-Boat that dropped Erich Gimpel and William Colepaugh off in Maine had a sister ship that had been torpedoed only weeks before? U-1230 was the U-boat that was commissioned to take the spies to America, and U-1229 was blown up six weeks before they took off. Allegedly though never confirmed, U-1229 supposedly carried another spy that was on a mission to Canada.

Today in History: Wow, a lot of things happened today in history! Here are some of the events of the day in 1944.

- 58th US Women's Tennis: P Betz beats Margaret Osborne duPont (6-3 8-6)

- 68th & last transport of Dutch Jews (including Anne Frank) leaves for Auschwitz concentration camp

- Canadian troops liberate Abbeville, France

- Frank Parker beats Bill Talbert for US Tennis title

- French troops liberate Lyon

- Last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz

- Prince Bernhard appointed supreme commander of Neth Domestic Arm Force

- Tank division of British Guards free Brussels

Thanks to NPR.org interview with Angry Days and Wikipedia for contributing to this post. Come back next week when we give you some books to read!