How did the Cold War lead to the Space Race?

“Poyekhali!” (“Let's go!”)

– Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, at the moment of the Vostok 1 rocket launch that first sent him into space

An anecdote about the German rocket scientists, and whose sides they were on in the Cold War

At the end of World War II, it turned out that the best rocket scientists in the world were in Nazi Germany. As Nazis, these scientists had been using their skills to send V-2 rockets tearing into London (and other Allied cities). But after the war, they would be drafted into the rocket programs of their respective conquering nations, and end up using these rockets for more peaceful purposes. The lucky ones worked for the Western Allies, and particularly for the Americans. But some of them were in East Germany, and thus had to work for the Soviet Union instead (a somewhat harsher fate). For both sides, these German scientists would form the core of their future rocket programs, and thus participate in the Space Race on one side or the other of this coming conflict. The boundaries of the Cold War – which went through postwar Germany – thus decided which side they were on in this conflict, and many of them would rather have chosen the West if they'd been able to do so. The Space Race was thus destined to be an integral part of this coming Cold War.

Wernher von Braun, one of the most famous of the German rocket scientists (who was on the American side)

A review of Michael Wood's “The Story of China”

“Representing the will of the people of the entire nation, it has formulated the organization law for the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, elected Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Central People's Government … [hence follow the names of the vice chairmen and the committee members] … to form the Central People's Government Committee, declared the founding of the People's Republic of China, and decided on Peking as the national capital.”

– Proclamation of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, 1 October 1949

I had seen a number of Michael Wood films before seeing this series, including “The Story of India” and (The) “Story of England.” I had enjoyed these two films greatly, but I think that I may have enjoyed “The Story of China” even more than these other two epic histories. This series has more of a unified narrative than “The Story of India” does, and doesn't seem as much like a collection of random anecdotes about its subject. Although it is not a political history, the cultural history that it focuses on is woven together into a fascinating narrative, and has the effect of teaching the viewer much about China.

A review of PBS's “Silicon Valley” (American Experience)

This documentary focuses on a historical company called “Fairchild Semiconductor” …

I was expecting this movie to be about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and the desktop computing revolution of the 1980’s. But I was wrong. This movie focuses on a historical company called “Fairchild Semiconductor International.” It was founded in 1957 as a division of “Fairchild Camera and Instrument,” a company based on the East Coast. But Fairchild Semiconductor was based in San Jose, California; in the area that would later become “Silicon Valley.” This area was actually an entrepreneurial haven, long before it acquired the name of “Silicon Valley.” Fairchild Semiconductor was a pioneer in the development of transistors and integrated circuits. Thus, it was also something of a pioneer in the computers industry, back in the day when NASA and the military accounted for more than half of the computers market. It was a true trailblazer, but it is virtually unknown today. This film gives it a thorough treatment, and thus takes a good look at the budding computers industry of this time.

Confucius and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have often quoted from various philosophers to make their point. European philosophers are not the only ones to be so quoted. Asian philosophers are also quoted, including the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucius was a great religious leader, as well as a great philosopher.

Confucius

Forgotten battlegrounds of the Cold War: North Africa and the Middle East

If there's ever been a peaceful period in Muslim history, the Cold War was not that period …

If there's ever been a peaceful period in Muslim history, the Cold War was not that period. During this period, the Muslim world was something of a battleground, in which the Islamic countries were pawns in a great superpower chess game. The Muslim world encompasses many places – among them South Asia, which actually has more Muslims than North Africa and the Middle East combined. But they do not form a majority in this broader region of South Asia. By contrast, around 90% of North Africa and the Middle East are Muslims, and the same is actually true of Central Asia as well. Since I discuss Central Asia in another blog post about the Soviet war in Afghanistan, I will not do so here. And since I have discussed the South Asian part of the Cold War in another blog post, I will not do that here, either. Here, I will just discuss the traditional power centers of the Muslim world, which are North Africa and the Middle East. Many (but not all) of these conflicts would involve the new state of Israel as well.

An Egyptian artillery piece captured in the First Arab-Israeli War, 1948

The Emancipation Proclamation was primarily designed to be legally sound …

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

– Abraham Lincoln, in his letter to Horace Greeley (August 22nd, 1862)

On September 22nd, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued what is sometimes called the “Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.” In it, he basically said that if the Southern states were not back in the Union by New Year's Day 1863, then he would free their slaves. (The actual Emancipation Proclamation came on New Year's Day itself, when he actually did so.) One commentator actually said that it's “the dullest thing you ever read.” With two possible exceptions, neither one has any soaring rhetoric or ringing phrases, and “here was a guy who could do that,” as this commentator said. Why did Lincoln choose not to do that with the Emancipation Proclamations (and there are actually two of them)?

First reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln

How Congress can give legal permission to be a “pirate” (er, “privateer”)

“[The Congress shall have the power] To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water ... ”

- Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 11 of the United States Constitution

First of all, what's the legal difference between “piracy” and “privateering”?

In prior times, it was common for governments to grant official permission to raid the shipping of their nations' enemies, and allow them to be “privateers” in their nation's service. Things that would otherwise be considered “piracy” would be considered legal in this time if they had the official “letters of marque and reprisal” to allow them to do it. Privateering under a “letter of marque and reprisal” was protected by law, while things that were considered “piracy” were illegal even then.

East Indiaman Kent battling Confiance, a privateer vessel commanded by French corsair Robert Surcouf in October 1800

“Letters of marque and reprisal” are just official permissions to engage in these actions

Why do I mention this? Because there's a part of the Constitution about granting “letters of marque and reprisal” to privateers – or rather, two parts about it – which might be worth going into here. I should first note that “letters of marque and reprisal” could sometimes be shortened to just “letters of marque.” In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton sometimes used the great Sir William Blackstone's “Commentaries on the Laws of England,” as a source for his arguments. (For the details of this, see this blog post about it.) I will thus try to use his same source, when I derive a good legal definition of “letters of marque and reprisal” for our purposes. In the “Commentaries,” Sir William Blackstone wrote that “the sufferer must first apply to the lord privy-seal, and he shall make out letters of request under the privy seal; and, if, after such request of satisfaction made, the party required do not within convenient time make due satisfaction or restitution to the party grieved, the lord chancellor shall make him out letters of marque under the great seal; and by virtue of these he may attack and seize the property of the aggressor nation, without hazard of being condemned as a robber or pirate.” (Source: Book 1, Chapter 7)

Sir William Blackstone