Oct 28 2018 50 mins 38
Episode 47: Ike Will Bring Them Home! This is our penultimate episode, and as such plays a critical role in bringing several threads of our narrative together. How fluent in the use of atomic diplomacy was Eisenhower’s administration? Armed with the knowledge we have from the last episode, we can state that Eisenhower was far from the first President to bring atomic weapons into the diplomatic discourse. Indeed, it makes sense that the first and last president of the US to make use of the atomic bomb should make the most active use of it in diplomacy. In addition, contrary to the conventional view, Eisenhower’s administration failed in the last phase of the Korean War to actually formulate a coherent policy regarding nuclear weapons and diplomatic pressure. For a number of reasons, the former General was content to drag his feet. Dispensing with the myths of atomic diplomacy enables us to look more closely at the very real role which the Indians played in putting forward the policy ideas in the UN General Assembly, most notably in the case of the touchy prisoners issue. The genuine importance of Indian diplomacy in that institution has been greatly understated for some time, and in this episode we’ll give them their proper due. The Chinese will of course also need to be considered, since if atomic diplomacy did not force them to make peace, what can we say actually did? The answer has as much to do with the policy of bluff as it does with the death of Josef Stalin, and it’s another fascinating journey I can’t wait to take you on! Of course, the major appeal of this episode is in the loose ends are tied up – it is in this instalment of our series that the Korean War is finally brought to its anticlimactic end on 27th July 1953. SPONSORS 1) Use the code WDF15 to get 15% off your stylish new pair of headphones/earphones/listening things 2) To access some fascinating books, nerd out with like minded enthusiasts, further your knowledge of some classical works, get 25% off your first three months AND help the show, head on over to onlinegreatbooks.com! Remember to BEFIT! B is for blog E is for email [email protected] F is for Facebook, the Page and the Group I is for iTunes, please rate, review and subscribe T is for TELL ANYONE! 1) Pre-order our book on the Thirty Years War 2) Are you TeamFerdinand or TeamFrederick ? It's time to pick a side, and a t-shirt! 3) Don't forget of course to support WDF on Patreon to access ad-free episodes with the scripts attached, as well an hour of extra content every month, and so much more! - $1, $2 & $5 memberships available! 4) Of course, make sure you also follow us on Twitter, visit our website and sign up to our See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
