Why and how did the CIA/OSS support non-communist French trade unions after WWII?
Upvote:4
Trade unions have a certain influence over the economy and politics in each country and because they're organized in international organizations, their influence has a geopolitical dimension, too.
After 1945, the Soviets and the communists had a lot of political capital due to the role of the USSR role in defeating Nazism.
The Soviet Union was basically capable of replacing the (non-communist) International Federation of Trade Unions (which existed in 1919-1945 and had headquarters in Amsterdam) by the (pro-communist) World Federation of Trade Unions (whose headquarters were in Prague; after the fall of communism, the importance of this entity declined when communism ended and as a result, in 2006, the headquarters were moved from Prague to Athens).
The Soviets and their sympathizers were able to promote their alternative views about the Marshall Plan and other things. This was dangerous from the American perspective. The U.S. and British trade unions would generally oppose the Soviet-led international organizations but the continental West European trade unions were somewhere in the middle.
France was the ultimate "swing state" and CGC and Force Ouvriere were the French non-communist trade unions who opposed the Soviet line in the international organizations (the French CGT was a pro-communist example). That's why they got some funding from the U.S.
At the end, in 1949, the (non-communist) International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (led mostly by the Americans and the British) separated from the Prague-based pro-communist international umbrella organization.
However, the labor movement in Europe became so polarized that the entities were largely considered appendices of their political sponsors and the unions' importance decreased as a result.
More post
- ๐ How was the start date of the bronze age determined?
- ๐ Are there any Egyptian hieroglyphs representing four sounds?
- ๐ What are the dimensions of this pomerium marker?
- ๐ Is there historical evidence on what might have been a maximum hair length for males in 1st century Judea?
- ๐ Did the Iraqis really only use landlines during Desert Storm?
- ๐ Was there an assassination attempt against Xerxes in the battle of Thermopylae?
- ๐ Did Hitler, or any non USSR residents in the 30s-40s know about Stalin's purges?
- ๐ In medieval Europe, were children born in an annulled marriage automatically illegitimate?
- ๐ How important were social justice issues in dissident circles in the late USSR?
- ๐ Who were the first leaders of the Yahwistic sect?
- ๐ What are some good sources on the everyday life of Soviet troops during WWII?
- ๐ Did the Romans see Africa as a black continent? Was there a perception of a divide between Africa and Europe?
- ๐ How many troops died on D-day?
- ๐ Did the old-west style duels (as depicted in movies) actually occur?
- ๐ To what extent is the Catholic church responsible for historical Antisemitism in Europe?
- ๐ What is the earliest mention of space travel?
- ๐ Why did the Monitor and Merrimac (aka Virginia) have such radically different designs?
- ๐ How can I identify this silver kitchen fork?
- ๐ Is there any documentation of the use of scientific knowledge or technology in pagan temples?
- ๐ Are these real WWII Nazi patches?
- ๐ What was the criminal charge of "pretending sodomy" in 1719 England?
- ๐ When did the use of chevrons as military rank devices begin?
- ๐ What uniform is this man wearing (circa 1940's)?
- ๐ How quickly did the knowledge of the existence of the new world spread into the old world?
- ๐ What led some people to (correctly) believe that there was no land under the ice cap at the North Pole?
- ๐ Did the Romans "copy" their political system from the Greeks?
- ๐ Why are the buildings built in classical style in the first half of the 19th century in Russia so frequently yellow-and-white - coloured?
- ๐ Did Clausewitz read Sun Tzu's Art of War?
- ๐ Were the Islamic Caliphates (Umayyad and Abbasid) and the Mongol Empires truly as benevolent as they are portrayed?
- ๐ Why conceal the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- ๐ Why and how did the CIA/OSS support non-communist French trade unions after WWII?
- ๐ How and why did trade unions in America become influenced by organised crime, but unions in Britain didn't?
- ๐ During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
- ๐ Why and how did Macedon support Carthage in the Punic wars?
- ๐ Why did few French and no Dutch pilots (but many Poles and Czechs) take part in the Battle of Britain?
- ๐ Why did the French insist on reclaiming Indo-China after WWII?
- ๐ How and why did Polish rule over the Ukraine "downwardly deviate" from Lithuanian rule?
- ๐ How did the Hansa organize river trade in the 14th and 15th centuries?
- ๐ How did the First French Empire and allies differ from the other European monarchies at that time?
- ๐ Why did the Russians lose to the Turks in 1711 after defeating them in 1700 and the Swedes in 1709?
- ๐ How and why did the Cavalry lance temporarily fall out of favour during the 16-18th centuries?
- ๐ How and why did the "Green Gang" hold the balance of power in Shanghai in 1927?
- ๐ Why did Black and Asian immigrants from the Empire not come to Britain in substantial numbers until after WW2?
- ๐ Why and how did some Germans choose to join the Stasi (Staatssicherheit)?
- ๐ How and Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?
- ๐ Why and how did climate change affect the Mayan civilization?
- ๐ How did the French and English forces "stack up" toward the end of the Hundred Years' War?
- ๐ How did the British and French train their troops during the colonial eras?
- ๐ Why did the Chinese not use military power to force out early Portuguese, Dutch and English trade encroachments?
- ๐ How did Germany deal with the East German communist Government structure after unification?
- ๐ How and why did Aleksotas became part of the Russian Empire in 1864?
- ๐ Why did no one take Siberia over before the Russians, and how did they do it?
- ๐ How and why did the progress of Army Group A differ from what the terrain in the Caucasus might suggest?
- ๐ Why did China and some other communist countries boycot the 1980 Summer Olympics?
- ๐ Why did armies meet on the battlefield, and how often did they? (medieval times)
- ๐ How did the accounting and capital organization system work in communist countries like the USSR? Did ideology justify or undermine the system?
- ๐ Did people from the cities of Uruk, Ur and Sumer have knowledge/recollection of how old their cities were (say, recollection after 2000 BCE)?
- ๐ Why did the nation of Iran support the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars?
- ๐ Why did the British scuttle the u-boats surrendered after WWII?
- ๐ How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?