 Conversations in recent years have been taking in a turn to a topic of importance to all Americans That's cologne. It's the blitz worse than Franklin That's us in Berlin with some Russians. This one is Dmitry Andreev. He's a sergeant in charge of a detail Russians We should have cracked down on those bums at the end of the wall. I Can't understand what this fuss with the Russians is all about ones. I met with good guys. We've worked together, right? Today millions of Americans are preoccupied with the shift of events abroad in post-war years Which has turned many of them from admiration of Russia as a wartime ally to profound moral disapproval and fear of it as an ambitious and predatory rival power Everywhere I have been in the world Europe in Asia one thing is clear Soviet Union has proved again and again that it cannot be trusted While Russia continues her aggressive attitude toward three nations world peace Your peace and mine Will hang very precariously in the balance Though most Americans today clearly recognize the danger in the critical foreign situation Many find it hard to understand all the issues and points of conflict But clear in the record of Russia's post-war years is the long and calculated series of moves Which have made the Soviet Union the number one menace to the peace of the world Russia's leaders bent on one goal world domination are moving with single-minded purpose toward that goal Implicably opposed to America's economic system Russia faces the United States across a world which is shrinking fast Swiftly and firmly she has now expanded her sphere of influence to an area which covers half the earth Her tactics range from infiltration to overthrow of the governments and power But everywhere she penetrates the results sought is exactly the same In the Orient Korea is a center of trouble Northern Korea which was placed under Russian rule at the end of the war is administered by a communist government under strict Soviet control Korean heavy industry centered in the Soviet zone is of special interest to the Russians who give the Korean industrialists frequent advice on how to operate Losing no opportunity to ingratiate themselves the Russians are doing their best to win over the North Koreans In Southern Korea in the American zone Native communists inspired by their brothers to the north have succeeded in vastly complicating American plans for Korean self-rule China with its immense land area and population is today one of the great danger points in the world struggle against communism It's nationalist armies weakened by misgovernment and corruption through years of civil war have been forced to surrender hundreds of thousands of square miles of territory to the Chinese red Clearing southward out of the path of the advancing communist troops China's new refugees epitomize the sorry economic and military plight of their nation Throughout the colonial countries of Southeast Asia Communists are at the center of every movement to wipe out the hated symbols of European rule The British in Burma and Malaya like other Europeans in the area are today faced with communist inspired revolt Which has demanded the mustering of all their immediate strength To suppress terrorist uprisings by communist guerrillas the British garrison has been reinforced by troops from home In the Middle East also Strategically one of the most important centers in the world no opportunity to aggravate unrest is being neglected by the Reds Fostering Arab separatist movements and intensifying internal strike Communists are working tirelessly to make the British position untenable With an eye on the Middle East rich stores of oil Russia is today agitating against American influence as well Or she is sharply aware of both the British and the American stake in the area's immense oil reserves In the eastern Mediterranean Russia still maneuvers to gain control of the Dardanelles While in nearby Greece their puppets strengthen the rebel forces led by Greek communist Marcos Vapillatus in the bitter three-year-old civil war Behind the iron curtain in Eastern Europe Russia's authority is unchallenged in countries like once proud Poland Where the Soviet technique of conquest put a communist regime into power and then stamped out all opposition Poland's army once largely anti-communist was taken over by the new regime and along with German prisoners was marked off to the task of clearing up the ruins of war Under Soviet rule Poland still days from the destruction it suffered during the war has little hope for the future Helpless victims of Russia's world ambitions the Polish people are today struggling against tremendous odds for the chance to live Unhappy Czechoslovakia forced to surrender its freedom for the second time in 10 years is today completely under the subjugation of Soviet Russia The communist government headed by Premier Clement Gottwald is merely a mouthpiece for Moscow With the Russians consolidating their gains in Eastern Europe the legendary Danube Long linked with the ageless flow of European history was again to play an international role On its banks in Belgrade the Russian satellite nation's top communist leaders like Anna Pauker of Romania Joined Andre Bishinsky Moscow's traveling troublemaker in the Danubian Conference of 1948 With seven communist nations out voting the US England and France Russia one control of the Danube for Eastern Europe But in all Europe there is no more crucial point of conflict than Germany Jealously excluding entry into its sector Russia rules Eastern Germany as a police state With all of Germany and armed camp the Soviet blockade of Berlin an attempt to cut off supplies for the city's western zones Came perilously close to starting another world war But the British and American airlift running the blockade Quartet for a time the Kremlin's policy of belligerent fluffing In Western Europe Russia is boring from within The French Communist Party directed by Moscow trained leaders Won an impressive following among the French people in the uncertain years after the end of the war With inflation spiraling upward the nation's already shaky financial structure was further unsettled by the constant pressure of the communists for higher wages In the autumn of 1948 a crippling coal strike led by communist dominated miners Plunged France deeper into economic misery This political strike cost France some four million tons of coal in one month Based with an acute emergency the government finally sent into action 40,000 troops and police reserves who promptly chased the strikers from the occupied mines France's political and economic future remained far from settled In the Security Council of the United Nations grappling with the post-war problems of Europe and the world Representatives of the major nations have been attempting to arrive at agreement on issues vital to world peace Will those in favor please raise their hand But dissenting votes from the Russian block regularly obstruct most proposals Our attempted solution ends in stalemate and another meeting is concluded in a familiar way With Russia continuing on its uncompromising course Many persons in freedom-loving countries among the Winston Churchill feel that the future of the world is in the hands of the United States Nothing stands between Europe today and Compete subjugation the communist tyranny, but the atomic bomb in American possession Of one thing I'm quite sure That if the United States were to consent In reliance upon any paper agreement To destroy the stocks of atomic bombs which they have accumulated They would be guilty of murdering human freedom and of committing suicide themselves. I have not always been wrong Some feel that the situation should be resolved at once Something ought to be done Something has to be done what I don't know my cousin Harry was saying last night He thinks the only thing to do is drop a big bunch of atom bombs over Russia fast Well, maybe that's the only thing they'd understand But though no responsible American advocates attack on Russia Today America by a massive rearmament program based on a speedy reconstruction of its once mighty Air Force and By a new peacetime Conscription program has already demonstrated that in a world of continuing Soviet provocation the nation's defense will no longer be neglected But many clear thinking Americans feel that armaments alone are not the answer in the summer of 1947 Secretary of State Marshall had proposed to aid the nations of Europe money and supplies to get them on a sound operating basis and Coincidentally to strengthen them against Soviet aggression were later made part of the plan The first appropriation was five billion dollars and the economic cooperation Administration was set up in Washington with a staff of economists stationed throughout the world It's chief was automotive industrialist Paul Hoffman From the day he became head of ECA Hoffman made urgent trips to Europe for first-hand views of the situation As ECA administrator Hoffman is responsible for the amounts each nation is allocated Not only must American aid be dispersed for maximum immediate effect But also with a long-range goal of making the aided nations eventually self-sufficient Few men have ever borne a heavier responsibility In Paris Hoffman's principal aid is April Harriman former US ambassador to Great Britain and Russia Now special representative for ECA in all Europe First order of business for administrator Hoffman is a meeting with his 16 division chiefs for European countries To discuss the principal objectives of the program and each nation's special problems In France as in other nations on his itinerary Hoffman follows up his fact-finding research into the country's needs by consultations with government leaders Hoffman and foreign minister Schumann had agreed that the ECA's first 648 million dollars allocated to France should go in part toward rebuilding French industry Which though still functioning is hopelessly antiquated by American standards Of equal importance as the distribution of new equipment to enable French farmers to increase the country's food supply Though the soil of France is richer and better till than any in Europe ECA's agronomists are helping farmers plan for more thorough mechanization In Italy the problem of stabilizing the lira has been helped by ECA's 312 million dollars Hoffman is able to congratulate Premier de Gasperi and his minister Counts-Sforza on the country's progress And it's stand against the communists An important stop on administer better Hoffman's rounds of Europe is Western Germany Those recovery Russia is interested in preventing Careful planning for the use of the 324 million dollars allotted has helped Western Germany temporarily to its feet A halt in the dismantling of German industry and the use of the ECA appropriation were heartening to the Western zones And in a two-month period production increased by 20% Toward the end of his most recent tour of inspection in Europe Administrator Hoffman is greatly encouraged to discover that Europe is slowly but surely edging back towards economic health The preliminary 597 million dollars allotted to the United Kingdom Were a desperately needed help in raising England's production and its export trade vital to Britain's salvation Hoffman is informed by Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford Cripps That much of the allotment had been earmarked for financing new construction and the modernization of Britain's industry This streamlining of production facilities has already had a tonic effect on England's workers Who are constantly reminded of the country's economic situation in a drive for continuing effort And Canada and America lent us money But well, you know how it is when you borrow, you've got to pay back And in any case, you can't go on living on someone else's money forever Today America can hope that Europe may soon be off relief More and more ECA plans to concentrate on furnishing such machinery and equipment as will affect the permanent recovery We must face the facts There have been two terrible wars during our lifetime because the free nations of the world failed to unite in their common interests Today our aid to the free nations of Europe is helping them to resist dictatorship Our continued aid to those nations is the strongest contribution we can make to the cause of peace Across the world, China nears collapse ECA's lack of mission fights to revitalize a country long debilitated and torn by civil war ECA, realizing the Chinese people's plight, seeks to transform its $275 million appropriation into quick direct assistance The immediate needs of the people take precedence over long range plans ECA funds allocated thus far have been used cheaply for food, cotton, petroleum products, and other staples desperately required for sustaining life In the first few months, ECA delivered more than $100 million of aid to China, and distribution was on schedule But at year's end, time was running out Contingent on military and political developments were those production projects that would teach China to work for increased output and to stabilize her economy With millions of her people on the brink of starvation, China to survive must step up a production of food This had been a basic plan of ECA In the United States, with the return to office of the President under whose administration ECA was created, the world is notified that the battle against Russian aggression will go on with no break in continuity And along the bipartisan lines already laid down And across the nation, American industry, with the wholehearted cooperation of organized labor, stands ready to produce in ever-growing quantities the tools and equipment which, on the economic front, will bolster free nations in their answer to Stalin Time marches on