FREE ESSAY ON JUILUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG

JUILUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG

The outcome of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Trial for espionage in 1951 and their
subsequent execution in 1953 was directly related to the political climate at that time.
The governments evidence against the Rosenbergs was not over whelming but due to a
combination of fear and political pressure the guilty verdict was inevitable. Even though
Julius did not deliver the secrets of the bomb to Moscow and nor did they cause the
Korean war, as Judge Kaufman claimed, they were sentenced to death. Their death confirmed
their guilt because America would never kill innocent people. Their execution also
reinforced the heinous nature of their crime and other soviet spy's crimes as well. The
fear of communism and the cold war sealed the fate for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
The cold war was the general term for the post 1945 political, ideological, strategic and
military conflict between the western allies led by the United States and the Soviet
Union and other communist countries (Fontain 4). This global confrontation was fuel by
mutual fear and distrust. Both camps defaulted on postwar agreements which led to further
alienation(Flemeing 6). The end of WWII saw Europe economically devastated and in
political turmoil(Parrish 147). The defeat of Germany left the European continent
vulnerable to outside influence. In addition to the economic strength shown by the
western allies, the United States not only had nuclear capabilities but without
hesitation used it twice(Fontaine 8).
The Soviet Union, in an effort to contract the economic and military might of the United
States and its allies, set about tightening its grasp on the east European countries it
had occupied during WWII (Infopedia). Between 1945 and 1948 the Soviet Union gained
control of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, and
Yugoslavia(Parrish 210). The Soviet Union hoped that by adding these separate governments
and militaries it could off set the United States nuclear capabilities and provide its
western boarder with a buffer zone(Parrish 210). Though the Soviet Union was actively
developing its own nuclear capabilities they realized that the U.S. had used their atomic
bomb with devastating results(Fontaine 13).
Although the United States was putting much fear into the hearts of many soviets the post
WWII conflict was affecting the United States in much the same way(Infopedia). The United
States was worried about the leader of the Soviet Union and his power over many
countries(Infopedia). The United States would come to realize that this would not be an
easy fight to win.
The leader of the Soviet Union at that time was a man named Joseph Stalin(Parrish 234).
He had much control over peoples ideas and beliefs and he used that to his
advantage(Parrish 234). The United States feared his leadership because of his power and
his dishonesty (Infopedia). Stalin went back on his word, to create a more democratic
government inside the Soviet Union, and took total control of Poland when he said he
would not at the Yalta conference in 1945(Infopedia).
Iran became the starting point of East-West confrontation(Infopedia). The United States
and the Soviet Union had occupied parts of Iran during WWII in order to protect allied
oil supplies. Both countries agreed to withdraw at wars end. But in 1945 the Soviet Union
refused to withdraw its troops(Parrish 123). The conflict ended in 1946 when the USSR
pulled out its troops in return oil rights in Iran(Parrish 123). Later in 1946 Stalin
gave a speech declaring ideological war against the West(Fontaine 45). To counter Stalins
aggressive actions in 1947 the president proposed the Truman Doctrine(Fontaine 47). The
Truman Doctrine was designed to give military aid to Greece in its battle against
communists backed rebel forces(Fontain 47-8). It also gave economic aid to Turkey who's
economy was being stressed by the need to maintain a large army in order to resist the
USSR and its demand for a naval base within its boundaries (Infopedia). President
Truman's pitch to Congress was meant to scare the American people into action. It
succeeded in getting the Greek-Turkish aid bill passed and it also set the tone for the
cold war(Infopedia). Less than a year later the United States pressured Iran to take back
the previously granted oil rights to the USSR thus creating more suspicion among the two
superpowers(Fontaine). 
After seeing favorable results from the Truman Doctrine the United States implemented the
Marshall Plan. This $13 billion program was a second part of the overall containment
policy(Parrish 156). By restoring Europe's economy it would make communism less appealing
and also give the United States strong trading partners. Angered by this program Stalin
extended his control over Eastern Europe(Parrish 156). This in turn created possible
threats for the West's position in Germany, and forced Truman to create a military
alliance in order restore confidence in the European countries that were allying with the
United States(Parrish 156). In an effort to counter the integration of the Western zones
of Germany into a Western block the Soviets blockaded access to Berlin by the
West(Infopedia). This blockade not only failed in its attempt to drive the United States,
Briton and France from Berlin but it also strengthen the cooperation among western
allies. This strengthened unity among western allies led to the formation of a military
alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The fight against communism was not only a occurring over seas but in the United States
itself. People started to view communism as the downfall of human civilization thanks in
big part to a senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy(Schrecker 3). Joseph McCarthy
made communism a house hold word and being communist a sin. By using convincing speeches
and intimidating and threatening accusations he lit the spark that ignited a series of
witch hunts and caused America to question its own loyalty(Schrecker 3).
McCarthy made his debut on February 9, 1950, when he announced to a women's Republican
club in West Virginia that he had a list of the names of 205 communists in the State
Department(Schrecker 4). Thus the birth of McCarthyism. He continued to travel through
out the West on his campaign for the Republican party, but when asked about the list his
specifics changed from state to state(Schrecker 6). He began to change the number of
names on his list when questioned by reporters, telling some it was 57 and then the next
day somewhere else it was 81(Schrecker 10). His allegations would come to evolve as well
from full fledged communist to loyalty risks or people with connections to the communist
party(Schrecker 11).
Even though McCarthy was the most influential Senator to speak out about communism he was
not the first(Schrecker 27). Many Republicans had spoke out before in the past years
(Schrecker 28). In fact most of McCarthy's accusations he made where made by previous
Republicans. Even his speeches were not original. One reported time one of McCarthy's
speeches contained several paragraphs taken almost word for word from a speech the Nixon
made a few days before(Schrecker 29).
All though many of his charges were false or had no evidence McCarthyism changed the way
a lot of people inside and outside of the government thought about communism(Infopedia).
He made a lot of people scared with his red-baiting and black listing(Infopedia). The
Truman administration was constantly trying to defend themselves from the accusations
from McCarthy that they were soft on communism and that they had communists working for
their party(Parrish 286). These charges led to the governments loyalty and security
programs that would show just how scared this country was of communism.
Congress was putting pressure on the Truman administration to implement some type of
security program to fight against treason in our government (Parrish 286). Truman than
implemented the Temporary Commission on Employee Loyalty (Parrish 286). This program was
designed to evaluate a government employee's's feelings on communism (Parrish 286). The
Truman administration got mixed reactions to this program(Schrecker 186). Many civil
rights activists felt that it was taking away peoples right and throwing away due
process(Schrecker 186). On the other hand many Republicans thought that this program was
still not enough and that more steps needed to be taken to rid the government of
communists(Schrecker 186).
These types of loyalty oaths did not just effect jobs in the government all over the
United States. Many job applications had some type of loyalty oath that had to be
signed(Schrecker 170). Because of these types of procedures many people were turned down
for jobs and many others who had jobs lost them(Schrecker 170). An example of this was
the Hollywood Ten. The Hollywood Ten was a group of actors and writers in Hollywood that
lost their job and were eventually jailed for their connections to communism(Schrecker
171).
Another way the government tried to control the subversive activity that was happening in
the United States was the HUAC(Infopedia). The HUAC stood for the House Committee on
Un-American Activities(Infopedia). The main job of the house was to investigate activity
that could endanger American life(Infopedia). It was often criticized for using
thoughtless and harmful tactics to arouse controversy and ideas of treason. Although the
Committee did serve its purpose it also caused many hardships for people caught up in
this massive witch hunt (Infopedia). Many people who had been black listed either lost
their job, money, and respect and became homeless or they killed themselves(Infopedia).
A big break came for the HUAC when in 1948 the committee started to investigate Alger
Hiss(Milton 2). Alger Hiss was former State Department official who was accused of giving
top secret documents in the past(Milton 2). Because he had committed these acts more than
20 years before, he could not be charged for spying but was charged for lying under oath
about his involvement with the Soviet Union(Milton 3). Alger Hiss was the first of many
spies who either confessed or were caught by the government in a domino effect that
eventually led to the capture and final execution of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Twelve days after the Hiss conviction a physicist from England who worked first hand with
the Manhattan project confessed to spying for the Soviet Union(Milton 23). The physicist
was Klaus Fuchs and the Manhattan project was America's name for it nuclear experimenting
project(Milton 25). Klaus Fuchs was working for the British on a type of war-related
project that he later found out to be atomic-bomb research. During his research with the
British, Fuchs traveled many times to the United States to work with American scientists
on the problem of the fission bomb(Schneir 34). During his travels to the U.S. he was
instructed to meet with an American courier for which he was supposed to give information
about his work and the status of the United States nuclear power(Schneir 35).
Only after about four meetings with the secret courier he knew only as Raymond, Fuchs was
transferred to work on the Manhattan project in Los Alamos(Schneir 40). He did not inform
Raymond or his Soviet leaders of this change and left without a trace(Schneir 43). He
started working on the Manhattan project in 1944 and for a nearly a year he worked with
other scientists and physicists on developing the atomic bomb not once thinking of his
previously assigned duties to the Soviet Union(Schneir 45). Not until 1945, when Fuchs
came to visit his sister in Massachusetts, did he talk to Raymond again(Schneir 45). 
When they met together, Fuchs outlined the new developments that were taking place and
what information he had on the bomb(Milton 30). He told Raymond he would as much as he
could and that he would keep him informed. Later that year he reported on the test of the
bomb and exact specifications and size of such bomb(Milton 34). He gave the Soviets our
most precious secret at that time to some of the most dangerous people in the world.
Now that Fuchs was under arrest the FBI wanted to know the identity of the secret
American courier known only as Raymond(Milton 38). Unfortunately Fuchs had no idea what
Raymond's real name was and could only provide a vague description(Milton 38). Through
varies background checks the FBI came up with the name Harry Gold(Milton 45). Harry Gold
was later questioned and soon after confessed to being Raymond(Milton 46). 
He confessed to passing the information he received from Fuchs about the atomic bomb and
other information concerning the activities that had take place while Fuchs worked their
(Milton 53). He confessed to giving it to the Soviet Union(Milton 54). In one of his
confessions he named David Greenglass as one of contacts(Fineberg 45). He confessed that
he met with David Greenglass in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their he received information
from David concerning the atomic bomb and other vital information(Fineberg 45). 
David was then brought in for questioning not less than a week later. He was told that
Gold had already confessed and that he should do the same(Fineberg 53). He said that he
would as long as his wife was left out of it(Fineberg 54). He confessed to talking Gold
in New Mexico about his Job(Fineberg 56). He confessed to having talked to Julius
Rosenberg about his job at Los Alamos. They talked about the progress that was being
made, specific information on how that bomb worked and several drawings and sketches of
the bomb itself(Fineberg 57-8).
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were very active in the communist party(Fineberg 24). They
became members of the Young Communist League as teenagers and grew up in the party ever
since(Frost 94). They read the newspapers that were printed for the communist party and
held meetings for their for their party's branch in their own living room(Schneir 12). 
On July 17, 1950 Julius Rosenberg was arrested for conspiracy to commit espionage and 25
days later Ethel Rosenber was also arrested for the same charge. They were brought to the
attention by the FBI after David Greenglass acussed Julius in his statement to the FBI.
They were both taken down to jail and were placed at 100,000 dollars bail. There they
waited for half a year before they got their day in court.
Prior to the opening of the trial a jury had to be selecte. The judge presiding over this
case was Judge Irving R.Kaufman. He made it a point to decide who was on the jury and who
was not. Judge Kaufman had a long list of requirments each person had to meet in order to
stay on the jury. Some of his questions dealt with being familiar with any orginzations
on the attorney general's list, having any personal contacts with the FBI or HUAC, and
finally if they were against capital punishment. If any of the perspective jurors
answered unsatisfactory to any of these questions they were dismissed. 
On March 6, 1951 Juluis and Ethel Rosenber and Morton Sorbell were put on trial. Morton
Sorbel was a friend of Julius who was employed by the Navy's Bureau of Ordinance. The
opening statement by Saypol, the prosecuting attorney, was aimed at putting the
Rosenbergs and Sobell's loyalty towards the United States at question and communism on
trial. Even though their participation in the communist party did not concern this trial,
Saypol insisted that the fact that they were active in the communist party shows
motivation for what they were acused of. 
In order to charge a person with conspiracy to commit anything very little hard evidence
is needed. Hearsay and rumors constitute as enough evidence for a conviction. Because the
prosecuting team did not have enough hard evidence to convict the rosenbergs of treason
they decided to try to convict them of conspiracy to commit espionage, something for
which they could easily gather enough evidence for, seeing as how they only needed one
strong witness.
One of the key witnesses for the prosecution and probably the only man who had enough
evidence against the Rosenbergs was David Greenglass. He testified that Julius had on
many occacions accepted atomic bomb information from himself. He also testified that
Julius had by himself stolen a proximity fuse. He also talked about an entire spy ring
headed by Julius that had stolen information and material concerning an atomic airplane
and space platform.
The biggest question that was on everybody's mind during the trial was whether or not the
Rosenbergs, if found guilty, would have to face the death penalty. Judge Kaufman made it
very clear during the jury selection that if anyone was against using capital punishment
they should not be on the jury. Even though at that time being found guilty of conspiracy
against the government did not call for the death penalty many people were woried that
because of the situation with the Soviet Union and communism the death penalty could be
used. Enenitably Judge Kaufman had the final say in whether the death penalty would be
implemented or not.
When it came time for the trial the prosecutors had close to 120 witnesses that would all
testify that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were involved with espionage(Fineberg 67). They
had testimony from David and Ruth Greenglass and many people they had worked with or
associated with in the past(Fineberg 69). When the verdict came it was very shocking not
that they were found guilty but the were going to receive the death penalty. On June 19,
1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed at Sing Sing prison(Fineberg 74).
Because of widely spread fear and hatred for the communist party and its beliefs and the
pain and turmoil the cold war put us through the United States government was extra hard
on the Rosenbergs. Although the government will never say they did not give the
Rosenbergs a fair trial they might admit that because of the situation at the time they
were given a harsher penalty for their mistakes. In the past 5 years two United States
citizens, one a CIA agent and another a navy officer, were found guilty of espionage and
treason. In their cases Americans actually lost their lives because of their acts, but
neither of them received the death penalty. The reason the got of without the death
penalty was because we were not fighting a war at that time. Because the United States
was in a war with the Soviet Union at the time of their trial, Julius and Ethel were
executed for their crime that should have only got them a long prison term. 
Here is the work cited
Cold War. Infopedia. Vers 2.0. CD-ROM. Soft Key International Inc. MA: 1995.
Ex-spy offers Rosenberg account. National/World March 1997. Associated Press, Nov 2,
1998. http:// www. thonline.com/th/news/031797/National/50588.htm, AOL. 
Fineberg, S. Andhill. The Rosenberg Case, Fact and Fiction. Oceana Publications, 1953.
Flemeing, D.F. The Cold War and it Origins. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc, 1961.
Fontaine, Andre. History of the Cold War. New York: Pantheon, 1963.
Frost, Bob. The Debate that won't Die. Biography Feb. 1998, 92-98.
Milton, Joyce and Ronld Radosh. The Rosenberg File. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1983.
Parish, Thomas. The Cold War Encyclopedia. NewYork: Henry Holt and Company, 1996.
Pizzo, Stephen. The Rosenberg Communiques. Web Review. 1998. Nov 2, 1998. http://www. web
review.com/news/natl/rosenberg/index.html, AOL.
Schneir, Miriam and Walter. Invitation to an Inquest. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983.
Schrecker, Ellen. Many are the Crimes, McCarthyism in America. New York: Little, Brown,
and Company, 1998.
Finally the outline
Thesis: The fear of communism and the cold war sealed the fate for Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg.
I. Intro
A. Opening
B. Transition
C. Thesis
II. Cold War
A. Fear
1. In Russia
2. In United States
B. Moves and Counter moves
III. Communism
A. Affect on America
1. McCarthyism
2. Loyalty Oaths
3. Special House Committee on Un-American Activities
B. Espionage in America
1. Fuchs
2. Gold
3. Greenglass
IV. Rosenbergs
A. Involvement
1. Communism
2. Espionage
B. Trial
C. Today
V. Summary
A. Rephrase Thesis
B. Summarize
C. Clincher
I hope this is good enough i got a 96% on it thanks