scholarly journals Promoting the Socialist Community: Efforts and Effects of the Socialist Camp’s Cultural Diplomacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Nagornaia
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Hybrid Identities ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War

Based on an analysis of modern Cold War historiography, the article considers current discussions, topics, and perspectives in the chosen research landscape. Taking into account the modern circumstances, the author concludes that in the latest publications, there is a tendency to reconsider the dichotomic model “Sovietisation vs Americanisation” and, instead, take a closer look at the representations of socialism and the structures and actors of cultural diplomacy in Eastern Europe. Referring to propaganda projects of socialist integration and intercultural spaces, the author demonstrates what was specifically socialist about the forms and instruments of representations of the Eastern Bloc, the conflicting spheres of collaboration, and independent initiatives of people’s democracies in the sphere of cultural diplomacy. The author concludes that at the end of the Second World War, the propaganda system in the Soviet Union was integrated into a larger scheme of presenting the world system of socialism where the Eastern European states became symbolically appropriated spaces and promising symbolic resources. The cultural initiatives of the socialist countries of Eastern Europe at the international level testify to the cultural pluralism in the Eastern Bloc. The independent steps the countries of the socialist camp took for self-realisation on the international arena testify to this cultural pluralism. The effectiveness of their symbolic messages was facilitated by the geographical proximity to borders, integration into the contexts of western culture, and better developed information resources. In the article, the author’s own analysis is preceded by a review of materials thematically related to the section of the journal on the cultural diplomacy of socialism. Articles referred to in the study and devoted to the projects of the socialist camp prove the thesis that the Eastern Bloc that emerged during the Cold War and the hybrid identities developed under its influence survived the breakdown of the bipolar order and are important for modern culture.

scholarly journals Manifestation of the Internal Systemic Conflict in Mongolia

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
K. Demberel ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Investment Boom ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second Period

The article deals with the issue of Mongolia's foreign policy during the Cold War. This period is divided into two parts. The first period, 1945-1960s, is a period of conflict between two systems: socialism and capitalism. In this first period of the Cold War Mongolia managed to establish diplomatic relations with socialist countries of Eastern Europe, as the “system allowed”. The second period, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, is the period of the conflict of the socialist system, the period of the Soviet-Chinese confrontation. During this period Mongolia's foreign policy changed dramatically and focused on the Soviet Union. This was due to the Soviet investment «boom» that began in 1960s and the entry of Soviet troops on the territory of Mongolia in 1967. The Soviet military intervention into Mongolia was one of the main reasons for cooling the Soviet-Chinese relations. And military withdrawal contributed to the improvement of Soviet-Chinese relations until the mid-1980s and one of the conditions for improving relations with their neighbors. The internal systemic conflict had a serious impact on Mongolia's foreign policy over those years.

The Cold War heats up: propaganda and subversion, 1945–48

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. B. Lomas
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Special Operations ◽  
Research Department ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Information Research ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Defensive Measures

Chapter Three explores the development of British propaganda policy towards the Soviet Union. While Ministers began the process of dismantling the wartime information machinery, the developing threat of the Soviet Union forced them to sanction defensive measures where British interests were threatened. The chapter also looks at discussions on anti-Communist propaganda that would ultimately lead to the formation of the Information Research Department (IRD) in 1948. The chapter also shows how, while agreeing to overseas information activities, Bevin resisted calls for Britain to start a Cold War offensive involving subversion and special operations inside the Eastern Bloc.

The fashion gap: the Cold War politics of American and Soviet fashion, 1945-1959

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Amerian
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Struggle ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Key Participants

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that fashion played in the Cold War competition between the USA and the Soviet Union during the period from 1945 to 1959. Design/methodology/approach – This paper begins by situating fashion within the larger American efforts of cultural diplomacy. It then examines the American and Soviet approaches to fashion. Finally, it focuses on the fashion show at the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow. This paper utilizes primary sources, including archival sources and period newspapers and magazines. Findings – Both American and Soviet leaders tried to use fashion to embody the ideological values of each political and economic system. Both also acknowledged a “fashion gap”, whereby Americans enjoyed clear superiority thanks to a well-developed mass production system of ready-made, stylish clothing, that some termed the American Look. Americans hoped the fashion gap would demonstrate that only capitalism could provide women with an abundance of the necessary – but also desirable – consumer goods that enhanced their feminine beauty. Thus, fashion played an important part in the Cold War cultural struggle, in which American and Soviet women were key participants. Originality/value – Much has been written about the Cold War cultural diplomacy, especially the Moscow exhibition, but fashion is often left out of the analyses. Meanwhile, both the American Look and Soviet efforts to create socialist fashion have been examined, but no work has been done to look at the two together to understand fashion’s larger implications for the Cold War.

The Accidental Political Advantages of a Nonpolitical Book Program

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria M. Grieve
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Written Word ◽  
The Cold War

In the early years of the Cold War, the US government devoted substantial energy and funds to using books as weapons against the Soviet Union. Books and the principles they represented were to counter Soviet accusations of American materialism and spread American ideals around the globe. Founded in 1952, Franklin Books Program, Inc. was a gray propaganda program that operated at the nexus of US public–private cultural diplomacy efforts. USIA bureaucrats believed Franklin successfully carried out diplomatic objectives by highlighting the positive aspects of American culture and those who ran Franklin emphasized the “nonpolitical” aspects of cultural diplomacy, many of which directly targeted children. Franklin’s textbooks and juvenile science books cultivated a literate population friendly to the United States, reaching out to foreign young people through books, which like art, seemed to transcend the written word and represent abstract ideals of freedom and democracy.

scholarly journals Yugoslav dissidents and the cold war

Sociologija ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-136
Author(s):  
Mira Bogdanovic
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Self Image ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Marginal Status ◽  
The Cold War

During the cold war, Eastern Europe dissidents played a high-profile role as an instrument of anti-communist ideological subversion. In contrast, Yugoslav dissidents were relegated to a marginal status due to the extraordinary position of Yugoslavia between two opposing blocs. The expected explosive impact on the Soviet satellites of Yugoslavia's defection from the Soviet orbit in 1948, also turned Tito into an internationally famous dissident. After Tito turned his back on the Soviet Union, Yugoslav dissidents were practically of no interest to Western policy makers. They did not wish to antagonize Tito, because he was much more useful than a handful of dissidents who potentially could interfere with his role in the cold war game. The paper focuses on the functions of dissidents in the cold war rather than their self-image, their noble and sincere motives notwithstanding.

scholarly journals The fall of the Albanian - Chinese Relations 1971-1978

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Dr.Sc. Gjon Boriçi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Marxist Ideology ◽  
Major Break ◽  
Western Side ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Failure ◽  
The Way

The Albanian - Chinese relations in the years of the Cold War were thrilling as much as dramatic. The age of their flourish in the '60-ies, unfortunately did not last for long. The Albanian sponsorship that China be admitted in the UN with full rights was a test that Enver Hoxha should exploit for the good of the Albanian people. It was a historic and unrepeated opportunity for little Albania to escape the political and economic impasse since the breakup of relations with the Soviet Union in 1961. The incompetence of the Albanian leadership to understand the trends of the age would mark the following political failure of Albania and would influent in the total isolation of the country. It's not difficult to understand that Albania had historic opportunities to join the Western side but chose to align with the Eastern bloc. The beginnings are with sensational approach with Tito's Yugoslavia. After that the Albanian political leadership kept Albania under the umbrella of the Soviet Union and at the end with China. After the end of the relations with China in 1978, Albania paved the way of the total isolation.  The secret visit of the President Nixon's national security adviser Dr. Kissinger to China in July 1971 was interpreted by the Albanian communist leader as a betrayal of the Marxist ideology. Enver Hoxha responded with a harsh and rude letter on August 6th 1971 urging China to not accept the visit of President Nixon the following year. This was the first major break in the relations between the two countries. Since then, the help from China for the weak Albanian economy would decline till the unavoidable break of July 1978. The methodology used in this paper is strictly comparative history analyzing the way diplomacy and politics should work to achieve the set aim.

scholarly journals «Against the fire of war»: the practices of soviet peacekeeping in the context of the cold war

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 58-65
Author(s):  
T. Raeva
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War

The struggle for peace was of great importance to Soviet cultural diplomacy during the Cold War. In this article, the author analyzes the arsenal and content of the peacekeeping practices of the USSR, forms an idea of the stages of development of Soviet peacefulness, studies the dynamics of its transition from effective innovative strategies to formalized measures. The study of the peacekeeping efforts of the Soviet Union, the internal and external political context of the second half of the 20th century, makes it possible to determine the reasons for the depletion of the potential of the Soviet struggle for peace as an instrument of influencing public opinion and forming an attractive image of the country.

scholarly journals Kodu- ja väliseestlaste vahelise kultuurisuhtluse institutsionaalne raamistik Nõukogude Liidu kultuuridiplomaatia kontekstis [Abstract: The institutional framework of cultural communication between Estonians in the homeland and in exile in the context of Soviet cultural diplomacy]

2018 ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Triin Tark
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The Cold War

During the Cold War, a massive organisation for cultural diplomacy was developed in the Soviet Union as well as in other countries, especially in the United States. Exile Estonians were drawn into the middle of the cultural Cold War that evolved between the two superpowers. In this article, the institutional framework for influencing exile Estonians is analysed in the context of Soviet cultural diplomacy. A frequently confusing fact is that two major organisations – firstly, the Estonian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and secondly, the Society for the Development of Cultural Ties with Estonians Abroad – were involved in the Soviet efforts aimed at influencing émigrés. In some cases, these organisations are even mixed up. This article clarifies the situation and shows how these organisations were formed, and how they were related to each other. However, the main aim of the article is to show how and why cultural communication with foreign countries and influencing exile Estonians were two sides of the same coin, from the point of view of the Soviet authorities, and how the respective organisations were therefore tightly intertwined. Two important conclusions were drawn: firstly, institutions were shaped by the fact that exile Estonians, as well as Soviet diaspora overall, were an inconvenient reality for the Soviet Union because they hampered Soviet propagandistic efforts in their countries of residence. Thus, when dealing with diaspora, the aim of institutions for cultural diplomacy was on the one hand to achieve a positive, or at least neutral, attitude towards the Soviet Union within exile Estonian communities, and on the other hand to reduce the influence of émigrés on the population of their countries of residence. Secondly, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union’s diaspora policy gradually switched from repatriation to propaganda and influence through cultural communication. These political changes were conspicuously reflected in the structural transformation and name changes of the organisations analysed in this article. The Society for the Development of Cultural Ties with Estonians Abroad was formed in 1960 as a section of the Estonian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and was then gradually disengaged until their final separation in 1968. Among other things, this was caused by the thaw period with a growing number of contacts across the Iron Curtain, and an increased workload in both organisations. Due to overlapping fields of activity, the two organisations maintained their cooperation until the very end in the early 1990s.

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