Enemy Number One: The United States of America in Soviet Ideology and Propaganda, 1945-1959

257 Pages·2018·13.537 MB·English

by  Raosa Magnausdaottir

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ENEMY NUMBER ONE
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ENEMY NUMBER ONE
The United States of America in Soviet
Ideology and Propaganda, 1945– 1959
Rósa Magnúsdóttir
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1
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Magnúsdóttir, Rósa, author.
Title: Enemy Number One : The United States of America in Soviet Ideology and
Propaganda, 1945–1959 / Rósa Magnúsdóttir.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2019. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018022788 (print) | LCCN 2018023496 (ebook) |
ISBN 978–0–19–068147–0 (updf) | ISBN 978–0–19–068148–7 (epub) |
ISBN 978–0–19–068149–4 (online component) |
ISBN 978–0–19–068146–3 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: United States—Relations—Soviet Union. |
Soviet Union—Relations—United States. | Propaganda, Soviet. |
Propaganda, Anti-American. | Cold War. | United States—Foreign public
opinion, Soviet. | Public opinion—Soviet Union.
Classification: LCC E183.8.S65 (ebook) | LCC E183.8.S65 M325 2019 (print) |
DDC 327.73047—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018022788
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Note on Transliteration and Translation xi
Introduction 1
PART I. Stalin’s Script for Anti- Americanism
1. The Anti- American Campaign, 1945– 1953 17
2. American Sources of Information and Soviet Interest in the Enemy 38
3. Soviet- American Cultural Encounters in Late Stalinism 58
PART II. Khrushchev and the Discourse of Peaceful Coexistence
4. From Anti- Americanism to Peaceful Coexistence 77
5. The Paradoxes of Peaceful Coexistence, 1956– 1957 100
6. The Possibilities of Peaceful Coexistence, 1958– 1959 122
Epilogue 152
Notes 161
Glossary 209
Bibliography 211
Index 229
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has taken a long time to finish this project, and I feel indebted to countless
people and institutions for their support. I take great pleasure in finally being able
to acknowledge them all here, starting with the numerous organizations that pro-
vided funding. This project started out as a Ph.D. dissertation at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and several grants from the History Department,
the Graduate School, and the University Center for International Studies (now
UNC Center for Global Initiatives) funded my research stays in Moscow.
A DAAD Fellowship at the Institute for European History in Mainz,
Germany, gave me time, space, and resources to start writing the disserta-
tion. A Doric C. Quinn Fellowship from the History Department at UNC–
Chapel Hill allowed me to finish it. A Fulbright Fellowship and an American
Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship permitted me to study in the United States
in the first place. Later, I was a visiting fellow at the Aleksanteri Institute in
Helsinki, where the first steps in turning a dissertation into a book took place.
As a faculty member at Aarhus University in Denmark, I twice received the most
valuable gift of time in the form of sabbaticals to finish this manuscript. Aarhus
University Research Foundation (AUFF) provided funding for the photo
licenses, the index, as well as several writing retreats in the beautiful Mill House
(Møllehuset).
At UNC, I had the great fortune to study under the direction of Donald
J. Raleigh, a remarkable scholar, adviser, mentor, and friend. Always engaged in
my work, Don Raleigh came up with the title for this book in 2011, and as we
were celebrating the near completion of it, he came up with the title of my next
(still unwritten) book. I remain eternally grateful for his continued support and
encouragement.
Thinking back to my years as a scholar in training, I would especially like to
thank Michael H. Hunt, who sadly passed away only recently, Robert M. Jenkins,
Jeffrey W. Jones, Willis E. Brooks, and the now late David M. Griffiths for their
support and guidance during my time at UNC. They all read and commented
on the dissertation, offering helpful advice on how to proceed. Also, I would
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not have embarked upon a university career in history had it not been for the
encouragement of my undergraduate adviser at the University of Iceland, Valur
Ingimundarson, who has since become a collaborator and friend.
Don Raleigh has advised dozens of graduate students and passed on both
his endless wisdom and wit to a large group of wonderful people who support
each other all around the globe. Thank you Jackie Olich, Sharon Kowalsky, Jon
Wallace, Chris Ward, Paula Michaels, Marco Dumančić, Jenifer Parks, Nick
Ganson, Jeff Jones, Betsy Jones Hemenway, Kate Tranchel, Mike Paulauskas,
Emily Baran, Gleb Tsipursky, Aaron Hale- Dorrell, and Annie Bland. In addi-
tion, I would like to thank Igor Fedyukin for his continued help and friendship,
most recently as an ally in the book writing process. Outside of Hamilton Hall,
Anne Langley was a model in work- life balance in Chapel Hill, and fellow Tar
Heels Katie Gunter and the late Maria Stalnaker made my first extended stay in
Moscow a true adventure.
In Moscow, many archivists and scholars helped me navigate the labyrinth
of Russian archives, but I am most indebted to Vladimir Kozlov, historian
and then deputy director of the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and
Vladimir Pechatnov, professor at the Moscow State Institute of International
Relations. Versions of the manuscript were presented at numerous conferences
and workshops in the United States, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland. I am appreciative of all these opportunities
to receive feedback on my work and have gained much from interactions with
colleagues in the field, especially Sari Autio- Sarasmo, Kate Brown, Natalya
Chernyshova, Dina Fainberg, Beate Fieseler, Juliane Fürst, Jessica Gienow-
Hecht, Pia Koivunen, Maike Lehmann, Eva Maurer, Katalin Miklossy, Susanne
Schattenberg, and Ben Tromly.
A few earlier publications included materials that appear in the book,
now in revised and updated form:  “The Myth of ‘Amerika’ and Soviet
Socialism: Perceptions and Realities in the Postwar Soviet Union,” Soviet and
Post- Soviet Review 31, no. 3 (2004): 291– 307; “Be Careful in America, Premier
Khrushchev! Soviet Perceptions of Peaceful Coexistence with the United States
in 1959,” Cahiers du monde russe 47, nos. 1– 2 (2006): 109– 30; and “Mission
Impossible? Selling Soviet Socialism to Americans, 1955– 1958,” Searching for a
Cultural Diplomacy, ed. Jessica Gienow- Hecht and Mark C. Donfried, Culture
and International History Series (New York: Berghahn Books, 2010), 50– 72.
I am thankful for permission to draw upon these publications.
The following people took time from their very busy schedules to read and
comment on parts of the manuscript at various stages, for which I am very
grateful. Almost a decade ago, David Engerman read the whole dissertation
and offered advice on how to turn it into a book. Peter Bugge and Christian
Axboe Nielsen read an early draft of the introduction and Stefan Blank a late
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Acknowledgments • ix
version of the epilogue. Andreï Kozovoï, Paula Michaels, Erik Van Ree, and
Victoria Zhuravleva read large parts of the revised manuscript at various stages
and offered sound advice and constructive criticism. I am also very pleased
to acknowledge the invaluable insights of my editor, Nancy Toff, who along
with her assistants Elda Granata and Elizabeth Vaziri helped me navigate the
publishing process. The whole production team at Oxford University Press
has been extremely professional and I remain very grateful for everyone’s help.
I alone am to blame for any shortcomings in the book.
In the spirit of Soviet propagandists, I toast to friendship and peace among
the nations and thank collectively my family and friends in Iceland, Germany,
France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United States, and Russia.
In all these countries, there are people who helped me more than they realize.
They showed interest in what I was doing, strived to understand why I was
doing it, and motivated me with their own accomplishments.
The best decision I ever made was to get married to a fellow academic.
Even if he also always had more than enough to see to in his own career, David
Reimer never blinked an eye when I had to work evenings and weekends
to finish this book and he was left alone with the responsibilities of a busy
household. His support and effortless belief in equality and social justice are
a continued inspiration and I could not imagine a better father to our three
girls: Ella Steinunn, Hanna Régine, and Karen Þóra. They provide a most
happy distraction from academia and remind me every day of what is truly
important in life.
Entangled with the joy of finally seeing this book in print is deep sadness.
My father, Magnús Ágúst Torfason, passed away suddenly on the eve of my doc-
toral defense in May 2006 and it was difficult to separate this project from his
untimely death. It took much effort, but my greatest motivation continued to
be the unconditional love and support I grew up with from both my parents.
Also my mother, Steinunn Thorsteinson, has always been an astonishing source
of strength and courage. I dedicate this book to my parents.