ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : History of the Early Cold War : Cold War Propaganda </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2001 --> </head> <body bgcolor = "lightgreen"> <div align = "center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../banner.jpg" border = "0"> </A></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> The Medal Race </B></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "medalrace.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </A></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "ecwindex.html"> <img src = "../banners/banecw.jpg" border = "0"> </A></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "indpak.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"></A> </TD> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Indo-Pakistani Wars </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR><BR> <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- function SymError() { return true; } window.onerror = SymError; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-0213752126925919"; google_alternate_color = "FFFFE1"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; google_ad_format = "728x90_as"; google_ad_channel ="4814426207"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_page_url = document.location; google_color_border = "FF3300"; google_color_bg = "FFFFE1"; google_color_link = "0000CC"; google_color_url = "008000"; google_color_text = "6F6F6F"; //--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <BR><BR><BR> </div> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "900" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "6" face = "arial"><B> Cold War Propaganda </B></font> </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <BR><BR> <font size = "4" face = "Times Roman"> Soviet propaganda and that of their socialist allies described the socialist countries as having overcome exploitation of the working class, discrimination against women and racial minorities, exploitation of colonial peoples. It described socialist society as modern, progressing fast, outdoing the capitalist world in economic and technological development, the conscious socialist worker being superior to the victim of capitalist respective imperialist exploitation, as to be proven in the field of international sports competitions (see chapter MEDAL RACE). As society in the Soviet Union did not have free press, and neither did those in its socialist satellite states, there was little need to address the discrepancy between reality and state vision as things had to be. <BR> Outwardly, the USSR propaganda stressed its anti-Imperialist stand. The USSR did not regard its Asian territories colonies, and it has granted (nominal) self-government to many of the regions settled by non-Russians. Soviet propaganda succesfully accused the remaining colonial powers of continuing to exploit other peoples, a propaganda which, in addition to active support (delivery of arms etc.) gained it the sympathoies of many organizations and individual politicians in those colonies striving for independence. In Africa, many parts of Asia and some regions of Latin America, the USSR was seen as a modern society, the SPUTNIK SATELLITE greatly strengthening that impression. <BR> Soviet propaganda described the west (the US, the UK, France, the FRG etc.) as countries ruled by a clique of capitalists, imperialists, and in case of the FRG, by turncoat ex-Nazis. The propaganda attempted to create a split between these nations' governments and the working classes. It was, to some extent, successful, at least in the early years, as persons like PABLO PICASSO believed the US to be the aggressor in the Korean War, and communist organizations in Western Europe succeeded in signing up a few volunteers fighting in the Korean War - on the North Korean side. With more and more political refugees crossing into Western Europe from Eastern Germany and from Hungary in 1956, from Czechoslovakia in 1968, knowledge of Soviet atrocities, of the reality of suppression under Soviet rule became known more widely, and western leftist intellectuals discarded the concept of the USSR as a socialist utopia, Soviet propaganda thus losing a target group. <BR><BR> In the late 1940es the US administration seemed to be surprised by a chain of events, Stalin claiming the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, the USSR developing the nuclear bomb 1949 (in consequence of an espionage affair), then in 1950 the North Korean invasion of South Korea. <BR> The erection of the IRON CURTAIN in 1946ff, the establishment of PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACIES in the Soviet sphere of influence, Soviet clampdown of demonstrations/reform attempts intending to reintroduce democracy in the satellite states (East Germany 1953, Hungary 1956 etc.) came as surprise only to the politically uninformed and/or naive (the far majority in the west, though). <BR> As the US and British governments did not publish their own dirty laundry, they depicted the GREEK CIVIL WAR as an act of communist aggression, and blamed the entire affair around the BERLIN BLOCKADE on Stalin, not mentioning the fact that the western allies had knowingly broken the 4 powers agreement on the administration of Berlin. <BR> US propaganda began to depict the USSR - an ally until 1945 - as the EVIL EMPIRE. In US domestic policy, an ANTI-COMMUNIST HYSTERIA spread; Senator JOSEPH MCCARTHY accused many celebrities, journalists, administrators, public figures of being covert communists or of sympathizing with communism. As communism was identified with evil, the support of the other side which opposed communism was regarded as legitimate; the US administration thus aided governments in the third world, many of which were corrupt, which violated human rights, which were oppressive. The hysteria ebbed down in 1954. In the 1960es, US propaganda had problems convincing large groups of its own population of its view of the USSR as the Evil Empire, as the Civil Rights Movement regarded SEGREGATION and continued discrimination against African Americans, Native Americans and other minorities, and Pacifist organizations the ongoing VIETNAM WAR, constly in terms of American lives, as more pressing topics. <BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "3" cellspace="5" cellpadding="5" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" valign = "top" align = "center" bgcolor="#FFFACD"> <font size = "3" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"> EXTERNAL <BR> FILES </font></TD> <TD width = "700" valign = "top" align = "left" bgcolor = "#FFFACD"> <font size = "2" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"> The 1950es and the Cold War, from <A HREF = "http://www.authentichistory.com/coldwar.html"><B>The Authentic History Center</B></A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "3" cellspace="5" cellpadding="5" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" valign = "top" align = "center" bgcolor="#FFFACD"> <font size = "3" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"> DOCUMENTS </font></TD> <TD width = "700" valign = "top" align = "left" bgcolor = "#FFFACD"> <font size = "2" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"> Propaganda films critical of Communism, from <A HREF = "http://www.ihffilm.com/cold-war.html"><B>International Historic Films</B></A> <BR> Communist Propaganda Films, from <A HREF = "http://www.ihffilm.com/ihf/soviet-propoganda.html"><B>International Historic Films</B></A> <BR> America versus the Commies : Propagana in The cold war, from <A HREF = "http://www.authentichistory.com/images/AvsC.html"><B> The Authentic History Center</B></A> <BR> Communist Propaganda Posters 1960-1990, from <A HREF = "http://www.poster.s.cz/"><B>Poster Gallery</B></A>, commercial site <BR> German Propaganda Archive, from <A HREF = "http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/"><B>Calvin College</B></A>, scroll down for East German propaganda <BR> East German Poster Art and Other Latin American Countries, from <A HREF = "http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/hasrg/german/exhibit/GDRposters/latinamerica.html"><B>Stanford University Library</B></A> <BR> Some Like it Red - Polish Political Posters 1944-1989, from <A HREF = "http://www.theartofposter.com/RED/Red.htm"><B> European Communist Posters of Struggle</B></A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "3" cellspace="5" cellpadding="5" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" valign = "top" align = "center" bgcolor="#FFFACD"> <font size = "2" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"> REFERENCE </font></TD> <TD width = "700" valign = "top" align = "left" bgcolor = "#FFFACD"> <font size = "2" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border="5" cellspace="10" cellpadding="10" align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><TR> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="center"> <font size = "3" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"><i>This page is part of <B>World History at KMLA</b></i></font><BR> <font size = "2" face = "Times Roman" color = "#000000"><i>First posted on July 7th 2001, last revised on November 14th 2004</i></font> <BR><BR> <font size = "2" face = "Times Roman"> Click here to go <A HREF = "../../index.html">Home</A> <BR> Click here to go to <A HREF = "../../about.html">Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster</A> <BR> Click here to go to <A HREF = "../../links.html">Statistics</A><BR> </TD></TR></TABLE><BR><BR><BR> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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