Pan-Slavism and World War II

1952 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 699-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Kohn
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War I ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
German Occupation ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Second World

In spite of later claims that it had been the leader of the anti-fascist camp and of the Slav world from the beginning of the second World War, the Soviet Union followed a strictly Russian policy, neither anti-fascist nor Pan-Slav, from August, 1939, to June, 1941. This policy clearly foreshadowed a nationalist revival of the language and aspirations that had been most characteristic of Old Russia but were assumed to have been definitely buried in the ten November days of 1917 which shook the world. During these two years not the slightest sympathy for the Czechs and Poles suffering under German occupation was expressed. Indeed, although Leninist communism during World War I had conducted a violent defeatist propaganda compaign in both warring camps, the subversive communist propaganda that was resumed in 1939 was directed only against the democratic nations. “Moreover, officially, even ostentatiously, help was granted to the camp of fascism so that, from 1939 to 1941, the Soviet Union could be considered a non-belligerent partner of the Axis. From the policy of benevolent neutrality towards the Axis the Soviet Union was removed against its will. Circumstances made it an ally of the democracies. This change was performed reluctantly, only because no other choice was left.”

America Abroad

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kal Raustiala
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Second World

The single most important feature of American history after 1945 was the United States’s assumption of hegemonic leadership. Europeans had noted America’s enormous potential since at least the nineteenth century. After the Civil War the United States had one of the largest economies in the world, but, as noted earlier in this book, in geopolitical terms it remained a surprisingly minor player. By 1900 the United States was playing a more significant political role. But it was only after 1945 that the nation’s potential on the world stage was fully realized. Victory in the Second World War left the United States in an enviable position. Unlike the Soviet Union, which endured devastating fighting on its territory and lost tens of millions of citizens, the United States had experienced only one major attack on its soil. Thanks to its actions in the war America had great influence in Europe. And the national economy emerged surprisingly vibrant from the years of conflagration, easily dominant over any conceivable rival or set of rivals. When the First World War ended the United States ultimately chose to return to its hemispheric perch. It declined to join the new League of Nations, and rather than maintaining engagement with the great powers of the day, America generally turned inward. The years following the Second World War were quite different. In addition to championing—and hosting—the new United Nations, the United States quickly established a panoply of important institutions aimed at maintaining and organizing international cooperation in both economic and security affairs. Rising tensions with the Soviet Union, apparent to many shortly after the war’s end, led the United States to remain militarily active in both Europe and Asia. The intensifying Cold War cemented this unprecedented approach to world politics. The prolonged occupations of Germany and Japan were straightforward examples of this newly active global role. In both cases the United States refashioned a conquered enemy into a democratic, free-market ally—a significant feat. The United States did not, however, seek a formal empire in the wake of its victory.

scholarly journals Friends – of a Kind: America and its Allies in the Second World War Mary E. Glantz, FDR and the Soviet Union: The President's Battles Over Foreign Policy (Lawrence: Kansas University Press, 2005, $34.95). Pp. 253. ISBN 0 7006 1365 X. Steven Merritt Miner, Stalin's Holy War: Religion, Nationalism and Alliance Politics, 1941–1945 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003, $55.00). Pp. 407. ISBN 0 8078 2736 3. Mark A. Stoler, Allies in War: Britain and American Against the Axis Powers 1940–1945 (London and New York: Hodder Arnold, 2005, £25.00). Pp. 291. ISBN 0 340 72026 3. David Stone, War Summits: The Meetings that Shaped World War II and the Postwar World (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005, $29.95). Pp. 304. ISBN 1 57488 901 X.

2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 635-644
Author(s):  
MARTIN H. FOLLY
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Second World

The Second World War continues to be an attractive subject for scholars and even more so for those writing for a general readership. One of the more traditional areas of focus has been the ‘Big Three’ – the alliance of the United States with Britain and the Soviet Union. Public interest in the three leaders – Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin – remains high, and their decisions continue to resonate in the post-Cold War era, as demonstrated by continued (and often ahistorical) references to the decisions made at the Yalta Conference. Consequently, while other aspects of Second World War historiography have pushed into new avenues of exploration, that which has looked at the Grand Alliance has followed fairly conventional lines – the new Soviet bloc materials have been trawled to answer old questions and using the frames of reference that developed during the Cold War. This has left much to be said about the nature of the relationship of the United States with its great allies and the dynamics and processes of that alliance, and overlooked full and rounded analysis of the role of that alliance as the instrument of Axis defeat.

scholarly journals The Ambivalent State: Determining Guilt in the Post-World War II Soviet Union

Slavic Review ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 606-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Exeler
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The State ◽  
World War ◽  
Occupied Territory ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Occupation ◽  
Second World ◽  
Soviet Population

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the search for alleged traitors took place in each country that had been under foreign occupation. The most active country in this regard was the Soviet Union. This article analyzes how the Soviet authorities dealt with people who had lived in German-occupied territory during the war. It discusses divergent understandings of guilt, and examines means of punishment, retribution and justice. I argue that inconsistencies in Moscow’s politics of retribution, apart from reflecting tensions between ideology and pragmatism, resulted from contradictions within ideology, namely the belief that the war had uncovered mass enemies in hiding, and the belief that it had been won with the mass support of the Soviet population. The state that emerged from the war, then, was both powerful and insecure, able to quickly reassert its authority in formerly German-occupied areas, but also deeply ambivalent about its politics of retribution.

scholarly journals A few remarks on East Prussia goldsmith heritage in Lithuania

Menotyra ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Vasiliūnienė
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
World War ◽  
German Scientist ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
East Prussia ◽  
Second World

The newly identified goldsmiths’ works of East Prussia are presented in the article: a chalice from Kaunas St. Cross Church forged by Otto Schwerdfeger, a master in Königsberg, in 1704 (?), a ciborium from Vilnius St. Apostles Peter and Paul Church made by goldsmith Johann Kownatzky in Tilsit in the 1760–80s, and a monstrance from Valakbūdis Church made by Michael Greiffenhagen II, a master from Tilsit, in 1795 (?). After the World War II, East Prussia was annexed by the Soviet Union. Destruction of the region and its historical memory and enormous losses of the cultural heritage partly resulted in knowledge gaps in Lithuania about the goldsmithing in this region. For the knowledge of goldsmith history in East Prussia, works by Eugen von Czihak, a German scientist, based on the information collected before the First and Second World Wars are very important. The goldsmithing of Eastern Prussia is pretty seldom mentioned in the Lithuanian historiography. Only sparsely survived works by Königsberg, Tilsit and Klaipėda (Memel) masters from the 17th – 19th century have been published. On the contrary, the context of Lithuanian goldsmith history is described based on data provided by the German writings. According to our knowledge, the goldsmith heritage from Königsberg predominates in Lithuania. Not a few goldsmith works from Tilsit were also identified in Lithuania. The works of Eastern Prussian goldsmiths are of particular value. Because of the dramatic fate of Königsberg region, the survived number of goldsmith works throughout Europe is relatively low.

About the beginning of World War II: historical and legal research. Part two

2021 ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Konstantin S. Rodionov
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The One ◽  
Second World

This article is a continuation of the one that was published in the journal “State and Law” in 2020 (No. 8). It examines the circumstances of Hitler's decision to attack Poland on September 1, 1939, which began the Second World War. The author decides what influenced his acceptance more - the policy of appeasement, which Britain and France adhered to in relation to Hitler, or the signing by the Soviet Union of an additional secret protocol to the Non-Aggression Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) signed by its parties on August 23, 1939?

At the end of the road

1988 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-50
Author(s):  
Jaff Schatz
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Present State ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Identity Changes ◽  
Second World

The aim of this article is to analyze the history and identity changes of a particular ethnopolitical generation – the former Jewish communists of Poland. The members of the group began their lives in Poland between the World Wars, they survived the Second World War as refugees in the Soviet Union&&after the war they rebuilt their lives in Poland&&during the years 1969–1972 they started a new life in Sweden. The analysis will be guided by the following questions: What are the repercussions of the group’s social and political experiences on its ethnic identity? What is the nature of changes that have taken place in its ethnic identity? What is the present state of the ethnic identity of the group? Which factors have influenced and shaped it?

Soviet Uses of Jewish Nationalism During World War II: The Membership and Dynamics of the Jewish Antifascist Committee in the USSR

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimon Redlich
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Jewry ◽  
Leadership Group ◽  
History Of ◽  
Second World

A number of general summaries have been written on the history of the Jewish Antifascist Committee in the Soviet Union, the single major Jewish structure in the Ussr during the following the Second World War. The Jewish Antifascist Committee (JAC) constituted a special phenomenon when compared with similar Soviet organizations. It started as an ordinary instrument of Soviet wartime propaganda, but prevailing circumstances transformed it into a meaningful Jewish structure. Following a few introductory remarks, I would like to discuss one specific aspect of this Committee, namely the nature of its membership. Most of the existing studies treat the JAC in a chronological manner. The purpose of this article is to examine the inner dynamics of the Committee and evaluate it as an elite leadership group of Soviet Jewry.

scholarly journals British-French-Soviet Negotiations of 1939: Failed Attempt of Establishing a Collective Security System in Europe

2018 ◽  
pp. 151-175
Author(s):  
Olegi Mashevskyi ◽  
Taras Tkachuk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War I ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Key Events ◽  
Second World ◽  
Comprehensive Study

The article touches upon the analysis of the main approaches to the consideration of one of the key events in international relations on the eve of the Second World War – the British-French-Soviet negotiations in Moscow in summer of 1939. In particular, the article has reconsidered the stereotypes emerged in Soviet and contemporary Russian historiography that Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had become possible only because of the Western countries’ indecision to conclude a military convention with the USSR. The study also reviews other historiographical positions characterized by imposing a complete blame for the failure of the attempt to create a system of collective security in Europe only to the Soviet Union. Therefore all the circumstances of conducting trilateral negotiations in Moscow have been analyzed, a comprehensive study of all the factors that influenced their failure, with the use of documentary material, has been conducted. It is argued that it was inappropriate to accuse only one side of the failure of the British-French-Soviet negotiations: one shall take into account the complex of both subjective and objective factors that influenced the general geopolitical situation in summer of 1939 in one way or another. Therefore, one should note the diplomatic victory of the German Chancellor A. Hitler, who successfully used the contradictions between three countries, avoiding on the beginning of the war, thereby, one of the key mistakes of the World War I – military actions on two fronts.

scholarly journals The Prime Minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King’s Perception of the USSR during World War II: 1939–45

2021 ◽  
pp. 593-602
Author(s):  
Anton N. Uchaev ◽  
◽  
Elena I. Demidova ◽  
Natalia A. Uchaeva ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Second World

The article analyzes the specificity of the Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King’s attitude to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The study analyzes the frequency of the Prime Minister referencing the USSR in his diary from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945, as well as his reaction to a number of the most significant events of the Second World War associated with the Soviet Union: the German attack on the USSR, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Canada, the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, the victory over Germany. In the course of work, both general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, inductive method, comparative method) and special methods (historical-chronological and content analysis) have been used to study the materials of the diary. The use of the historical-chronological method is due to the need to correlate information from the diary with the overall historical picture of the studied period, and the use of content analysis helps to create a more reliable picture of Canadian Prime Minister’s perception of the Soviet participation in World War II. The article has made allowances for the fact that Mackenzie King sought to create his own positive image in his diaries, planning their posthumous publication. But, since the USSR was not a key topic for the Prime Minister (as evidenced by keywords statistics), it can be stated that the leader of the Canadian liberals was quite frank, at least as frank as a person who, in his lifetime, was known as an extremely cautious politician could be. It is clear, that King was well aware of the significance of the events on the Eastern Front. But throughout the war he retained both a negatively neutral attitude towards the USSR (due to its communist nature) and his perception of the Soviet Union as part of Asia and thus a step below the Anglo-Saxon world, which had a higher level of culture and moral principles. The objective reality, i.e. absence of hostilities in Canada, its maneuvering between Great Britain and the United States, and priority of economic and domestic policy for King, explains that a lesser part of his attention was paid to the events in the USSR in comparison with processes associated with England and the United States.

Europe Between Two Giants

Worldview ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-8
Author(s):  
James T. Farrell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
The Will ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
Second World

In the 1930s, it was predicted that in modern warfare there -would be no victor. The prediction was not really vindicated by the second World War. There were two major victors in that war, the United States and the Soviet Union. They won, not only at the expense of their enemies, but also of their allies and of neutrals. Alexis de Tocqueville's great prophecy, that Russia and America seem "marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe," was over-fulfilled. The world, for most practical purposes, is divided into two opposed systems.

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