The New and the Old in the Art of Cinema

Alberti initiated the task of articulating goals for narrative visual art, thereby rebalancing the traditional Christian emphasis on word over image. When the choice wasn’t made for them by a patron, Renaissance artists faced dilemmas about whether to appeal to a broader public (the faithful) or a more narrow one (collectors, humanists, and emerging connoisseurs). Film faced similar challenges and struggled to define its cultural place: art versus business, America versus Old World, capitalism versus Soviet communism. Hollywood specialized in romantic themes, often treated like fairy tales, though at other times addressing tensions of class and gender. Films were also used to present a version of war suitable for cultural memory, variously heroic or pacifist.

Battleground Europe

This chapter explores the transformation of postwar Europe into a spiritual battleground between ecumenists and evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics, and American democrats and Soviet communists. As the occupation of Germany matured, both ecumenical and evangelical Protestants sought to win over Germany as a new anti-communist partner in the heart of Europe. They likewise sought to establish their competing spiritual orders across the continent through ecumenical tours of reconciliation and evangelical revivals. The postwar activism of American Protestants extended far beyond just seeking to revive Europe’s soul. Both ecumenical and evangelical Protestants mobilized to create a Protestant bulwark against Soviet communism across the continent, as well as to counteract a postwar resurgence of the Vatican and Roman Catholicism. Under their watch, the struggle for the soul of Europe began.

God’s Marshall Plan

This chapter examines how ecumenical American Protestants sought to come to Europe’s “spiritual aid” through carrying out a “Marshall Plan for the Churches.” By the summer of 1947, these Protestant ecumenists were preparing to rebuild European churches, distribute material aid across the continent, and promote theological exchange across the Atlantic. All the while, they also sought to strengthen the standing of democracy and capitalism in Europe and, in particular, to bolster European spiritual defenses against communism. While German and European Protestants welcomed ecumenical aid, they also protested the Cold War interests of the United States. In particular, they challenged American ecumenists for contributing to the spread of what they deemed a new kind of American imperial order in the world. In response, a growing number of Europeans called on ecumenical Protestants across the North Atlantic to become a “third way” spiritual force between American democracy and Soviet communism.

The Institutional Origins of Vaccines Distrust: Evidence from Former-Communist Countries

How is trust in vaccines affected by exposure to Soviet communism? Using individual level evidence on vaccine trust with regards to its efficiency and safety from a long list of world countries, we document that exposure to Soviet communism reduces trust in vaccination. We show that exposure to socio-political regimes can explain limited trust in vaccines, which is explained by weak trust in government, medical personnel, medical advice from doctors as well as in people from the neighbourhood. These results suggest that roots of vaccine distrust lie in a wider distrust in public and state institutions resulting from the exposure to Soviet communism.

George Kennan

Though Reinhold Niebuhr and George Kennan did not have a close personal relationship, they nonetheless developed a mutual admiration and reciprocal influence that extended over decades. Each believed in the pervasiveness of original sin, the ironic and often tragic outcomes of human aspirations, and the hand of Providence over history. Together they stand as two of the most important shapers of international relations realism. Their lives and work also influenced US policy in the early and middle decades of the Cold War, from their early opposition to Soviet communism and support for nuclear weapons, to their later disillusionment with the arms race and opposition to the Vietnam War. They differed primarily over democracy. Niebuhr retained an abiding belief in the possibility of self-government, while Kennan grew disenchanted with participatory government and favoured rule by enlightened elites.

Atheism as a Vocation: Soviet Communism and Its Atheist Apologists

In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign (1958-1964). When Khrushchev came to power, he denounced Stalin’s more pragmatic approach to religious affairs and called for a return to ideological purity. The Soviet Union had entered a new historical stage – “Building Communism” – which again made religion a problem and atheism a priority. Yet, as the party mobilised for a new antireligious campaign, it realized that it lacked the institutions, expertise, and cadres to conduct atheist work, and that it had to build an atheist apparatus. This made the figure of the religious apostate turned atheist apologist especially valuable., and under Khrushchev, hundreds of believers and clergy publicly broke with religion. Among them, Evgraf Duluman (1928-2013) and Aleksandr Osipov (1911-1967) were the most prominent. These figures transformed a private spiritual crisis into a public vocation, in the process becoming the party’s atheist apologists. Based on archival sources and the author’s interviews with former atheist cadres, this chapter looks at what atheist apologists can reveal about the Soviet atheist apparatus and the party’s struggle to overcome religion, spread atheism, and build Communism.