A Fleeting Friendship: Anglo-Soviet Penpalship in the Second World War

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Soviet experience of the Second World War is not commonly associated with popular activism in foreign relations. Yet, throughout the war, the Stalinist regime actively engaged in soft power projects with its allies, one of which was a pen-friendship scheme involving thousands of ordinary individuals. This analysis examines Anglo-Soviet popular correspondence amongst young people and children as one of the earliest examples of ‘citizen diplomacy’. It examines the function of international exchanges as instruments of both state policy and personal interaction, arguing that this penpalship was not mere propaganda manipulation. Undoubtedly brokered to achieve certain goals, it also had an element of spontaneity and sincerity, springing from a real popular feeling. Delving into the inner-workings of Soviet propaganda and diplomatic machinery, this article exlpores the significance, complexities, and limitations of the wartime epistolary exchange amongst the young.