THE SHAPING OF THE IMAGE OF THE WEST AS AN ALLY IN THE SOVIET CENTRAL PERIODICALS DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

Abstract

Th e subject of the study is the image of the West as an ally as it was shaped by the Soviet media during the Great Patriotic War. For Soviet pro-paganda, the periodical press was very important because it contributed to the formation of public perceptions of both the outside world and the situation in the country. During the war, the main goal of newspapers was to mobilize the masses. Scientifi c works on similar problems were, as a rule, of an overview char-acter which did not consider the dynamics and numerous nuances in relations with the allies throughout the entire period of the Great Patriotic War, as well as the mechanisms of Soviet propaganda in the coverage of the foreign policy. An analysis of an extensive set of sources, including publications of the central periodical press (Pravda, Izvestiya, Krasnaya zvezda), allows a comprehensive study of the formation and evolution of the image of the West as an ally of the anti-Hitler coalition in the Soviet press in 1941–1945. All the activities of the media were under the control of the Directorate of Propaganda and Agitation of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, and the responsibility for it was vested in the Press Department. As a result, the information conveyed to the Soviet population was selected and ideologically verifi ed. Th is certainly applied to material about the United States and Great Britain. Information about the ac-tivities and assistance of the allies was primarily intended to convince the Soviet reader that the country had not been left alone with the enemy. At the same time, the Soviet press avoided an overly enthusiastic tone toward yesterday’s ideologi-cal adversaries. Th e evolution of the image of the allies within the anti-Hitler coalition in the central periodical press of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic war went through several stages and depended largely on the situation on the Soviet-German front.