A study of the Soviet press' portrayal of the Geneva conference and the Western powers provides an insight into the role of the press in shaping public opinion for the state and against the West. Furthermore, the image of Soviet-American relations in the press undercuts the tense reality of tension between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The glowing reviews of the 1955 Geneva Conference contrast starkly with the negative portrayal of the Western statesmen and their reaction to the “spirit of Geneva” in the following months. The summit for the Foreign Ministers of the four powers in attendance at the conference, France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, was portrayed as an uphill battle for the Soviet officials to make policies that would reduce international tensions. Using Western news sources and statements by Western officials, the Soviet press created an image of the Geneva Conference and the Ministers' conference that followed as events in which the Soviet Union tried earnestly to pursue détente with the West, and was met with staunch opposition.
[...] 12-12. < http:>. Pavlov, Yu. the Eve of Four-Power Ministers' Conference”, November The Current Digest of the Soviet Press. No.41, Vol.7, November page(s): 15-15. < http:>. Rogov, V. the Interests of Strengthening Peace”. From Ivestia, February Current Digest of the Soviet Press. No Vol April C. 25-25 Service, Robert. A History of Modern Russia From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin. United Kingdom: Penguin Press Taubman, William. Khrushchev, the Man and His Era. New York: W. [...]
[...] After praising the Geneva conference for its principles and positive review in Western press, M. Mikhailov wrote in Ivestia that the West was deliberately opposing a continuation the easement of international tensions sought at the Foreign Minister's conference in November 1955. The Western powers purposefully rejected the Soviet numerous proposals and viewpoints, and instead “presented proposals which do not correspond to the directives of the government heads, do not accord with the "spirit of Geneva” and clearly contradict the interests of peace and the security of peoples”.[16] Many, like writers Pavlov and M. [...]
[...] W. & Norton & Company Zubok, Vladislav M. A Failed Empire. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press Zubok, p Ibid, pp. 105-106. Ibid, p Bulganin, speech transcribed in Pravda, Current Digest of the Soviet Press, pp. 19-20. Zubok, p Taubman, p Taubman, pp. 347-348. Ibid, p Service, p Bulganin, address to the Supreme Soviet. Current Digest of the Soviet Press, p Taubman, p [...]
[...] “Peaceful coexistence” was just what the term suggests; the Soviets and the Western powers tolerated each other reluctantly, in a time in which statesmen worked painstakingly to ensure the Cold War didn't heat into armed conflict. Nevertheless, the heads of the Soviet state needed to be able to continue their policies as they saw fit, especially in bringing the Russian military force to parity with its rival. Because of the circumstances, it was in the interests of the Soviet Union to be portrayed as being adamantly for relaxed relations with the United States. [...]
[...] In a 1953 speech President Eisenhower had challenged Stalin's successors to part with Stalin's ways, and bring a greater level of peace to the global scene.[1] Khrushchev rose to meet the challenge; by 1957 he had far outdone Stalin's list of acts of foreign diplomacy, having met leaders in China, the United States, Britain, France, India, Burma, Afghanistan, plus personally leading the delegation to the Geneva conference in 1955. Eisenhower's speech also set four main “conditions” that were brought into the Geneva Conference; truce in Korea, settlement on Austria, return of Japanese and German prisoners of war, and the most important, a reduction in the global arms race.[2] Before it began, the Presidium's agenda conflicted with that of U.S. [...]
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