External and internal factors of Soviet Union image creation in interwar Czechoslovakia

Jan Lomíček Doctoral thesis External and internal factors of Soviet Union image creation in interwar Czechoslovakia Abstract The doctoral thesis uses both Czechoslovak and foreign archival sources and period sovietica to analyse the most relevant inner and outer factors influencing the creation of a positive image of the Soviet Union in the eyes of interwar Czechoslovak public. On one hand, there were various mechanisms used by the Soviet propaganda. Here we can mention propagandist image of the USSR which was created according to Czechoslovak sympathizers' needs - pictorial periodicals, foreign broadcasting meeting listeners' demands etc. At the same time, the Czechoslovak public adopted the identical categories that were used by the Soviet side to describe the reality, such as work - education - equality - emancipation - freedom - new versus old - civilization - development - growth. Besides common propagandist means the USSR used also the foreigners' visits to confirm its idealized image. The approach to Czechoslovak citizens was improved after the Soviet travel agency Inturist had been launched. This agency should take care of the foreign visitors. However, the interwar travels to the USSR were not too common and frequent, which was caused both by the Soviet byrocracy and costs of such trips. The..