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Title of the article: Creation of the «Russian Committee» and the formation of the position of the British Foreign Office towards the Soviet Union in the first half of 1946
Author(s): PORTNYAGIN D. I.
Section: Theory and history of culture
Year: 2015
Issue: № 3, (37)
Pages: 70-80
Index UDK: 327
Index BBK: 63
Abstract: In the first years after the Second World War, Britain sought to play an active role in shaping the new world order. Relations with the USSR had great importance in this regard. A sweeping victory of the Labour Party in the general elections of 1945 led to the fact that many people in the UK thought that it is possible to turn the country into a «socialist» foreign policy. However, the deterioration of international situation quickly led the Labour government to the anti-Soviet stance and this transformation took place under the influence of the senior civil servants of the Foreign Office. In April 1946 Russian Committee was formed, which terms of reference was to analyze the Soviet foreign policy and to suggest consolidated position of the Foreign Office towards the USSR. As the minutes of the meetings of that body reveals, the senior civil servants of the Foreign Office thought that the Soviet leadership returned to the foreign policy based primarily on the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Based on the extremely negative vision of Soviet policy, the main recommendation of the Foreign Office to the political leadership was the so-called defense-offensive policy, which involved a largescale anti-communist propaganda. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ernest Bevin was in agreement with the analysis of Soviet foreign policy but initially reacted cautiously to the idea of a direct confrontation with the USSR. However, by the end of 1946 he was more inclined to agree with the views of senior civil servants of the Foreign Office about the need to start decisive action against the Soviet policy and the necessity to discredit USSR.
Keywords: Foreign Office, Russian Committee, British Foreign Policy, British Labour Party
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