Cold War Crossings: International Travel and Exchange across the Soviet Bloc, 1940s-1960s

242 Pages·2014·1.6 MB·English

by  Patryk Babiracki

COLD WAR
C R O S S I N G S
NUMBER FORTY- FIVE
Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures
A list of other titles in this series appears at the back of the book.

COLD WAR
C R O S S I N G S
International Travel and Exchange
across the Soviet Bloc, s– s
Edited by Patryk Babiracki and Kenyon Zimmer
Introduction by Vladislav Zubok
CONTRIBUTORS:
Michael David- Fox
Patryk Babiracki
Nick Rutter
Elidor Mëhilli
Constantin Katsakioris
Marsha Siefert
Published for the University of Texas at Arlington
by Texas A&M University Press
College Station
Copyright ©  by the University of Texas at Arlington
Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved
First edition
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z.–  (Permanence of Paper).
Binding materials have been chosen for durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Cold War crossings : international travel and exchange across the Soviet bloc, s–
s / edited by Patryk Babiracki and Kenyon Zimmer ; introduction by Vladislav
Zubok ; contributors: Michael David- Fox, Patryk Babiracki, Nick Rutter, Elidor Mkhilli,
Constantin Katsakioris, Marsha Siefert. — First edition.
pages cm — (Walter Prescott Webb memorial lectures ; number forty- fi ve)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN ---- (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN ---- (e- book)
. Soviet Union—Relations. . Communist countries—Relations. . Exchange of persons
programs, Soviet—History. I. Babiracki, Patryk, – editor of compilation.
II. Zimmer, Kenyon, – editor of compilation. III. David- Fox, Michael, –
author. IV. Series: Walter Prescott Webb memorial lectures ; no. .
DK..C 
.—dc

To Robert Fairbanks

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Introduction 1
Vladislav Zubok
1 The Iron Curtain as Semipermeable Membrane: Origins and Demise
of the Stalinist Superiority Complex
Michael David-F ox 14
2 The Taste of Red Watermelon: Polish Peasants Visit Soviet Collective
Farms, 1949–1952
Patryk Babiracki 40
3 The Western Wall: The Iron Curtain Recast in Midsummer 1951
Nick Rutter 78
4 Socialist Encounters: Albania and the Transnational Eastern Bloc in
the 1950s
Elidor Mëhilli 107
5 The Soviet-S outh Encounter: Tensions in the Friendship with Afro-A sian
Partners, 1945–1965
Constantin Katsakioris 134
6 Meeting at a Far Meridian: US-S oviet Cultural Diplomacy on Film in
the Early Cold War
Marsha Siefert 166
Contributors 211
Index 215

PREFACE
This volume is an outcome of two related initiatives. On March , ,
the Department of History at the University of Texas at Arlington hosted
the annual Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures, entitled “Trans-
national Perspectives on the Soviet Bloc, – .” Michael David-
Fox, then of the University of Maryland– College Park, delivered the
keynote address; the other participants were Marsha Siefert (Central Euro-
pean University, Budapest), Constantin Katsakioris (Hellenic Archives,
Athens), and Patryk Babiracki (University of Texas at Arlington). This
collection features the expanded versions of their lectures. Contributing
to this volume are also the two co-winners of the accompanying inter-
national essay competition, Elidor Mëhilli and Nick Rutter, who were in
the fi nal stages of their doctoral work at Princeton and Yale Universities at
the time. Vladislav Zubok (London School of Economics) kindly agreed
to write the introduction. The essays follow two parallel orders: they are
organized chronologically and proceed from general- theoretical overviews
to case studies that are more detailed. We wish to thank all the authors for
their patience and gracious cooperation during the volume’s long gestation
phase. We are grateful to the Department of History and our university
for sponsoring and organizing the Webb Lectures and for the assistance of
Jennifer Lawrence in particular. This support left us with the sole responsi-
bility—indeed, the distinct pleasure—of coordinating the event’s intellec-
tual dimensions and ensuring that this volume would see the light of day.
In editing the fi nal versions of the manuscript, Patryk Babiracki benefi tted
from the Junior Research Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study
of the Central European University in Budapest in – . Following a
long tradition, and with enthusiastic appreciation, we dedicate this book
to our colleague Robert Fairbanks, who served as Chair of our Depart-
ment of History before stepping down in the summer of .
Patryk Babiracki
Kenyon Zimmer