Coverage of Soviet Diplomats’ Activity at the United Nations on the Pages of «Pravda» and «Izvestiya» as a Factor of Political Mobilization of the Population of the USSR during Korean War

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the propaganda coverage of the Korean War at the UN, as well as the representation of Soviet diplomats struggle at the central newspapers publications. Full-fledged coverage of the Soviet diplomats’ activities at the United Nations became one of the key elements in USSR foreign policy propaganda. The coverage of the activities of the Soviet Union at the UN had its own characteristics: the voluminous and detailed reports of diplomats’ actions, texts of their speeches. Materials were mostly cited on the pages of “Pravda” and “Izvestia” without any editorial commentary. Such a «documentary approach» was supposed to emphasize the importance of the struggle in the UN and create a sense of belonging to what is happening. One of the techniques in the propaganda struggle used was active criticism of the actions of opponents, building the image of instigators of the conflict and consistent opponents of peace. Thus, the actions of the South Korean government were presented as secondary to conflict, the head of the state was characterized as “a Washington’s puppet”. It was the United States that represented the main threat to the world peace. The coverage of the Korean War was accompanied by an unprecedented level of criticism of the Truman administration and the activities of the UN Secretary General. The bitterness of the Kremlin's position was largely due to the impossibility of outplaying the United States, effectively used the UN mechanisms for its own purposes during the Korean war.

Soviet press, Soviet diplomacy at the UN, Soviet propaganda, Korean War, refugees