Europe and the Baltics through the Soviet lens

In German philosophy, Ewiges Weibliche, "Eternal Feminine", represents an ideal originating in Goethe's↗ Faust↗ of womanhood and a spiritual principle associated with the feminine. How is this related to Soviet propaganda? Whether tsarist Russia, the USSR, or post-Soviet Russia, we can count on "Eternal Kremlin" to communicate a world view in which its neighbors and rivals are engaged in perpetual perfidy against the innocent Russian people whose only desire is to welcome all into their family. Ignoring it was the Russians who coined "cleansing" for purging a people↗ from their homeland.1

From bemoaning the post-WWI state of Latvia to accusing the Baltic States, Finland, Poland,… of pre-WWWII treachery and Nazism to extolling the cultural and material benefits of the Baltics voluntarily joining the USSR, Soviet propaganda lives on in the Russian historiography and political pronouncements of today. We've broken out our collection below.

Materials listed by year.

  = album/postcards    = includes facsimile    = culture    = Soviet propaganda 

The view from the Kremlin

• "Russia Today"
  
  "Russia Today", A. Benenson, The Ottawa Citizen, 1931—Canadian émigré A. Benenson expresses alarm over Polish armaments and sorrow over Latvia's post-WWI de-industrialization in a letter to the editior from his new homeland.
• Is War Inevitable?
  
  
  J. Stalin — Is War Inevitable?, Roy W. Howard (interviewer), Stalin, Friends of the Soviet Union, 1936—"The Full Text of the Famous Stalin—Howard Interview" of March 1st, 1936, originally carried in U.S. and Soviet news media and subsequently published by the Friends of the Soviet Union for Western consumption. Reading between the lines and redaction by the Chief Censor of the Soviet Union, Stalin admits to not achieving Communism and resorts to memory lapses and protestations of absurdity when confronted with the USSR's failure to comply with its commitment to respect the U.S.
• Soviet War News
  
  The Soviet Union, Finland, and the Baltic States, Soviet War News, Soviet Information Bureau, 1941—In a monograph published after the Winter War and toward the end of its first occupation of the Baltic states, the Soviet Union blames the Finns and Balts for their troubles, only the Soviets have consistently engaged in "neighbourly relations," rebuffed by its neighbors at every turn. A classic study in Stalinist propaganda and a version of history still familiar in official Russian rhetoric.
• Polish–Soviet Break
  
  Behind the Polish–Soviet Break, Alter Brody, introduced by Corliss Lamont, Soviet Russia Today, New York, 1943—After the Poles rightfully blamed the Katyn massacre on the Soviets, the USSR denounced (Molotov's letter, included) the accusation as a "Hitlerite slanderous fake." Within two weeks the USSR severed relations with the Polish Government-in-Exile. Beyond alleging Polish lies, Alter Brody's monograph goes on to characterize the Polish people as an ungrateful scourge upon history—portending the post-WWII portrayal of anti-Soviet Eastern European nationalists as fascists.
• 1945 Literary Almanac
  
  
  
  1945 Literary Almanac (LATVIAN, Literatūras Gada Grāmata), E. Damburs, ed., VAPP Fine Literature Publisher, 1945—Still at war, Latvian Communists serving the Soviet cause declare literary Russification an enrichment of Latvian culture. Full facsimile and selected translations.
• Soviet Estonia
  
  Estonia, Wonderful Present—Marvellous Future, Aleksei Müürisepp, Soviet Booklets, London, 1959—Career apparatchik and then soon-to-be 5th Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR Aleksey Aleksandrovich Myurisepp waxes eloquently of life under the U.S.S.R., one of a series of propaganda booklets produced about each of the fifteen Soviet Republics.
• Soviet Latvia
  
  Latvia—Our Dream is Coming True, Vilis Lācis, Soviet Booklets, London, 1959—Popular author during Latvia's pre-WWII independence and Soviet sympathizer signing deportation orders sending families to frosty death, Vilis Lācis writes of the materialization of Latvian dreams under the U.S.S.R., one of a series of propaganda booklets produced about each of the fifteen Soviet Republics.
• Along Latvia's Roads
  
  
  Along Latvia's Roads (LATVIAN, Pa Latvijas Ceļiem), J. Opmanis, Liesma, ca. 1960—Soviet era postcards reminiscent of America's contemporaneous "See the USA in your Chevrolet" ad campaign which ran from 1952 to 1963.
• Soviet Rīga
  
  
  Rīga / Рига / Riga / Riika / ريغا Granovsky Album, Naum Granovsky, Foreign Language Publishing House, Moscow, ca. 1960—Soviet fold-out of color and colorized post-card sized images of Rīga. Captioned in eight languages, extolling the benefits, virtues, and accomplishments of Soviet rule.

Assembling radio sets at the Popov Radio Factory, Riga..