ACADEMIC JOURNAL
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ISSN 2542-1077 (Print) ISSN 1994-5973 (Online) |
Terenteva, E. A. THE SOVIET-FINNISH CONFLICT AND THE EXCLUSION OF THE USSR FROM THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS IN THE FRENCH PRESS (1939). Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2026;48(2):55–63. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2026.1280
The VIII All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Petrozavodsk – City of Military Glory: Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory" |
THE SOVIET-FINNISH CONFLICT AND THE EXCLUSION OF THE USSR FROM THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS IN THE FRENCH PRESS (1939)
| Terenteva E. A. | Saint Petersburg State University |
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Keywords: imagology World War II French press history of journalism anti-soviet propaganda League of Nations Winter War |
Summary: The Soviet-Finnish conflict of 1939–1940 outlined the existing trends in the coverage of Soviet
international politics, while the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations increased media interest in the
USSR and Finland, giving rise to a new round of condemnation of Soviet policy. However, no research has been made
in modern science on the coverage of these events by French periodicals. The purpose of this article is to analyze the
features of coverage of the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations in December 1939, as well as the
dynamics of publications on the Soviet-Finnish conflict in the preceding and subsequent months. The research is based
on the analysis of the digitized array of French-language periodicals posted on the Retronews.fr portal created by the
French National Library. The exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations was the reason for the intensification
of rhetoric related to the image of the USSR as an aggressor harboring aggressive intentions towards European countries,
on the one hand, and Finland as a small heroic country ready to defend its freedom, on the other. Rudolf Holsti, the
representative of Finland in the League of Nations, became a symbol of this event, and the analysis of the illustrative
material demonstrates the implicit emphasis on Finland’s support from the leaders of the League of Nations – Great
Britain and France. The article contributes to the study of the history of the development of the French periodical press
during the Second World War, as well as to the field of imagology, demonstrating the features of the images of both
opposing sides in the French press. The paper shows the stability of a number of cliches in depicting the Soviet Union
and characterizing its policy in the history of European (and, more widely, Western) journalism, which are still relevant regarding Russia in post-bipolar epoch. The results of the research can be used not only by historians, but also by political scientists, journalists, and international relations specialists. |
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