Cold War Research Network

#CWPC- Last month, student members Lars and Judith recommended the movies ‘‘First They Killed My Father’’ and ‘‘X-men: First Class’’ as part of the new series "Cold War in Popular Culture". This month, the focus shifts to literature. Student member Lars recommends the book ‘‘The Hedge’’, written by famous Spanish author Miguel Delibes. Originally published in Spanish as ‘‘Parábola del Náufrago’’ in 1969, it was translated into English as ‘‘The Hedge’’ in 1983. The book follows the protagonist, Jacinto San José Niño. Jacinto works as a clerk for Don Abdón Ltd., a monolithic entity that dominates this world. The corporation's boss, Don Abdón, rules with an iron fist, creating fear among his employees. Jacinto’s sole task is to add numbers, yet he is unable to subtract, multiply, or even divide. Eventually, Jacinto experiences a crisis, losing the ability to write anything but zeroes. This makes it nearly impossible for him to do his job. Don Abdón notices this and sends Jacinto to a Rest and Recuperation Hut for recovery. However, when Jacinto tries to leave, he finds himself trapped by a hedge. Jacinto tries to escape as he slowly becomes more and more isolated. The Hedge is an experimental work by Miguel Delibes, in which he attempts to experiment with language. The book was written in response to events in Czechoslovakia. In 1968, Miguel Delibes visited Czechoslovakia because he was invited by the universities of Prague and Brno. However, just months after his visit, Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia to suppress the liberalization reforms of the Prague Spring. Miguel Delibes condemned the invasion, and wrote ‘‘Parábola del Náufrago’’ (‘‘The Hedge’’) as a critique of totalitarian regimes. This critique even extends to his own country since Miguel Delibes lived in Spain during Franco's dictatorship. Although Miguel Delibes initially fought for the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, he ultimately opposed the Franco regime due to its censorship and repression of the free press. Some reviewers claim that the novel contains aspects of Kafka and Orwell. To view the book on Goodreads, click on the link in the description:

Today! 👇

#OnThisDay- In 1975, military intelligence leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay met in Santiago de Chile with Colonel Manuel Contreras, head of Chile's secret police, to initiate Operation Condor. This covert operation resulted in the murder of thousands of political dissidents across Latin America. During the Cold War, the United States wanted to contain the spread of communism in Latin America. The U.S. feared that other Latin American countries might follow Cuba’s example after it turned communist following the Cuban Revolution. In response, the U.S. backed right-wing military juntas and coups throughout Latin America, including in Brazil (1964), Ecuador (1964), Bolivia (1971), Chile (1973), Uruguay (1973), and Argentina (1976). This resulted in a large number of political dissidents fleeing to neighboring countries. In order to prevent this, Colonel Contreras organized a secret meeting on November 25, 1975, where Latin American intelligence agencies agreed to track, kidnap, and even assassinate political dissidents abroad. This meeting formally launched Operation Condor, later joined by Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. Although the U.S. did not initiate Operation Condor, it supported the operation financially, organizationally, and technologically. Henry Kissinger, then U.S. Secretary of State, supported Operation Condor during the Nixon and Ford administrations. The Dirty War in Argentina, fought by the Argentine military regime against left-wing guerrilla groups, was part of Operation Condor. However, the Dirty War resulted in state terrorism and persecution against civilians. The Dirty War saw many atrocities committed by the Argentine military regime such as death flights, death squads, forced disappearances, torture, killings, and child kidnappings. In addition, Operation Condor also resulted in the assassination of numerous political dissidents. The most notorious example was the assassination of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier. He was assassinated by a car bomb in Washington D.C., orchestrated by the Chilean secret police. Operation Condor formally ended in 1983 when Argentina’s military regime collapsed after the Falklands War, a conflict that even saw Chile side with the United Kingdom, highlighting the internal divisions among the Latin American countries. 📚 📚 📚 Would you like to learn more about Operation Condor? Then definitely check out the following book: -           J. Patrice McSherry, Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America (Plymouth, Rowman & Littlefield Publisher, 2005). 

#OnThisDay – In 1983, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) screened the film The Day After, a groundbreaking film that captured the devastating effects of a fictional nuclear war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact on ordinary American citizens in Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. Created by Edward Hume, Robert Papazian and Nicholas Meyer, the film attracted 100 million viewers on the first viewing, making it the most-watched TV film of its time.   The Day After aired in times of high tension. U.S. President Ronald Reagan had significantly increased military spending and aid to anti-Communist movements abroad, introduced the Strategic Defence Initiative, and planned to deploy Pershing II missiles in West-Germany. Even though the filmmakers promised to stay apolitical, the film already increased political tensions before it was launched. Activists of the Nuclear Freeze Movement saw the film as a way of spreading their message of disarmament, while conservatives supporting the Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) doctrine feared it might overwhelm the public, potentially leading to anti-deterrence stances.   Contrary to warnings of psychologists on widespread traumatization, the overall public response to the film was ‘‘a thoughtful reaction, not a panicked one’’. Public opinion on nuclear policy remained largely unchanged, but the film did succeed in increasing political engagement. Many viewers interpreted it according to their already-existing political preference – some perceiving it as a cautionary tale, others as anti-deterrence ‘‘propaganda’’ And some even argued that the film had played a significant role in shaping their views on nuclear policy and global conflict.   Even President Reagan, who viewed The Day After in a private screening at Camp David in October, felt its impact. In his diary, he wrote that the film ‘‘left (him) greatly depressed’’. However, after the public viewing in November, he stated that ‘‘it didn’t say anything we didn’t already know, that is that nuclear war would be horrible, which is why we’re doing what we’re doing – so there won’t be one.’’ Although the film’s impact on Reagan’s policies was minimal, The Day After remains a landmark in American media, remembered for stirring the public’s awareness of nuclear devastation and the fragile peace of the Cold War era.   📚 Do you want to learn more about The Day After and its impact on the American society? Then definitely check out the following articles! - Deron Overpeck. ‘‘Remember, it’s Only a Movie! Expectations and Receptions of The Day After (1983).’’ Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 32, no. 2 (2012) 267-292. - David Craig and Robert Iger. Apocalypse Television: How the Day After Helped End the Cold War. Applause Books, 2023. - Glenn Collins. ‘‘Students Voice Fear and Hopelessness in Talks The Day After ‘The Day After’.’’ The New York Times, November 22, 1983.

#OnThisDay- In 1947, the Screen Actor Guild (SAG), an American labor union that represented actors, voted to require its officers to swear an anti-communist loyalty oath. Just a month earlier, the ''Hollywood Ten'' had been charged with contempt of Congress, leading to their eventual imprisonment. The Hollywood Ten consisted of Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo. After World War II, the U.S. underwent a period of intense fear of communism, known as the Second Red Scare, during which individuals suspected of communist sympathies faced aggressive questioning, career loss, and even imprisonment. At the time, the U.S. government was concerned about communist espionage and communist influence in its institutions. The entertainment industry also fell victim to the Second Red Scare. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a congressional committee tasked with investigating alleged disloyalty among private citizens and public employees, launched an investigation into the entertainment industry after receiving indications of alleged communist sympathies within the industry. The HUAC organized hearings in October 1947. At the time of the hearings, the HUAC had eleven members, one of whom was future U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. The hearings began with ''friendly witnesses'' who cooperated with the HUAC, such as Walt Disney and the SAG president (and future U.S. president) Ronald Reagan. However, ten actors and screenwriters refused to answer questions about their possible communist affiliations or sympathies. The HUAC accused these individuals of contempt of Congress, and they became known as the ''Hollywood Ten." The Hollywood Ten received support from an action group founded by actors called the Committee for the First Amendment. However, the group was met with suspicion and backlash. Some of its members also belonged to the SAG. Therefore, on November 17, Reagan, as president of the SAG, issued an anti-communist loyalty oath, making support for the Hollywood Ten practically impossible. On November 24, the House of Representatives voted in favor of HUAC's charges, and the Hollywood Ten were arrested. The following day, after a meeting of 50 movie industry executives, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) president released the Waldorf Statement, announcing that the Hollywood Ten would be suspended without pay and permanently blacklisted from Hollywood. The first Hollywood Blacklist was born, marking the start of the Hollywood Blacklist era, which destroyed many careers in Hollywood. Some screenwriters were forced to work under pseudonyms, such as Dalton Trumbo, a member of the Hollywood Ten, who wrote the screenplay for the movie 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘴 (1960). The Blacklist era persisted until the late 1950s.

#OnThisDay – In 1979, Margareth Thatcher exposed art historian and former MI5 officer Anthony Blunt as a Soviet spy to the House of Commons, confirming the already-existing rumours that Blunt was the fourth spy of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring. In her speech, Thatcher revealed that the MI5 had already obtained a confession by Blunt in 1964, but that this had been kept secret from the public and event from the then-Prime Minister Alec Douglas Home.   During his time at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the 1930s, Anthony Blunt was drawn to Soviet ideology, viewing it as the only effective alternative to the rise of fascism on the European continent. It was at that time that Blunt was recruited as a Soviet spy by the NKVD, the Soviet Secret Intelligence Service. During the Second World War, Blunt served as an MI5 officer, using his position to forward numerous classified and sensitive documents to the Soviet Union. Thatcher argued in her speech that remained to be seen which documents were forwarded.    After the war, Blunt returned, rather successfully, to his career as an art historian, becoming a royal art curator and receiving a knighthood in 1956. However, suspicions about Soviet infiltration among Cambridge alumni grew in the 1950s, especially after several of his associates suddenly fled the country. Blunt was questioned extensively, but in all eleven interviews, he denied his involvement. It was not until 1964, when his former American college associate Michael Whitney Straight passed his name to the MI-5, that the secret service had proof of his involvement. To avoid a lengthy investigation with little hope of sufficient evidence for prosecution, MI5 granted Blunt immunity in exchange for a full confession and cooperation on future investigations.   After his confession, only the Royal Family and Home Secretary Henry Brooke were informed. It was not until Thatcher’s speech in 1979 that his involvement became publicly known. The speech immediately led to Blunt’s loss of knighthood, and even though the Academy chose not to expel him, Blunt resigned in 1980. Three years later, Blunt passed away at age 75.   📚 Do you want to learn more about Margaret Thatcher’s speech, Anthony Blunt and the Cambridge Five? Then definitely check out the following books and articles! - “BBC Archive 1979: State Security,” June 27, 2001. Link is in the first comment!  - Burnett, Berenice, Erica Forktus, and David V. Gioe. “Spying (in)Spires: The Dwindling Likelihood of an Oxford Spy Ring to Rival the Cambridge Five.” Contemporary British History 38, no. 1 (September 22, 2023): 45–70.  - Bolton, Jonathan. The Blunt Affair: Official Secrecy and Treason in Literature, Television and Film, 1980-1989. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020). Photograph 1: Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Rob Bogaerts, via Wikimedia Commons) Photograph 2: Professor Anthony Blunt (via Wikipedia)

#OnThisDay – In 1973, the Soviet Union officially announced its refusal to play their World Cup qualification match against Chile, scheduled for November 21st in Santiago. The Soviet boycott was a protest against the recent overthrow of socialist President Salvador Allende, and against the brutal actions of the new Pinochet regime. The Estadio Nacional in Santiago, where the match was to be held, had been repurposed as a detention centre, where thousands of political opponents were detained, tortured, and even killed.   Earlier that November, FIFA officials came by the stadium for inspection. Testimonies of detainees remember how they were held captive under gunshot in the locker rooms and tunnels, while FIFA representatives checked the pitch and simply concluded that nothing was happening at the stadium. The Soviet Union had to play, or otherwise face disqualification.   FIFA and the USSR tried to reconcile, but every form of compromise was rejected. FIFA rejected the Soviet proposition to play the match in a neutral country, whereas the Soviet Union refused FIFA’s proposal to play the match in a different Chilean city. Despite concerns that other communist-bloc-countries – such as Poland, Bulgaria, and East-Germany – might join the boycott, FIFA disqualified the Soviet Union from the World Cup.   Despite the USSR’s disqualification, the match still took place on November 21st. In a bizarre spectacle, the Chilean national team kicked off on a field half-empty, symbolically scoring their team to the next round in the World Cup. Striker Carlos Caszeley remembers the match as ‘‘a worldwide embarrassment’’. When Pinochet invited the national team for their send-off to Germany, Caszely publicly protested the regime by refusing to shake Pinochet’s hand – a gesture that led to the torture of his mother as punishment. Chile’s World Cup adventure ended without success, casting a shadow over what had already been one of the most politically charged moments in football history.     Do you want to learn more about this boycott and the wider impact of repression and authoritarian regimes on international sports events? Then definitely check out the following articles! - Leventhal, Adam. ‘‘Chile’s walkover against the USSR, 50 years on.’’ The New York Times. 21 November 2023. -  RolfPorseryd. “Chile-USSR,” May 8, 2007. (You can find the YouTube link in the first comment!) -  Scharpf, Adam, Gläßel, Christian, and Edwards, Pearce. “International Sports Events and Repression in Autocracies: Evidence from the 1978 FIFA World Cup.” American Political Science Review 117, no. 3 (2023): 909–26.   Photograph 1: Soldiers at the Estadio Nacional in September 1973 during its use as a detainment centre (via Wikimedia Commons). Photograph 2: Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile (via ñuñoa Municipalidad). Photograph 3: Augusto Pinochet (Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, via Wikimedia Commons)

𝗨𝗽𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 Contesting Governance 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺!   The Contesting Governance Platform is organising a book launch of ''𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗘𝗹 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟭-𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟰''. The book presents previously unpublished images by Time Magazine photographer Robert Nickelsberg, supplemented by essays from renowned journalists – including Jon Lee Anderson, Carlos Dada, Alma Guillermoprieto, Robert Nickelsberg, and Scott Wallace – together illustrating an important chapter in Central American history during the Cold War.   𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞! 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝟏𝟔.𝟑𝟎 – 𝟏𝟖.𝟎𝟎 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝟐𝟑, 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝟐𝟎𝟔   Joining the discussion are Chris van der Borgh and Leon Willems. Chris van der Borgh specialises in issues of peace and security, political order, and intervention. His recent research deals with security politics in El Salvador, a country where he has extensive field experience, both as a practitioner and a scholar. Leon Willems works as a senior advisor for Free Press Unlimited, a NGO that supports independent journalism worldwide and initiates and assists the creation of independent media in 40 repressive and fragile countries. The session will be moderated by Thijs Jeursen as coordinator of the Contesting Governance Platform. Afterwards, there will be some drinks for further discussion. 

❗ 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 ❗ Unfortunately, due to unforeseen personal circumstances the seminar by Dr. Debby Esmeé de Vlugt will be postponed until further notice. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

📢 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆!📢 This afternoon, the CWRN is hosting an exciting seminar by Dr. Debby Esmeé de Vlugt titled ”𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆: 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿”. 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀! 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟳, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. 𝟭𝟲.𝟬𝟬 – 𝟭𝟴.𝟬𝟬 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝟮𝟱, 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝟯𝟬𝟭 (𝗨𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆) 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗯𝗶𝘁.𝗹𝘆/𝟯𝗡𝗽𝗿𝗟𝗤𝗥 In the spring of 1969, two leading members of the African American Black Panther Party (BPP) crossed the Atlantic to embark on a speaking tour of Scandinavia. Their goal was to spread awareness of their revolutionary work among like-minded Europeans and raise support for their campaigns to end racial discrimination in the United States. The tour ended up being a massive success, bringing together thousands of young activists and paving the way for a solidarity network that would eventually spread across Northern and Western Europe. In this seminar, Dr. Debby Esmeé de Vlugt will explore the history of this solidarity network and position it in the broader context of the Cold War. Based on her previous research on Black Panther solidarity in the Netherlands and ongoing work on Black Panther activism in Europe, she will discuss how solidarity with the BPP provided a prominent platform for anti-Americanism and how it enabled African American radicals to claim a vanguard status in the global fight against US imperialism. We look forward to seeing you there!