From Admiration to Mistrust: the Construction of USSR’s Image in France during the Interwar Period

The article examines the construction of USSR’s image in France during the interwar period. The establishment and development of the totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union sparked extensive discussions in the French media and cultural circles, where communist ideas found a place in the public sphere, primarily through the activities of the newly formed French Communist Party. This party served as a key conduit of information and played a central role in promoting a positive image of the Soviet Union, portraying the Soviet system as both efficient and better than the capitalist model. Medias like L’Humanité and translations of Soviet authors further reinforced this perspective. During this period, socialist ideals became a focal point of political debates, with many French intellectuals and writers, such as Henri Barbusse, actively supporting the USSR. The article explores the Soviet propaganda machinery, which advanced rapidly by employing innovative methods, such as political mass tourism, to attract new adherents to communist ideas and objectives. At the same time, relations with the USSR were marked by persistent tensions, culminating in the aftermath of the signing of the German-Soviet Pact in 1939. Anti-Bolshevik sentiments were widely reflected in numerous publications, while the animosity of White Russian émigrés, predominantly based in Paris, further fueled the distrust and apprehension with which a significant segment of the French public perceived the Soviet world. These critical voices challenged the utopian image of the Soviet Union, using books, articles, and posters to critique and satirize the regime. The image of Soviet Russia in France was constructed within a dichotomy in perceptions of the Russian world, shaped by contrasts such as barbarism-civilization, elite-people, East-West, individuality-collectivism, freedom-control, proletariat-bourgeoisie, capitalism-communism, old-new. The interwar period further deepened the kaleidoscopic image of the USSR in France, as contradictory and fluctuating perceptions coexisted in public opinion. While specific geopolitical and domestic political circumstances occasionally allowed certain images of the Soviet Union to dominate, they were always accompanied by parallel interpretations and assessments, reflecting the ideological orientations of different segments of French society.