Alexander Gumberg and Soviet-American Relations
Alexander Gumberg and Soviet-American Relations

Author: James K. Libbey

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2014-07-15

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 0813163641

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Born in Russia in 1887, Alexander Gumberg immigrated to the United States in 1903. He returned to Russia in 1917 as an American businessman sympathetic to the progress of Russia's Revolution. After the Bolshevik seizure of power on November 7, Gumberg became a secretary, translator, and adviser to the American Red Cross Commission and the Committee on Public Information. Through him a Soviet-American dialogue formed despite the lack of official relations. Gumberg advised congressmen who hoped to establish diplomatic ties between the two countries. He helped American publicists, publications, and institutions which sought to present a favorable, or at least balanced, picture of Soviet Russia. Gumberg did not seek to start a revolution to change the world, or to alter the morality of man. He did contribute quietly to a better understanding between the future superpowers when their normal ties had been broken.

Russia in War and Revolution
Russia in War and Revolution

Author: William Voorhees Judson

Publisher: Kent State University Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780873385978

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General William V. Judson was Military Attaché and Chief of the American Military Mission in Russia at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. His letters, memoranda, and reports constitute one of the most informed eye-witness accounts of war and revolutionary conditions under the Provisional and Bolshevik Governments of Russia after the February Uprising and abdication of Czar Nicholas II and shed light on the initiation of U.S.-Soviet relations. Judson's overriding task was to keep Russia in the war against Germany. His official communications pay particular attention to the organization and battle-readiness of the Russian Army. Published here for the first time is Judson's documentation of his December 1, 1917, meeting with Trotsky, the first official face-to-face discussions between a leader of the Bolshevik government and a diplomatic representative of the U.S. government. Notable as well in this volume are Judson's analyses of the role of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies and the Kornilov Uprising. The collection concludes with some of his observations on revolutionary Russia and U.S.-Soviet relations after his return to the States in February 1918. Judson was convinced of the necessity of direct discussions and negotiations between the U.S. and the Trotsky-Lenin government following the Revolution. However, President Wilson and the three Republican administrations that succeeded him chose a different course. The publication of these papers will contribute to our understanding of both the Revolution and the American struggle to find an appropriate policy to guide relations with Bolshevik Russia.

The First Cold War
The First Cold War

Author: Donald E. Davis

Publisher: University of Missouri Press

Published: 2002-08-26

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 0826263453

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In The First Cold War, Donald E. Davis and Eugene P. Trani review the Wilson administration’s attitudes toward Russia before, during, and after the Bolshevik seizure of power. They argue that before the Russian Revolution, Woodrow Wilson had little understanding of Russia and made poor appointments that cost the United States Russian goodwill. Wilson later reversed those negative impressions by being the first to recognize Russia’s Provisional Government, resulting in positive U.S.–Russian relations until Lenin gained power in 1917. Wilson at first seemed unsure whether to recognize or repudiate Lenin and the Bolsheviks. His vacillation finally ended in a firm repudiation when he opted for a diplomatic quarantine having almost all of the ingredients of the later Cold War. Davis and Trani argue that Wilson deserves mild criticism for his early indecision and inability to form a coherent policy toward what would become the Soviet Union. But they believe Wilson rightly came to the conclusion that until the regime became more moderate, it was useless for America to engage it diplomatically. The authors see in Wilson’s approach the foundations for the “first Cold War”—meaning not simply a refusal to recognize the Soviet Union, but a strong belief that its influence was harmful and would spread if not contained or quarantined. Wilson’s Soviet policy in essence lasted until Roosevelt extended diplomatic recognition in the 1930s. But The First Cold War suggests that Wilson’s impact extended beyond Roosevelt to Truman, showing that the policies of Wilson and Truman closely resemble each other with the exception of an arms race. Wilson’s intellectual reputation lent credibility to U.S. Cold War policy from Truman to Reagan, and the reader can draw a direct connection from Wilson to the collapse of the USSR. Wilsonians were the first Cold War warriors, and in the era of President Woodrow Wilson, the first Cold War began.

Alternative Paths
Alternative Paths

Author: David W. McFadden

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1993-03-25

Total Pages: 459

ISBN-13: 0195361156

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Between 1917 and 1920--from the Bolshevik Revolution to the definitive statement of American opposition to Bolshevik Russia--Soviets and Americans searched for ways to effect meaningful interactions between their two nations in the absence of formal diplomatic relations. During these years, wide-ranging discussions occurred on a variety of serious issues, from military collaboration and economic relations to the comprehensive settlement of political and military disputes. At the same time, extensive debates took place in both countries about the nature of the relations between them. As McFadden shows in this pathbreaking book, based on research in Soviet archives as well as previously unused private collections and government archives in the United States and Great Britain, a surprising number of concrete agreements were reached between the two countries. These included continued operation of the American Red Cross in Russia, the transfer of war materials from the Russian army to the Americans, the sale of strategic supplies of platinum from the Bolsheviks to the United States, and the exemption of a number of American corporations from Soviet government nationalization decrees. Numerous important diplomats and politicians were involved in these negotiations. McFadden offers a timely reevaluation in a post-Cold War era.

Reform and Revolution
Reform and Revolution

Author: Neil V. Salzman

Publisher: Kent State University Press

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 9780873384261

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The author made use of recently available collections of personal letters and documents of Progressive reformer Raymond Robins in the papers of his sister, Elizabeth Robins, at the Fales Library of New York University to develop this complete analysis of Robins and his work.

William Appleman Williams
William Appleman Williams

Author: Paul Buhle

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-13

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1136657703

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Williams' controversial volumes, The Tragedy of AmericanDiplomacy, Contours of American History, and other works have established him as the foremost interpreter of US foreign policy. Both Williams and others deeply influenced by him have recast not only diplomatic history but also the story of pioneer America's westward movement, and studies in the culture of imperialism. At the end of the Cold War, when the US no longer faces any great enemy, the lessons of William Appleman Williams' life and scholarship have become more urgent than ever before. This study of his life and major works offers readers an opportunity to introduce, or re-introduce, themselves to a major figure of the last half-century.