Soviet Peace Committee
Encyclopedia
Soviet Peace Committee was a state-sponsored organization responsible for coordinating peace movement
s active in the Soviet Union
. Soviet Peace Committee was founded in 1949 and existed until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
(an organization that was also founded in 1949).
The Soviet Peace Committee supported anti-war
campaigns against the wars or militarization of the non-communist, Western countries, but usually failed to condemn similar actions originating from the USSR or its allies. For example, in 1962 during a World Peace Council conference in Moscow
, the Committee strongly objected to criticism of Soviet resumption of nuclear testing, and threatened non-aligned activist who wanted to distribute leaflets with deportation. In the early 1980s, it criticized the European Nuclear Disarmament
(END) for its portrayal of the Soviet Union on the same level as NATO and the United States, arguing that while NATO deployment of nuclear missiles in Europe was "an aggressive policy", while the Soviet Union had the right to deploy such weapons. Some even saw the Committee as a front of KGB
.Michael McFaul, Sergei Markov, The troubled birth of Russian democracy: parties, personalities, and programs, Hoover Press, 1993, ISBN 0817992324, Print, p.301
Independent peace movements which operated without permission of the Committee were seen as suspect.
It gained a little bit more independence during the liberalization of the Soviet Union (perestroika
) of 1985-1991. In the last years of its existence, in early 1990s, the organization's official publication, Vek XX i Mir (20th Century and Peace), seen previously as a "reliable propaganda instrument", has addressed controversial (in USSR) issues such as the death penalty, liberalism
, human rights
, totalitarianism
and Katyn Massacre
.
The Soviet Peace Committee ceased to exist with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992 remnants of the Soviet Peace Committee were reorganized into the Federation for Peace and Conciliation.
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
s active in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Soviet Peace Committee was founded in 1949 and existed until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
History and activities
The Soviet Peace Committee was founded in August 1949. It was a member of the World Peace CouncilWorld Peace Council
The World Peace Council is an international organization that advocates universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass destruction and all forms of discrimination...
(an organization that was also founded in 1949).
The Soviet Peace Committee supported anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
campaigns against the wars or militarization of the non-communist, Western countries, but usually failed to condemn similar actions originating from the USSR or its allies. For example, in 1962 during a World Peace Council conference in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, the Committee strongly objected to criticism of Soviet resumption of nuclear testing, and threatened non-aligned activist who wanted to distribute leaflets with deportation. In the early 1980s, it criticized the European Nuclear Disarmament
European Nuclear Disarmament
European Nuclear Disarmament was a Europe-wide movement for a "nuclear-free Europe from Poland to Portugal” that put on annual European Nuclear Disarmament conventions from 1982 to 1991.- Origins :...
(END) for its portrayal of the Soviet Union on the same level as NATO and the United States, arguing that while NATO deployment of nuclear missiles in Europe was "an aggressive policy", while the Soviet Union had the right to deploy such weapons. Some even saw the Committee as a front of KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
.Michael McFaul, Sergei Markov, The troubled birth of Russian democracy: parties, personalities, and programs, Hoover Press, 1993, ISBN 0817992324, Print, p.301
Independent peace movements which operated without permission of the Committee were seen as suspect.
It gained a little bit more independence during the liberalization of the Soviet Union (perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
) of 1985-1991. In the last years of its existence, in early 1990s, the organization's official publication, Vek XX i Mir (20th Century and Peace), seen previously as a "reliable propaganda instrument", has addressed controversial (in USSR) issues such as the death penalty, liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
and Katyn Massacre
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
.
The Soviet Peace Committee ceased to exist with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992 remnants of the Soviet Peace Committee were reorganized into the Federation for Peace and Conciliation.
Chairmen
Soviet Peace Committee had four chairmen:- Nikolay Semenovich TikhonovNikolay Semenovich TikhonovNikolai Semenovich Tikhonov - a Soviet writer, a member of the Serapion Brothers literary group.-Biography:...
(1949–1979) - Evgeny FedorovEvgeny FedorovEvgeny Fedorov is a Russian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk of the Kontinental Hockey League ....
(1979–1981) - Yury Zhukov (1982–1987)
- Genrikh BorovikGenrikh BorovikGenrikh Averyanovich Borovik is a Soviet and Russian publicist, writer, playwright and filmmaker, the father of journalist Artyom Borovik.According to Vasili Mitrokhin, Borovik was a KGB agent in the United States, one of whose successful projects was promotion of false John F. Kennedy...
(1987–1991)