Franklin Roosevelt, Pius XII, Joseph Stalin and the Problem of the USSR’s Image and Reputation During the Second World War
Abstract
The aggression of Hitler’s Germany against the USSR made our country an ally of the United States and Great Britain. But the decision to help USSR with weapons and hardware (the lend-lease act) faced opposition not only from the American isolationists but also from religious groups. Both Catholics and Protestants were against the very idea of helping the country in which churches were destroyed and the faithful were persecuted. They have considered such an idea to be immoral. To overcome the opposition in Congress, president F. D. Roosevelt and the US diplomats tried to convince Stalin to reject his policies of religious oppression. Roosevelt also asked pope Plus XII for help. At the same time German and Italian ambassadors were trying to convince the Pope to support their “crusade against the godless Bolshevik Russia”. The question of USSR’s image was an important issue throughout the course of war. The article tells the history of the most signifi cant efforts undertaken by the Western allies and Stalin to improve the international reputation of the USSR. First of all, it tells the story of the mysterious letter from Stalin to Plus XII (1942) and about even more mysterious visit of the American priest Stanislav Orlemansky to Moscow and his meeting with Stalin in 1944.
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