ATTITUDE OF POPULATION TOWARDS THE WEST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600010204-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 23, 2004
• Sequence Number: 204
• Publication Date: February 11, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2004/02/10: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600010204-125X1 A
- -~ - -'-'CLASSIFICATION 3SCIT
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCI REPORT NO.
INFORMATION REPORT CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR I DATE DISTR, // Feb 1952
SUBJECT Attitude of Population towards the west NO. OF PAGES 3
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NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
IMf? 61-60
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1. In the Kurgan and Chelyabinsk regions the attitude of the population toward
the West is rather friendly. The war veterans and later the peacetime Soviet
soldiers coming from occupation forces stationed in Germany, Austria, Hun-
gary, Rumania and Poland, had brought along and spread the truth about the
western life, which is considered much better, and the living standard of
western peoples, which is uncomparably higher than the Soviet. This dif-
ference in living standards is common knowledge throughout the USSR. Told
and repeated are stories about comfortable houses and apartments in which
the western peoples are living; of how a family usually occupies an.. apart-
ment consisting of three to four nicely furnished rooms, while the Soviet
family is bavpy to be assigned one single room of "zhilploshchad" ("living
space"). Admired are western clothess and the fact that one person posses-
ses several suits or dresses, an almost inconceivable situation for the
average Soviet Citizeu, who normally has one, or at best, two suits of
clothes - the working one and the "holiday" suit. Characteristic:in this
connection is the Soviet line of propaganda, aiming to ridicule the west-
erners and the abundanc+: of clothes in western countries, the US in partic-
ular. This propaganda le typified in the following scornful remark, very
popular among Soviet propagandists and radio commentators: "Is it not
foolish to possess several hats having but one head to put them on?".
Yet, even if some Soviet citizens sincerely believe that this is foolish,
it is at the same time attractive. Stores in the vest full of free mer-
chandise and consumer goods in enormous quantities, available to all
classes of population, are admired by Soviets. Western workers are
envied for short working hours and unlimited freedom outside of this
period, not taken by the "volualtary" overtime work performed for the
"Fatherland" or :Comrade Stalin", or spent in attendance of obligatory
political meetings, lectures, etc.
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2. It it interesting to mote that all these stories are told more or less
openly as more statements, with nuns of the discussion which would be only
too natural in the comparison of western and Soviet lite. Neither is
there, on such occasions, any criticism of the Soviet living conditions,
nor is blase put on the gev*rnm.,%t. It is impossible to determine whether
this lack et'c riticisa is causer: INy tsar of the regime and the ever-present
MB; or is a result of the passive attitude of population used to the hard-
ships of the Soviet life, and of the universal almost fatalistic non-resis-
tance is all they have been subjected for many years. Beth are probably
?sontributing factors,
3. To understand this unusual attitude it should be borne in mind that through
the years of privation, insecurity,, fight for the daily bread to maintain
the bare existence, and all the hardships of the Soviet life, to which the
population had been exposed, the Soviet people have acquired a rather pecul-
iar mentality. For almost everybody in the USSR life is very hard. There
is ne time or use for meditation and mental analysis. With a fatalistic
shrug of the shoulders - 'What can we do a bout it?* - people simply dismiss
with as comment everything not directly connected with their daily life,
which absorbs not only their entire time, but their mental ai;d physical -
strength, as well, That is why stories of the western standard of living
and western life in general are passed around with no comment or dis-
cussion. It would be wrong, though, to assume that t" se stories are
passed unnoticed. Dismissed or not dismissed, they contribute to the
existing and ever-increasing postwar dissatisfaction of the Soviet people
with their lot, and under favorable conditions would produce definite
results.
4. The friendly attitude of the Soviet people toward the US had its beginning
in World War II, when enormous quantities of US military equipment, loco-
motives, trucks and food were sent to the USSR. Although the Soviet
Government tried to keep the population unaware of this help and even to
minimize and to ridicule it, not only millions and millions of servicemen,
but Soviet civilians also, benefited from this generous help. This will
not be forgotten by the people. The US equipment is highly praised and
admired in the Doviet Union. It goes so far that the adjective "Amer-
ikanskiy' is becoming a general term among the population to describe
any foreign equipment or machinery of high quality. Frequently even
the dismantled German machinery brought to the USSR is mistaken and
admired as 'Amerikanekiy'.
$. The friendliness towards Americans is especially noticeable among the
population of territories occupied during the war by Germans. Starving
and homeless people of these devastated areas were taken care of by
UNRRA, which in the broad masses of Soviet population was considered as
an American welfare organization. The unselfish and generous help ren-
dered after the war by the US to theme distressed peoples of Ukraine and
White Russia soon became common knowledge throughout the USSR, and con-
tributed very much to the friendly and sympathetic attitude of the popu-
lation toward US.
It is not uncommon to ::ear from Soviet veterans that ?Studebaker,' won
the battle of Berlin. It is well-known among servicemen that toward the
end of World War II the GAZ and ZCS trucks (auto manufacturing plants:
Gor'kevskiy 1vto Zavod and Zavod Imeni Stalina) used as prime-movers for
Soviet artillery were discarded andrwplaoed mainly by powerful Studebaker
trucks. Soviet veterans say that GAZ and ZIS trucks, compared with Studs-
bakari, are just 'Junk'. In this connection, it is of interest to mention
that at the present time the Soviet occupation army in Germany has on its
warti:a T/E as artillery prime-movers almost exclusively American Stude-
bakers. They are kept in garages in perfect mechanical condition, cleaned,
greased and oiled, ready for any emergency, and are not used even for
training purposes.
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8. Another important resistance which Soviet war propaganda is encountering
is caused by the poor experience the population had in the past war.
During World War II, trying despera';,ely to inspire and to unite the
people to resist the German invasion, the Soviet Government got away
fras any enforcement of Communist doctrines and has switched overnight
its vast and powerful propaganda apparatus to the strictly Russian-national
field. Russian national heroes, Aleksandr Nevekiy, Minin and Pezharskiys
Suvorov, Kutuzov, were taken out of "moth-balls" and glorified. The war
was officially proclaimed the "Second Fatherland War" and put on the same
glorious national level as the Russian Fatherland War of 1812. In numer-
ous statements made during the World War II the Soviet Government promised
the population far-reaching economic reforms, higher standard of living,
freedom and liberties yet unknown to the Soviet people. However, the
Soviet Government has shamelessly broken all its promises and subjected
the population to the same ruthless exploitation and police state admin..
istration as before the war. Famine which swept over the vast Soviet
areas in 1946-47 made living conditions almost unbearable. All this has
created among the population a widespread feeling that the government
has misused and deceived them.
It is a general belief in the Soviet Union that the country is heading
for an all-out war with the US. Korea is but the start. Soviet propa-
garda efforts to create agai:, a national spirit in the country and to
units the people for defense .Z "Fatherland" are seriously hampered by
the hopeless position in which disabled Soviet Army war veterans have
found themselves since the war. The government has not provided them
with sufficient disability pensions to maintain even a bare existence,
and it is not at all uncommon to see bemedaled Soviet veterans, officers
and soldiers, begging for a piece of bread and few kopeyek in town
markets and other public places. This certainly does not contribute to
the creation of a national war spirit and enthusiasm for a new vrr.
9. There isf however, a noticeable difference in the attitude toward the West
of the older and younger Soviet generations. The older group, and
especially the war veterans who had been exposed to the hardships of war
and experienced the deceptive Soviet propaganda, are mostly disillusioned
and dissatisfied. They fought and won the war, but their lot has not
become any better; it may even be worse. Unless the government can succeed
in presenting the coming we- to the population as a national one (which
after the World War II deception is an extremely difficult task), it can be
reasonably assumed that the Soviet veterans would not willingly fight and
die for 8talints regime, but would rathar surrender in masses at the first
opportunity. Hope that the Soviet Union would be defeated in another war
is not at all unusual among the older people. But the younger generation,
starting with the age classes born 1927, is much more reliable in this
respect. Not shaken by war experiences in their beliefs in Communist
i