Browsing by Author "Dalbina, Ilze"

Promotion of cultural relations with foreign countries was instrumental for implementing Soviet foreign and domestic policy during the Cold War era. In the Latvian SSR, cultural relations with foreign countries were organized in accordance with aims and the institutional system of the Soviet Union. This study provides an insight into the Soviet policies of cultural cooperation through a pinhole – following the development of the Latvian SSR Department “Soviet Union – Finland” from the incentives for its establishment in the mid-1950’s to its reorganization in 1989. This research analyses the correlation of the work of the Department with the ideological and political context of the Cold War era, describes the aims, tasks, and the membership policy of the Department, as well as the various activities organized by the Department for strengthening the cultural ties between the Latvian SSR and Finland. The research is based on qualitative, descriptive and comparative research methods and focuses mainly on source analysis of Collections of the Latvian State Archive, particularly the Collection No.338 of the Latvian SSR Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries that includes conference documents, reports on presidium sessions, work reports, documents concerning different friendship organizations, accounting documents, photographs from foreign tourism trips and visits by foreigners, originals and copies of publications by the press. Interviews of the members of the department have been collected thus providing a valuable insight into the work of this institution. The research shows that the work of the Department showcases the developments in Soviet Union’s political and ideological setting through its official meetings, conferences, annual plans and reports. At the same time, an official framework for cultural cooperation was filled with creative content that could be seen in the activities of the Department and connected people with interest in Finnish culture and way of life thus creating and promoting cultural ties and the exchange of albeit limited information.