Problems of Russian History and Historiography

277 Ab Imperio, 1/2007 Michael KARPOVICH PROBLEMS OF RUSSIAN HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY I. American Policy Towards Russia1 Law School Forum2 Nov. 15, 1946 The present international crisis goes beyond the usual difficulties experienced by a coalition on the morrow of victory.3 1 Bakhmeteff Archive. Karpovich Papers. Box 14. Folder American Policy and Russia (1946). 2 The Harvard Law School Forum was founded in 1946 as a memorial to the students killed during the war by their classmates who came back, its Dedication reads: “Ninety-three students and graduates of Harvard Law School did not return from the war. Once like us they thronged the corridors of Langdell Hall and engaged in eager classroom argument and dreamed of long hours ahead to be happily spent in aiding their fellowmen to live and labor together in fairness and in peace. The lives they had devoted to the pursuit of justice were cut short in the defense of freedom. It is for us to carry on the work they were not permitted to complete. The victory they helped win has preserved for us the liberty to share in shaping our own lives and the welfare of our nation and the world. Freedom is not safety, but opportunity. The best return which we can make for their sacrifice is to have the determination to make full use of that opportunity by facing the perplexing problems now before us with courage and frankness and open minds. Therefore, we dedicate the Harvard Law School Forum to these ninety-three men.” The Forum’s first program, on March 8, 1946, was dedicated to a discussion of the war crimes trials. Two others speakers were John Fischer, Editor of “Harper’s Magazine”, and John Somerville, the author of “The Soviet Philosophy.” The Forum continues to function today. (For more details, See: http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/forum/memory.html). 3 In its main outlines, this unusual document evokes George Kennan’s policy of “containment ,” formulated first in his “long” telegram in February, 1946. Whether Karpovich was 278 M. Karpovich, Problems of Russian History and Historiography Its real source is the profound divergence in objectives, methods and principles between the Western democracies and the Soviet Union. In this controversy, the aggressive part has been played by the Soviet Union with the democracies on the defensive. Thus the single major disturbing factor in the present international situation is the foreign policy of the Soviet Government. This policy is disturbing a) because of its dynamic expansionism (acquisition of territory and extension of spheres of influence).4 familiar with its contents or not is irrelevant since his anxiety about the postwar reconstruction of the world, the role of the Soviet Union in it, and the fate of the countries in Central Europe can be found in his publications since 1943 (cf. “The ideological character of the present war cannot be ignored. This struggle is being waged for a new and better world. …The United Nations are fighting for triumph of social justice and personal liberty on an international scale. But like charity, justice and liberty begin at home. Here is another truth which applies in an equal degree to all the United Nations, Russia included. Neither Russia nor any other power of the victorious coalition will be able to bring social justice and personal liberty to the world unless every one of them strives to achieve both within its own borders.” (Michael Karpovich. Russia in the New World // Ruth Nanda Anshen. Beyond Victory. New York, 1943. P. 119). Karpovich’s particular concern, intensified toward the end of the war, was the fate of Poland when it became clear that the Soviet government’s intentions were at variance with the Yalta conference agreements and the Western powers were yielding to its aggression: “In all of Eastern Europe the same situation develops – the absence both of collective actions of allied states and the adherence to the democratic methods of political reconstruction. Nowhere is this picture of the violations of the Yalta agreements as obvious as in Poland .” Karpovich’s anxiety was made even worse by the position taken by some groups of Russian emigrants, for whom the incorporation of Poland...