The American Media and the Soviet Union at the Onset of U.S. Intervention in World War II

Abstract

1942 was a crucial year for America and the Soviet Union. For the past twenty years, the United States had been fearful of the U.S.S.R. and the possibility that communism would spread. However, World War II forced Americans to change their perceptions of Russia. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies, which included the Soviet Union. Furthermore, with Hitler threatening to conquer Europe, America had to unite with the U.S.S.R. in order to defeat him. At this point, the U.S. supported a country that it had recently viewed as its enemy. But were Americans completely supportive of the Soviet Union during this time period, or did they remain suspicious of it? This paper will focus on the reaction of the American media to Russia within the first year after the United States entered the war. It will study articles from three major news publications: the New York Times, the Chicago Daily Tribune, and Time magazine. The New York Times and the Chicago Daily Tribune represented two distinct regions of the country (the East Coast and the Midwest, respectively), and Time magazine reached the nation as a whole.