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HOW SOVIET AND AMERICAN FARMERS HELPED END THE COLD WAR
LEE WINNINGHAM, HISTORY NEWS NETWORK - Despite the parade of books and
papers during the years following the Cold War, historians continue to
overlook a series of events that could add immensely to our
understanding of the conflict. In the mid-1950's, ordinary American
farmers and Soviet officials, out of a desire to share agricultural
knowledge, attempted to break through the ideological barriers that
separated them by participating in an agricultural exchange program. . .
According to the testament of many participants, the exchanges broke
down stereotypes and ideological barriers. . . On many occasions these
men placed a remarkable emphasis on the realization that though there
were differences between Soviets and Americans, their similarities
outweighed their differences. This, however, did not stop many,
especially on the American side, from boasting and flaunting their way
of life as superior.
One of the most important characteristics of the exchanges was the
apparent disconnect between how officialdom viewed the Soviet visitors
and how ordinary Americans received them. Despite the fact that
President Eisenhower endorsed such exchanges, many officials in America
attempted to throw every roadblock possible in the path of the exchange
program, almost stopping it all together in the early summer of 1955. .
.
The belief that both sides could live in peace gains credence when one
sees groups of Soviet and American citizens using common denominators
such as agriculture to coexist and travel within each other's borders. .
.
http://hnn.us/articles/40532.html
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HOW SOVIET AND AMERICAN FARMERS HELPED END THE COLD WAR
LEE WINNINGHAM, HISTORY NEWS NETWORK - Despite the parade of books and
papers during the years following the Cold War, historians continue to
overlook a series of events that could add immensely to our
understanding of the conflict. In the mid-1950's, ordinary American
farmers and Soviet officials, out of a desire to share agricultural
knowledge, attempted to break through the ideological barriers that
separated them by participating in an agricultural exchange program. . .
According to the testament of many participants, the exchanges broke
down stereotypes and ideological barriers. . . On many occasions these
men placed a remarkable emphasis on the realization that though there
were differences between Soviets and Americans, their similarities
outweighed their differences. This, however, did not stop many,
especially on the American side, from boasting and flaunting their way
of life as superior.
One of the most important characteristics of the exchanges was the
apparent disconnect between how officialdom viewed the Soviet visitors
and how ordinary Americans received them. Despite the fact that
President Eisenhower endorsed such exchanges, many officials in America
attempted to throw every roadblock possible in the path of the exchange
program, almost stopping it all together in the early summer of 1955. .
.
The belief that both sides could live in peace gains credence when one
sees groups of Soviet and American citizens using common denominators
such as agriculture to coexist and travel within each other's borders. .
.
http://hnn.us/articles/40532.html
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