An entirely new time set in, especially after the 20th Congress of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in February 1956. The Congress
went down in history as the one that condemned the cult of personality
that had been created around the name of Joseph Stalin and declared a course
for peaceful co-existence with nations with different state systems. Tough
confrontation with capitalist countries gave way to negotiations. Heads
of government of the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain and France
had their first since the war meeting in the mid-50ies and Moscow became
a regular host to foreign government delegations.
Radio Moscow’s programs in those years were for peace against the policies
of the North Atlantic alliance. To counterbalance NATO the Soviet Union
and seven Socialist countries of Eastern Europe formed a Warsaw Treaty
Pact in 1955. Radio Moscow expanded its broadcasts to countries with socialist
orientation and fairly soon they began to be transmitted by national radios
in East European countries.
Journalists and announcers from East European radio stations came to work
for Radio Moscow. Lidia Petrova came to work for the Czech service back
then..
“The Czech service employees were all knowledgeable and eager to work,”
Lidia Petrova shares her recollections of the time. “They traveled throughout
the country for interesting stuff to be reported about. They traveled as
far as the Caucasus, Siberia and other remote corners of our country. We
got bags and bags of mail. And we organized quizzes and received the winners
as most welcome guests. Foreigners whose contract expired left with tears
in their eyes. Czechs loved us, and we loved them.”
Klara Okuneva of the Rumanian service has more to say on the responses
Radio Moscow got from the listeners:
“The letters came from all corners of Rumania and they were so full of
emotion,” Klara Okuneva says. “People shared their opinion about our programs,
told us their life stories and asked us for help in getting into contact
with workers, peasants and students.”
Europe was weary of politics and wars, so the radio became a sort of entertainment.
Radio Moscow accepts the rules of the game. It tells the listeners of the
sights of Moscow and launches a humourous series. For sport lovers the
French service offered reports from the Dynamo Stadium on a football match
between the Soviet Union and France. The first to hit the ball was the
French actor Gerard Phillippe. And fully aware of the Italian passion for
raffling and betting, the Italian service egged the listeners on guessing
the final score of the match, played between Moscow and Florence teams.
Foreign students were no longer a surprise in Moscow. Trains of friendship
packed with students from different countries eager to get education in
the Soviet Union arrived in Moscow by the hundred. 34 thousand guests from
131 countries came to Moscow in the summer of 1957 to participate in the
World Youth Festival. What a sight Moscow looked then, with streets studded
with European tailor coats, Indian saris, Japanese kimonos, Mexican sombreros,
Indonesian velvet caps and Scottish kilts. And foreign delegations were
invariably accompanied by Radio Moscow correspondents.
Foreign broadcasting veterans remember the long lines of guests near Radio
Moscow studios. The participants in the Festival wanted to share their
impressions of the Soviet Union and Moscow with their compatriots.
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