The Extent of Soviet Infiltration Into Depression and Cold War America

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 August 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

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Summary

Soviet espionage existed in the United States since the U.S.S.R.’s founding and continued until its dissolution in the 1990s. It reached its height in World War 2 and the early Cold War, especially to steam atomic weapon’s technology (revealed to the public with the trials and executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, two Americans who fed intelligence back to the Soviets).

The funnel for Americans into Soviet espionage was the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), a movement that attracted egalitarian idealists and bred authoritarian zealots. Throughout its history, the American Communist Party attracted a variety of seemingly contradictory people. Democratic, reform-minded individuals who wanted to end inequality worked alongside authoritarians and ideologues who espoused Soviet propaganda. These factions reached loggerheads following Nikita Khrushchev’s revelation of Joseph Stalin’s crimes, leading to the organization’s decline into political irrelevance.

To look at this history is today’s guest, Maurice Isserman, author of “Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's going to hear with another episode of the History Unplugged podcast.
0:07.0	The Soviet Union had spies working in the United States from its founding in the 19-tings, all the way up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.
0:16.4	Soviet espionage expanded in World War II in order to steal military intelligence including radar, sonar, jet propulsion systems, and most importantly, nuclear weapon design.
0:28.0	Soviet espionage has been known since the Cold War due to high-profile arrests like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg,
0:35.0	but when the Soviet Archives were opened in the 1990s,
0:38.0	a number of other spies came out of the woodwork.
0:40.0	In today's episode, we're going to look at the extent of Soviet espionage in the United States,
0:45.7	look at their backgrounds, whether they were sent from the Soviet Union to America, or Soviet Intelligence
0:51.3	recruited homegrown American communists, and whether they work through American-based
0:55.7	organizations like the Communist Party USA.
0:59.1	This episode also looks at the foundation of the Communist Party USA in 1919 and its history throughout the decades.
1:05.6	And its growth in evolution and eventual deevolution in the 1960s and 1970s.
1:11.3	The CP USA reached the height of its power in the 30s and 40s when it was
1:16.2	inextricably linked to the labor movement. But after the enormous backlash of
1:20.3	communism in the 1950s, spearheaded by Joseph McCarthy, the group dwindled, and with
1:25.6	Akita Khrushchev's revelation of Joseph Stalin's crimes, the stock of the Soviet Union
1:30.4	fell across the world, and the CP USA fell into irrelevance in the 60s and 70s.
1:35.5	To look at Soviet espionage in the history of the CPUSA's today's guest, Morris Eisserman,
1:40.4	author of Reds, The Tragedy of American Communism.
1:43.0	Hope you enjoyed this discussion.
1:45.0	And one more thing before we get started with this episode,
1:50.0	a quick break for word from our sponsors.
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