Religion in the Publications of Finnish Peace Committee 1949–1970
Abstract
This article examines how the Soviet Union’s soft power influenced religion’s visibility in the publications of the Finnish Peace Committee in 1950–1970. The analysis is conducted using a qualitative network analysis to identify national and international networks that influenced the religious content of the publications. The Finnish Peace Committee aimed to look heterogenic similarly to the World Peace Council. Therefore, Christians, including bishops of the Finnish Lutheran Church, were engaged in the committee’s activities. Religion was thus prominent in the Finnish Peace Committee. Christian socialists who had worked either in the earlier Finnish Peace Movements or the Settlement movement wrote religiously in the publications. Christian socialists supported the co-operation between Christians and communists in the Finnish Peace Committee. Nevertheless, they were also subjected to a variety of cultural diplomacy by the Soviet-led peace movement. This influenced their attitudes towards the Soviet Union. The Prague Spring in 1968 particularly showed that Soviet religious-cultural diplomacy was successful among the Christians active in the Finnish Peace Committee.
Keywords: Christian Socialism, Finnish Peace Union, Finnish Peace Committee, Cultural Diplomacy, Religious Cold War, World Peace Council
