From East-West balancing to militant anti-communism : the socialist international and the beginning of the cold war, 1947-1949

The journal known as Socialist World-the short-lived publication of the Committee of the International Socialist Conference-is instructive for what it reveals about European Social Democracy at the beginning of the Cold War and about the problems of internationalism among Socialists. At first, the journal served to mediate between West European anti-Communist Socialists and the Communists in Eastern Europe. The Socialists tried to reach a common understanding of world affairs through a dialogue across borders, but divergent ideas and the impact of international events tore this cohabitation apart. After the Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, Socialist World became an instrument of anti-Communist propaganda. The articles in the journal also reveal the interests, concerns, and opinions of Socialists during the early Cold War regarding bipolar confrontation, planning, European integration, and colonialism. The journal was too public to allow frank discussion and too overburdened with rules to focus on topics of greater interest. Socialist parties that aspired to gain election in their countries wanted to protect their respectability-a concern made more urgent by the Cold War.