THE MAKING OF THE SOVIET ALLY IN BRITISH WARTIME POPULAR PRESS

This study conducts a framing analysis of British popular press representations of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during 1939–41, when the definition of the Soviet Union as Ally was conceived, dismissed, revived and finally embraced with an enthusiasm that endured to the eve of the Cold War. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which the press framed an initially inscrutable third party to a bilateral conflict, and how it handled that party's transformation into an official ally. The definition of the Soviet Ally is found to be consistently reassuring and relational, with the Soviet frame depending upon other parties (particularly Britain) for much of its content.