A Pivotal Turn: Prague Spring 1948 and the Soviet Construction of a Cultural Sphere

Abstract

This article begins to describe the Soviet Union's attempt to create a cultural sphere in the emerging Eastern bloc through the lens of musical ties, exchanges, and competitions. Focusing on a pivotal international festival, Prague Spring 1948, it strives to reveal Soviet aspirations, strategies, and expectations for its cultural sphere during one of the Cold War's most formative periods. It argues that the festival marked the moment at which two cultural spheres in Europe became operationally distinct. Within the Soviet sphere, it also argues that Soviet confusion and insecurity, prevailing attitudes among East Central European musicians, and Soviet efforts to placate them created a baseline of internal diversity and an emphasis on competition with the West from which Soviet discipline later could be imposed more aggressively. By characterizing Soviet decision makers' overarching visions in early 1948, it provides a descriptive starting point for study of the construction of a Soviet cultural sphere and the transformation of the Soviet cultural 'system' that resulted from its contact with an East Central Europe that it sought to dominate politically, economically, and militarily. It thus initiates a study of how the Soviet Union's imperial presence in East Central Europe changed Soviet society and culture.