The purpose of this dissertation is to describe and analyze how the Soviet Union attempted to win the sympathies of the Swedish population during the period 1945-1958 through the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (VOKS) and the Sweden-Soviet Union Societies. The dissertation includes the central Soviet decision-making apparatus’ general formulation of strategy and what means were to be used to win the sympathies of populations in other countries. Concerning VOKS’s work targeting Sweden, this dissertation examines the general strategies and means used in practice. This dissertation links these activities with realism which serves as an analytical framework. Realism focuses states seeking their security in the international system. Security is considered achievable through strategies for using different means of force, in this case, diplomacy and its sub-instruments in the form of soft power and public diplomacy. Immediately after World War II, VOKS was seen by the Soviets as a tool for countering American and British propaganda. VOKS’s reorganization in the early 1950s led to more country-specific activities. Increasingly in the 1950s VOKS sought out partners from outside organizations associated with national communist parties. This strategy aimed to optimally convey the message and to popularize the Soviet Union. This also led to a decline in VOKS’s importance. VOKS during the period 1945-1958 can be viewed as a collaborative project between the state and the party.  The Soviet Union, through VOKS, used the Sweden-USSR Society to popularize the country among the Swedish public. VOKS took increasingly greater control over the societies’ activities, which were reviewed and approved by the Soviet Embassy in Stockholm and VOKS in Moscow. To develop these societies, VOKS increased its efforts to influence the Communist Party of Sweden (SKP) to take part in the societies’ activities. At the suggestion of VOKS in Moscow, the local Sweden-USSR societies formed a national organization in the autumn of 1950 called the Sweden-Soviet Union Federation. After 1953, VOKS’s interest intensified in implementing and developing cultural collaborations with other actors in addition to the societies. Near the end of VOKS’s existence, representatives from the Soviet Embassy and VOKS tried to establish an intergovernmental cultural agreement with Sweden. However, no such agreement was ever signed. The Soviet Union continued to channel most of its public diplomacy toward Sweden through the societies.

Jan Lomíček Doctoral thesis External and internal factors of Soviet Union image creation in interwar Czechoslovakia Abstract The doctoral thesis uses both Czechoslovak and foreign archival sources and period sovietica to analyse the most relevant inner and outer factors influencing the creation of a positive image of the Soviet Union in the eyes of interwar Czechoslovak public. On one hand, there were various mechanisms used by the Soviet propaganda. Here we can mention propagandist image of the USSR which was created according to Czechoslovak sympathizers' needs - pictorial periodicals, foreign broadcasting meeting listeners' demands etc. At the same time, the Czechoslovak public adopted the identical categories that were used by the Soviet side to describe the reality, such as work - education - equality - emancipation - freedom - new versus old - civilization - development - growth. Besides common propagandist means the USSR used also the foreigners' visits to confirm its idealized image. The approach to Czechoslovak citizens was improved after the Soviet travel agency Inturist had been launched. This agency should take care of the foreign visitors. However, the interwar travels to the USSR were not too common and frequent, which was caused both by the Soviet byrocracy and costs of such trips. The...

Cette thèse analyse les échanges artistiques entre la France et l’URSS durant l’entre-deux-guerres, leurs rouages et les avantages mutuels qu’ils présentent. Cette période connaît quatre phases successives, ce qui permet de découper la recherche en autant de parties. La première étudie la période d’avant la reconnaissance de l’URSS par la France et la mise en place des relations diplomatiques (avant 1924) ; la deuxième se penche sur les premiers liens officiels qui suivent ladite reconnaissance (1925-1928) ; la troisième s’intéresse aux années 1928-1934, période du « Grand Tournant » dans l’économie soviétique, et enfin la quatrième englobe les années qui suivent l’instauration du réalisme socialiste en 1934 et se termine avec la guerre. Notre projet tente d’évaluer la pertinence de l’approche stéréotypée portant sur le lien entre art et idéologie, de voir si la peinture soviétique, telle que présentée lors des expositions en France, était similaire à celle exposée en URSS et constituait un outil de propagande à part entière. Sous quelle forme l’art soviétique est-il présenté en France et quel est le rôle des instances dans la mise en place de ces manifestations ? Il s’agit d’étudier le rôle des acteurs de ces échanges : instances étatiques, associations, galeries, spécialistes d’art, intellectuels, collectionneurs ou enfin les artistes eux-mêmes. Nous nous intéressons également aux expositions d’artistes français et à l’organisation de leurs voyages en URSS. Ce travail montre que les maillons de la chaîne « politique-idéologie-finances » sont intimement liés entre eux et que l’argent a souvent un rôle décisif pour les instances soviétiques. / This dissertation focuses on artistic exchange between France and the USSR in the interwar period, its mechanisms and the benefits it presented. This period can be divided into four successive phases, accounting for the four parts this research falls into. The first part studies the years leading up to the recognition of the USSR by France and the setting up of diplomatic relations (prior to 1924); the second part deals with the first official links following the recognition (1925-1928); the third part focuses on the years 1928-1934, a period of economic change also known as « the Great Turn » in Soviet economy and the fourth and final part spans the years after socialist realism was established from 1934 on up to the outbreak of the war. This research questions the stereotypical approach to the link between art and ideology and asks whether Soviet painting, as shown during exhibitions in France, was similar to that shown in the USSR and whether it was, or not, a sheer tool for propaganda. Under what form was Soviet art presented in France and what role did authorities play in organizing artistic events? The role played by the actors of this exchange is studied: state authorities, associations, art galleries, art specialists, intellectuals, collectors, intellectuals, and last but not least the artists themselves. Also studied are the exhibitions of French artists and how their trips to the USSR were organized. This research shows that politics, ideology and money are tightly linked together and that money played a decisive role for Soviet authorities.

The thesis deals with the setting of functional communication using the Picture Exchange Communication System method at people with autism spectrum disorder through individual levels of education and is divided into the theoretical and the practical part. The key terms explaining the problematic of autism, significance of communication and education of people with autism spectrum disorder introduces the theoretical part which is split into a few areas. The main overarching is the Picture Exchange Communications System methods which compensates the disorder in communication of an individual with autism spectrum disorder either temporarily or permanently. Furthermore, based on the interviews with participants in the educational process, the thesis analyzes the application of the method and cooperation of the individual educational institutions but also parents. In the empirical part are the interviews complemented by the case study which completes the whole picture of research problem in question. The output of the thesis are recommendations compared with the results of the conducted research. The area of education of individuals with autism spectrum disorder is one of the most difficult pedagogical disciplines regarding to attention, individual approach, environment modification and at the same time...