Authors

Niall Gray¹;  ¹ University of Strathclyde, UK

Discussion

The intersection between Scottish and Cold War history remains largely unexplored to this day. While the nation’s modern history has often been obscured within a centralised United Kingdom, writing surrounding the conflict has traditionally been state-centric in nature. However, theoretical innovations in both disciplines are now beginning to challenge these temporal and thematic divides. This paper discusses the history of one civil society organisation at the heart of these developments: the Scotland-USSR Society. Founded amid a wave of post-war euphoria, this group carved out a niche as the nation’s window onto the Soviet Union. This role was achieved through cultural diplomacy, with regular delegations of workers, musicians and educators forming a unique societal link between both nations throughout the Cold War. Indeed, these interactions were underpinned by a shared appreciation for figures such as Robert Burns and John Maclean, reflecting a distinct radical tradition within Britain. Making use of archives across the UK, this piece subsequently explores a rare ‘cultural backdoor’ that progressively overcame the Cold War’s institutional state rivalries. This culminated in the Edinburgh Conversations, a series of annual East-West nuclear weapons talks organised by the Society following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This initiative increasingly attracted officials from London, Moscow and Washington, speaking to the growing power of culture towards the Cold War’s end.