| Revision as of 04:14, 4 September 2021 edit71.113.149.131 (talk) →Background: Added President Biden to this page.← Previous edit | Revision as of 17:38, 14 November 2021 edit undo力 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers43,755 edits #REDIRECT Captive Nations - not a notable weekTags: New redirect RevertedNext edit → | ||
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| '''Captive Nations Week''' is an annual official observance in the ] aimed at demonstrating solidarity with the "]" under the control of authoritarian governments. | |||
| ==Background== | |||
| Initially, the week was aimed at raising public awareness of the ] of Eastern European countries and of the Soviet imposition of support to ] regimes in other regions of the world. | |||
| The week was first declared by a Congressional resolution in 1953 and signed into law (''Public Law 86-90'') by President ] in 1959. Every successive U.S. President, including President ] and President ] and President ], has declared the third week of July to be Captive Nations Week. During the Cold War, events of the Captive Nations Week have sometimes been attended by US Presidents, mayors and governors.<ref name=mh/><Ref name=reagan83> by PResident ], 1983 - ]</ref><ref> - Address by President ] at the Ceremony for Captive Nations Week - July 21, 1989 (video)</ref> | |||
| ==Present day== | |||
| After the ] in ], the week is also dedicated to supporting the newly democratic governments of these countries<ref> by President ]</ref> | |||
| Diasporas from undemocratic countries participate in events of the Captive Nations Week to draw public attention to problems with democracy and human rights in their respective home countries. Members of the ] community, as representatives of the last authoritarian country in Eastern Europe, have been constituting a major part of the participants of Captive Nations Week marches in the recent years<ref> - ], 17 July 2017</ref> In 2019, among the topics of the Captive Nations March has been solidarity with ] and other Ukrainians held captive by ] at that time.<ref> - ], 14 July 2019</ref> | |||
| In 2019 Marion Smith, Executive Director of the ], has called for a resurrection of the Captive Nations Week because of a number of countries like ], ], ] or ] still dominated by authoritarian and totalitarian Communist regimes and ] being target of a ].<ref name=mh>, by Marion Smith - ], July 12, 2019</ref> | |||
| ==Criticism== | |||
| The American foreign policy expert ], serving at the time as ambassador to ], sought unsuccessfully to dissuade President ] from proclaiming the week on the ground that the United States had no reason to make the resolution, which in effect called for the overthrow of all the governments of ], a part of public policy. | |||
| ] to the United States (specifically representatives of the ]) argued that the Captive Nations Week was ] rather than anti-Communist since the list of "captive nations" did not include Russians, thus implying that the blame for the oppression of nations lies on the Russian nation rather than on the Soviet regime (]'s allegedly ] views were named as the reason for this).<ref>{{cite book|title=Russophobia: Anti-Russian Lobby and American Foreign Policy|last=Tsygankov|first=Andrei|author-link=Andrey Tsygankov|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-230-61418-5|year=2009}}</ref> Members of the Congress have campaigned for nullification of the Captive Nations law.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3UW0K78P-jcC |title=All Was Not Lost: Journey of a Russian Immigrant from Riga to Chicagoland|author=Anatoly Bezkorovainy|year=2008|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781434364586}}</ref> | |||
| Nevertheless, in his official address on the Captive Nations Week in 1983, President Ronald Reagan quoted Russian dissident writers ] and ].<ref name=reagan83/> | |||
| Group of prominent American historians issued a statement claiming that PL 86-90 and the Captive Nations Week was largely based on misinformation and committed the United States to aiding "ephemeral" nations such as ] and ].<ref>{{cite journal | year = 1961 | title = A Statement on U.S. Public Law 86-90 | journal = Russian Review | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 97–98 | jstor = 126589 }}</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
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| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ==Bibliography== | |||
| * - Social Design Corporation. July 14, 2008. | |||
| * - ], Inc. 1999. | |||
| * White House. 2008. | |||
| * Tim Weiner and Barbara Crossette. "George F. Kennan Dies at 101; Leading Strategist of Cold War". '']''. March 18, 2005. | |||
| * ''George F. Kennan: Cold War Iconoclast''. Walter Hixson, 1988. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * (written for Captive Nations Week 1969) | |||
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Revision as of 17:38, 14 November 2021
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