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HIDDEN HISTORY of
The U.S.-Russia Relationship
Welcome to Hidden History, a new monthly newsletter from Narratively exploring the nuanced, obscure and forgotten histories of one newsworthy topic each month.
In our second edition, as President Trump and Vladimir Putin meet just days after the U.S. indicted 12 Russian intelligence agents, we're taking a look at the long and complex relationship between the United States and Russia.
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HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Russia's involvement in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections is an ongoing theme in international news. Many people don't know that something similar happened nearly 60 years ago.
The Last Time the Russians Intervened in a U.S. Election
As Kennedy and Nixon clashed in the 1960 race, Nikita Khrushchev took an unusual interest in the outcome—and two captured American airmen got caught in the middle.
BACKGROUND BRIEFING: Spy Games
The U.S. and Russia have historically used every possible opportunity to gain intelligence on what the other is doing. Russia's involvement in American politics has been known to go very deep indeed (and vice-versa).
JFK's Russian Conspiracy
Kennedy had his own secret backchannel with Moscow. It may have kept the superpowers from going to war.
The History of Russian Involvement in America's Race Wars
Accounts tied to the Russian "troll factory" Internet Based Research used social media during the 2016 electoral campaign to deepen political and racial tensions in the United States.
What's more alarming is that despite the technology used, these sorts of tactics aren't exactly new. They are part of a history of "covert influence campaigns" with a goal of making discord louder. Divide and conquer.
The Secret History of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco
Overflights, mapping fiber-optic networks, “strange activities.” Moscow’s West Coast spies were busy.
In an interview on state-run television in July 2017, Putin announced that he was decreasing the number of personnel working at U.S. diplomatic facilities in Russia by 755. The Trump Administration's retaliation for this move was closing the San Francisco consulate.
LIFTING THE CURTAIN: Americans in the Soviet Union
Travel and cultural exchange were highly restricted during most of the Soviet era but some Americans did manage to go inside the USSR. Here are two such stories detailing two very different experiences.
This Crusading Socialist Taught America's Workers to Fight. Then He Lost His Faith.
Convicted of murder after leading the strike of the century, Fred Beal fled to the promised land: the USSR. It was a huge mistake. Read this brand new story, just published today on Narratively.
How Folk Rock Helped Crack the Iron Curtain
Fifty years ago, 160 young Americans defied State Department orders and partied on the streets of Moscow. The Cold War would never be the same.
MORE HIDDEN HISTORY
Dive into these recent historical stories from Narratively:
If you missed last month's Hidden History newsletter about North Korea, you can still check it out here.
As always, thanks for reading! And don't forget, if you enjoyed this month's newsletter and want to get more historical deep dives delivered straight to your inbox every month, sign up here!
Sincerely,
The Narratively Team
