The Formation of the Soviet Diplomatic Culture (1917–1939)

The article, based on the theory of field of P. Bourdieu, examines the complex evolution of the Soviet diplomatic culture in the interwar period. The idea of dismantling the diplomatic field as such dominated the minds of the Bolsheviks for a relatively short time and was quickly replaced by aspiration for a deep reformatting of the diplomatic field by introducing new practices and ideas about the legitimacy of social and symbolic capital into it. The Bolsheviks’ disillusionment with the prospects of the world revolution started the process of gradually embedding the Soviet foreign policy service in the diplomatic field and adapting to its structures. The assimilation of the appropriate habitus led to the formation of a special ethos among the diplomatic corps, which brought it closer to the Western behavioral model. At the negotiating level, this trend was reflected in the formation of diplomats’ desire to establish long-term relations with capitalist states, even at the cost of political concessions. The corresponding signs were clearly manifested during the Genoa Conference, and fully made themselves felt after M.M. Litvinov came to the leadership of the NKID (People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR), under whom the Soviet diplomatic corps acquired the visual features of a special socio-professional group. The most profound integration of the Soviet foreign ministry into the diplomatic field took place in the first half – mid-1930s during the implementation of its collective security policy. However, after 1936, Stalin’s desire to take full control of foreign policy against the background of the general failure of Litvinov’s course in the international arena launched the process of restructuring the NKID, which ended with the formation of the foundations of a new diplomatic culture.