Abstract

The article examines the background, course and results of the visit of Eric Johnston, President of the US Chamber of Commerce, to the USSR in the summer of 1944 at the invitation of Joseph Stalin. The programme of his visit included meetings with the USSR Commissar of Foreign Trade, Anastas Mikoyan, visits to large industrial enterprises, meetings with their directors, party functionaries and cultural and artistic figures. It culminated in a lengthy meeting between Johnston and Stalin, during which a wide range of political, economic and commercial issues were discussed. The Soviet government saw Johnston as an iconic figure with infl uence not only in business but also in government circles. The Kremlin was interested in obtaining large US loans for the purchase of industrial equipment. Johnston was just the man to lobby both private American firms and the US government to grant these loans to the Soviet Union. Upon his return home he made every effort to secure a favorable resolution to the loan issue. Publications that painted a positive image of the Soviet Union and called for increased trade relations between the two countries were placed in key US business periodicals. Johnston’s position was shared by many businessmen and offi cials of relevant government agencies. However, proponents of a more pragmatic approach in both business and administrative circles pointed out that the United States could not increase imports from the Soviet Union to the level that would match the necessary exports and serve as collateral for a large loan. After Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, officially requested for the loan on 3 January 1945, the US government used the loan as an instrument of political pressure on the Kremlin.

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