Britain's Cold War by Barnett Nicholas J.;

Author:Barnett, Nicholas J.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786723734
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

Conclusion

The Soviets' space lead became a central part of the Cold War experience. It jolted orthodox Cold War depictions of the Soviet Union as an uncivilised system in a country which was struggling to cope with industrialisation and overcome the destruction suffered in World War II. British narratives both celebrated and feared the progress of the Other. The Soviets' space lead revealed public discourses which were part of a process of questioning the British and Western belief systems. The main change was a rethinking of what modernity meant; it now seemed impossible to suggest that it was absent from the Soviet system. The teleology of liberalism, which was usually manifested within the narrative of freedom under representative party democracy, was forced to reassert itself and it took the launch of the American satellite early in 1958 to return to the notion of parity.

Furthermore, this Cold War struggle exacerbated the battle between Christianity, secularism and the role of science in Western society. As humankind reached into the heavens, the naysayers launched warnings of the unknown and some kind of divine retribution which might emerge from space exploration. That the early advancement was made by the godless Soviet Union only acted to amplify the fear that Christianity was becoming moribund. Science was often presented as a homogenous entity which formed itself into a teleological metaphor for the human story and which would therefore replace Christianity as the dominant Western system of thought. In the struggle between modernity and pre-modern hangover, science as a worldwide entity was driving the human story to the next level of development.

The Soviets' achievement caused Britons to consider the success of the centrally planned Soviet system. Various areas of the social democratic left suggested that the ambiguously defined ideology of ‘socialism’ was in the ascendency. This celebration of Soviet advancement, however, did not take seed in the British press or among most of the left which remained largely anti-communist. The cause for celebration, which simultaneously prompted fear of the consequences of Soviet space exploration, meant the event was also lauded for the human achievement or, in some cases, tenuous links to it being a British exploit.

The narrative of early space exploration displays how it moved from fiction into an imagined reality that contributed to the British lived-experience of the Cold War. From its inception readerships were invited to engage with the space age, which prompted the audience to think about the consequences of space exploration. When the second satellite, containing the dog, was launched the anthropomorphism of an animal helped to perpetuate the myth of an uncivilised and inhumane Other. Moreover, the importance of naming the dog became central in producing its legend. Longer-term narratives of British national decline, combined with widespread condemnation of the Soviets, led to a counter-narrative of the West being more civilised because of its apparent abstention from the inhumane treatment of animals. While space exploration was the realisation of science fiction scenarios it also prompted future fictional engagements with science and the Cold War such as Maurice Edelman's A Call on Kuprin.

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