Walter Duranty

Walter Duranty (1884–1957) was a Liverpool-born British journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for a set of stories he wrote in 1931 as The New York Times Moscow correspondent, covering Joseph Stalin's Five-Year Plan to industrialize the Soviet Union. The award of the Pulitzer Prize to him is controversial, largely due to Duranty's reporting on the Ukrainian famine in 1933. Image File history File links Duranty. ... Image File history File links Duranty. ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Liverpool skyline. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ... “Stalin” redirects here. ... Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the USSR or Piatiletkas (пятилетка) were a series of nation-wide centralized exercises in rapid economic development in the Soviet Union. ... Child victim of the Holodomor The Ukrainian famine (1932-1933) or Holodomor was one of the largest national catastrophes of the Ukrainian nation in modern history with direct loss of human life in the range of millions (estimates vary). ...

After finishing college, he moved to Paris. During the First World War, he avoided military service through his job as a reporter. In 1919, he gained initial notice from a story about the Paris Peace Conference. He then moved to Riga to cover events in the newly independent Baltic States. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, negotiated the treaties ending World War I. The Paris Peace Conference, 1946, negotiated the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947, with Germanys [[World War II allies and co-belligerents in Europe. ... Coordinates: Founded 1201 Government  - Mayor Jānis Birks Area  - City 307. ...

Duranty moved to the Soviet Union in 1921. Travelling by train from Paris to Le Harve in 1924, the train wrecked and Duranty's left leg was injured. After he was initially operated on, the surgeon discovered gangrene in the leg. The leg was removed. After recovery Duranty continued his career as a journalist in the Soviet Union. In 1929, he was granted an exclusive interview with Joseph Stalin which enhanced his reputation. This article contain photographs that you may find disturbing. ...

Views on the Soviet Union

In the reporting that won him the Pulitzer Prize, Duranty held that the Russian people were "Asiatic" in thought. That meant to him that they valued communal effort and required autocratic government. To him, individuality and private enterprise were simply impossible, alien concepts to the Russian people which only led to social disruption. Attempts since the time of Peter the Great to apply Western ideals in Russia were a failed form of European Colonialism that had been finally swept away by the 1917 Revolution. Lenin and his NEP were both failures tainted by western thought. Walter saw Stalin as getting rid of the New Economic Policy because he had no one of significant threshold to confront him and overtake his regime, as he was alone in ruling with no competition. There was also the famine that showed that there was no real opposition for Stalin as if ever a time for opposition it would have been then. There was no opposition mainly because he eliminated them all. Stalin did what Lenin could only try to do, “re-established a dictator of the imperial idea and put himself in charge” with means of intimidation. “Stalin didn’t look upon himself as a dictator, but as a ‘guardian of a sacred flame’ that he called Stalinism for lack of a better name.” (Walter Duranty, Duranty Reports Russia (New York: Viking Press, 1934). Stalin’s five-year plan was designed to be something much greater than a plan, it acted as an imbedded way of life, otherwise referred to as applied Stalinism. Peter I Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia Peter I (Pyotr Alekseyvich) (9 June 1672–8 February 1725 [30 May 1672–28 January 1725 O.S.1]) ruled Russia from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. ... It has been suggested that Benign colonialism be merged into this article or section. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a... Silver Ruble 1924 Gold Chervonetz (1979) The New Economic Policy (NEP) (Russian: Новая экономическая политика - Novaya Ekonomicheskaya Politika or НЭП) was officially decided in the course of the 10th Congress of the All-Russian Communist Party. ...

Duranty argued that the Soviet Union’s mentality in 1931 greatly differed from the perception created by Marxist ideas. Dunanty claimed “It would be more proper to refer to the principle present during the period of Stalin’s reign as Stalinism.” (Walter Duranty, Duranty Reports Russia (New York: Viking Press, 1934),238. Stalinism in Duranty’s view is a progression and integration of Marxism combined with Leninism. In a June 24, 1931 article in the New York Times, Duranty gives his views of the Soviet actions in the countryside that eventually led to the famine in the Ukraine. He described those who opposed collectivization of farming as an "almost privileged class" that had been created by mistake by Lenin. He said that the same logic that led to the overthrow of the Czarist regime must inevitably lead to the destruction of these people, whom he numbered at 5,000,000. He compared Stalin's logic in the matter to that of the Biblical Prophet Samuel or Tamerlane. He said that these people had to be "liquidated or melted in the hot fire of exile and labor into the proletarian mass". Duranty claimed that the Siberian labor camps were a means of giving individuals a chance to rejoin Soviet society but also said that for those who could not accept the system, "the final fate of such enemies is death.". Duranty, though describing the system as cruel, says he has "no brief for or against it, nor any purpose save to try to tell the truth". He ends the article with the claim that the brutal collectivization campaign which led to the famine was motivated by the "hope or promise of a subsequent raising up" of Asian-minded masses in the Soviet Union which only history could judge. June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tsar, (Bulgarian цар�, Russian царь; often spelled Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. ... For the chess engine Tamerlane, see Tamerlane. ... Soviet redirects here. ...

Rather than just repeating the Stalinist viewpoint, Duranty often admitted the brutality of the Stalinist system and then proceeded to both explain and defend why dictatorship or brutality were necessary.

The Famine

In 1932, reports of famine in the Ukraine started appearing from journalists such as Gareth Jones of the London Times and Malcolm Muggeridge of The Manchester Guardian. Both men defied travel restrictions and secretly went to view conditions in the Ukraine. In the spring of 1933, Jones left the Soviet Union and reported the famine under his own name in the Manchester Guardian. Around the same time, six British citizens were arrested on charges of industrial espionage. On March 31, 1933, Walter Duranty denounced the famine stories and Gareth Jones in the New York Times. In the piece, he described the situation under the title "Russians Hungry, But Not Starving" as follows: "In the middle of the diplomatic duel between Great Britain and the Soviet Union over the accused British engineers, there appears from a British source a big scare story in the American press about famine in the Soviet Union, with 'thousands already dead and millions menaced by death from starvation." Gareth Richard Vaughan Jones (1905 – August 1935) was a Welsh journalist who first publicised the existence of the Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 in the west. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (March 24, 1903–November 14, 1990) was a British journalist, author, satirist, media personality, soldier-spy and Christian scholar. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

English journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who had secretly been in Ukraine for The Manchester Guardian, later called Duranty "the greatest liar I have met in journalism." But while Gareth Jones had published his articles under his own name, the Muggeridge articles were published in the Guardian without Muggeridge's name on them. Neither Muggeridge nor any other member of the press establishment covering the Soviet Union came to the public defense of Gareth Jones. And while Jones wrote letters supporting the unattributed articles in the Guardian, Muggeridge did not write similar articles to the New York Times supporting Jones. Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (March 24, 1903–November 14, 1990) was a British journalist, author, satirist, media personality, soldier-spy and Christian scholar. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

Contradicting what he had written in the New York Times, on September 26, 1933 in a private conversation with British Diplomat William Strang, Duranty said, "it is quite possible that as many as 10 million people may have died directly or indirectly from lack of food in the Soviet Union during the past year." September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

The duel in the press over the famine stories came at the same time as sensitive negotiations over establishing diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. After relations were established in November 1933, a dinner was given for Soviet Foreign Minister Maksim Litvinov in New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Walter Duranty was given such a prominent role in the dinner that Alexander Woollcott wrote, "Indeed, one quite got the impression that America, in a spasm of discernment, was recognizing both Russia and Walter Duranty." Alexander Woollcott, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was a critic and commentator for The New Yorker magazine, and a member of the Algonquin Round Table. ...

Criticisms

Scholars such as Robert Conquest and Sally J. Taylor, have criticized Duranty for his deference to Joseph Stalin's and the Soviet Union's official propaganda in Duranty's news stories. Conquest has written several books, starting in the 1970s including The Great Terror and Harvest of Sorrows which have been critical of Duranty's reporting from the Soviet Union. Taylor wrote a book in 1990 called Stalin's Apologist : Walter Duranty: The New York Times's Man in Moscow (ISBN 0-19-505700-7). Dr. George Robert Ackworth Conquest (born July 15, 1917), British historian, became one of the best-known writers on the Soviet Union with the publication, in 1968, of his account of Stalins purges of the 1930s, The Great Terror. ... “Stalin” redirects here. ... Soviet Propaganda Poster during the Great Patriotic War. ...

Political commentators such as Joe Alsop and Andrew Stuttaford have also been critical of Duranty. [1] Joseph Wright Alsop V (October 11, 1910 – August 28, 1989) was an American journalist and syndicated newspaper columnist from the 1930s through the 1970s. ...

The New York Times hired a professor of Russian history to review Duranty's work. That professor, Mark Von Hagen of Columbia University, concluded Mr. Duranty's reports to be unbalanced and uncritical, and they far too often gave voice to Stalinist propaganda. He also said in comments to the press, "For the sake of The New York Times' honor, they should take the prize away". [2] The New York Times sent Von Hagen's report to the Pulitzer Board and left it to the board to take whatever action they considered appropriate. [3] The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Joseph Stalin Stalinism is the political and economic system named after Joseph Stalin, who implemented it in the Soviet Union. ... Soviet Propaganda Poster during the Great Patriotic War. ...

In his New York Times articles (including one published on March 31, 1933), Duranty repeatedly denied the existence of a Ukrainian famine in 1932–33. In a August 24, 1933 article in NYT, he claimed "any report of a famine is today an exaggeration or malignant propaganda", but admitted privately to William Strang (in the British Embassy in Moscow on September 26, 1933) that "it is quite possible that as many as ten million people may have died directly or indirectly from lack of food in the Soviet Union during the past year." [4] March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Child victim of the Holodomor The Ukrainian famine (1932-1933) or Holodomor was one of the largest national catastrophes of the Ukrainian nation in modern history with direct loss of human life in the range of millions (estimates vary). ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

American engineer Zara Witkin and UK intelligence have shown that Duranty knowingly misrepresented this well-documented event, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine. Several organizations have called on the Pulitzer Board to revoke his prize, but in 2003 the Board issued a statement announcing its decision not to revoke the prize, although it did state that "Mr. Duranty's 1931 work, measured by today's standards for foreign reporting, falls seriously short". Duranty was also criticized for defending Stalin's notorious show trials. Child victim of the Holodomor The Ukrainian famine (1932-1933) or Holodomor was one of the largest national catastrophes of the Ukrainian nation in modern history with direct loss of human life in the range of millions (estimates vary). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Moscow Trials were a series of trials of political opponents of Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge. ...

Later career

Duranty lived in Moscow for twelve years leaving in 1934. Later in that same year, he visited the White House in the company of Soviet Officials including Litvinov. He continued as a special correspondent for the New York Times through 1940.

He wrote several books on the Soviet Union after 1940 but never changed his opinions. He died in Florida in 1957.

See also

• Gareth Jones (journalist)
• Lion Feuchtwanger

Gareth Richard Vaughan Jones (1905 – August 1935) was a Welsh journalist who first publicised the existence of the Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 in the west. ... Lion Feuchtwanger (pseudonym: J.L. Wetcheek) (7 July 1884 - 21 December 1958) was a German-Jewish novelist who was imprisoned in a French internment camp in Les Milles and later escaped to Los Angeles with the help of his wife, Marta. ...

External links

Pulitzer Prize Articles by Walter Duranty

• "Red Russia of Today Ruled by Stalinism, Not Communism"
• "Socialism First Aim in Soviet's Program; Trade Gains Second"
• "Stalinism Shelves World Revolt Idea; To Win Russia First"
• "Industrial Success Emboldens Soviet in New World Policy"
• "Trade Equilibrium is New Soviet Goal"
• "Soviet Fixes Opinion by Widest Control"
• "Soviet Censorship Hurts Russia Most"
• "Stalinism Smashes Foes in Marx's Name"
• "Red Army is Held No Menace to Peace"
• "Stalinism Solving Minorities Problem"
• "Stalinism's Mark is Party Discipline"
• "The Russian Looks at the World"
• "Stalin's Russia Is An Echo of Iron Ivan's"

Books

• The curious lottery, and other tales of Russian justice, New York : Coward-McCann (1929)
• Red Economics, New York : Houghton Mifflin Company, (1932)
• Duranty reports Russia, New York : The Viking Press (1934)
• I write as I please. New York : Simon and Schuster (1935)
• One life, one kopeck; a novel, New York : Simon and Schuster (1937)
• Babies without tails, stories by Walter Duranty. New York: Modern Age Books (1937)
• The Kremlin and the people, New York : Reynal & Hitchcock, inc (1941)
• USSR : the story of soviet Russia, New York : J.B. Lippincott Company (1944)
• Stalin & Co. : the Politburo, the men who run Russia, New York : W. Sloane Associates (1949)

References

• Muggeridge, Malcolm Winter in Moscow (1934)
• Conquest, Robert The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties (1968)
• Conquest, Robert, The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine (1986)
• Crowl, James W. Angels in Stalin's Paradise: Western Reporters in Soviet Russia, 1917-1937; A Case Study of Louis Fischer and Walter Duranty. Washington, D.C.: The University of America Press (1981), ISBN 0-8191-2185-1
• Taylor, Sally J. Stalin's Apologist: Walter Duranty : The New York Times Man in Moscow. Oxford University Press (1990), ISBN 0-19-505700-7

The Pulitzer Prize Controversy

• The section of articles regarding the campaign to revoke Walter Duranty's 1932 Pulitzer Prize
• The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain — Duranty Protest Site
• The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) - W.Duranty Protest
• Ukrainian Congress Committee of America official site about Walter Duranty and "Holodomor"
• Zara Witkin's memoir of Soviet Russia, see pages 208-210
• Pulitzer Prize Board Statement on Walter Duranty's 1932 Prize