Lenin's Legacy Down Under
New Zealand's Cold War

Edited by Alexander Trapeznik & Aaron Fox

Although described by Lenin as 'the country at the end of the world', like other western countries New Zealand was a participant in the defining ideological conflict of the twentieth century and there are stories to be told as a result.

Lenin's Legacy Down Under: New Zealand's Cold War uses the once-classified archives of the Cold War protagonists to reassess that conflict. It draws upon New Zealand, Russian, Chinese, American and Australian sources to re-evaluate the impact of the Cold War on New Zealand's foreign policy and domestic affairs from 1917 to the early 1990s.

The range of scholars and commentators contributing to the book is impressive. Aaron Fox reassesses the high-profile espionage cases against New Zealanders Ian Milner and Dr 'Bill' Sutch. Gerald McGhie reflects on his experiences of diplomatic service in Moscow, including a posting as Ambassador during the demise of the Soviet Union.

Anne-Marie Brady analyses New Zealand's relations with the People's Republic of China from 1949 through to the 1970s, including the roles of Rewi Alley and his supporters, and the Communist Party of New Zealand. This chapter also examines official attitudes towards the People's Republic of China, and provides an excellent case study of the international relations of a small nation, such as New Zealand, in the midst of the US-Sino hostility of the Cold War era.

Alexander Trapeznik examines the connections between the Communist International in Moscow (Komintern) and the Communist Party of New Zealand, and the degree to which Moscow directed and financed the policies and activities of New Zealand communists in the 1920s and 1930s. John Goodliffe examines Soviet commentaries on New Zealand, including social and political observations written in the 1950s and 1960s.

Contents

Introduction
1 The New Cold War History
2 New Zealand in the Cold War World
3 New Zealand Defence Policy during the Cold War
4 'Grandfather, Parents and Little Brother': a study of Centre-Periphery Relations
5 New Zealand Labour Movement and International Communism 1921-c.1938
6 Defining the 'Red Menace': 'Russophobia' and New Zealand-Russian Relations from the Tsars to Stalin
7 The Pedigree of Truth: Western Intelligence Agencies versus Ian Frank George Milner and William Ball Sutch
8 The War that never was: New Zealand-China Relations in the Cold War Era
9 New Zealand through some Soviet eyes during the Cold War
10 Russia through New Zealand eyes

Contributors

James Bennett, Anne-Marie Brady, Aaron Fox, John Lewis Gaddis, John Goodliffe, Barry Gustafson, Gerald McGhie, Jim Rolfe, Alexander Trapeznik, Tony Wilson

About the Editors

Alexander Trapeznik is a senior lecturer in history at the University of Otago. He has also edited Common Ground? Heritage and Public Places in New Zealand (2000).

Aaron Fox is an independent historian with a special interest in New Zealand's military, diplomatic and environmental history.

Publication details

ISBN 1 877276 90 1, paperback, 230 x 150mm, 248 pages, $39.95
Otago History Series
Release: April 2004