University of Mary Washington Eagle Scholar Student Research Submissions Spring 5-9-2021 Nation-Building in Newspapers: A Comparison of Lithuanian and Ukrainian Ethnic Newspapers in America, 1940-1953 Emily Johnson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, Emily, "Nation-Building in Newspapers: A Comparison of Lithuanian and Ukrainian Ethnic Newspapers in America, 1940-1953" (2021). Student Research Submissions. 392. https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/392 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by Eagle Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Research Submissions by an authorized administrator of Eagle Scholar. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Nation-Building in Newspapers: A Comparison of Lithuanian and Ukrainian Ethnic Newspapers in America, 1940 -1953 Emily Johnson HIST 485 Dr. Steven Harris 5/9/2021 1 Abstract: The scholarly debate surrounding the American diaspora’s involvement in setting the foundation for myths about nationalist fighters used in Eastern European memory wars today places responsibility for these myths with the Displaced Person (DP) wave of immigrants. However, ethnic newspapers during World War II reveal that nationalist sentiments and favorable feelings toward nationalist movements existed before the DPs arrived. As expressed in such newspapers, these sentiments pushed those of Lithuanian and Ukrainian descent in America to advocate for Eastern European nations’ independence from the Soviet Union. Consequently, a nationalist foundation was already set for the DP population to build upon when they arrived, enabling them to withhold information on the violence of the nationalist movements to portray the nationalists as patriotic victims.