The Bolshevik? The Faymonville Controversy in the 1930s and 1940s
Date
2012-05
Authors
Thompson, Steven
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Abstract
Brigadier General Philip Faymonville is a controversial figure in the history of World War II. His services were highly valued by Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins even as he was reviled by those in the American Embassy in Moscow by both those in the State Department and the War Department. He may have been an effective overseer of Lend Lease operations in the Soviet Union and the sole attaché officer who predicted the eventual triumph of the Red Army, but he was still the target of accusations of communist sympathy and even working for the Soviets as their agent. The animosity grew so intense, in fact, that accusations of homosexual behavior were lofted at him in the campaign to have him removed from the Embassy in Moscow.
Fifty years after his death he remains a controversial figure and the subject of articles and portions of books Though ultimately we will need to thoroughly investigate the Russian archives to get the best possible composite image of General Faymonville, in the meantime we can use what American sources we have to develop an image of him that can give us clues as to what his thinking was and determine if there was a valid point to the complaints of those working alongside Faymonville in the Embassy in Moscow. This will be the central theme of the thesis.
Description
Keywords
Faymonville, Philip, World War II, Lend-Lease, Attache officer
Citation
Thompson, S. M. (2012). <i>The Bolshevik? The Faymonville Controversy in the 1930s and 1940s</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.