Image courtesy of samantha *** ith. information

1On July 7th, 983, an American girl of1/kloc-0 from Manchester, Maine, started a two-week trip to the Soviet Union at the invitation of yuri andropov. In a letter to the Soviet leader, she expressed her concern about the possibility of nuclear war. The gentle little girl took a rare look at the Americans who were not a threat to the Soviet Union, and the Americans also spied the areas that the Soviet Union usually prohibited from entering.

In her book A Journey to the Soviet Union, samantha smith explained what caused such an unusual series of events.

In fact, when I asked my mother if there would be a war, the whole thing began … I asked my mother who would start a war and why. She showed me a news magazine about the United States and Russia, with a photo of the new Russian leader yuri andropov on the cover. We read it together. Russian and American people seem to be worried that the other side will launch a nuclear war. I think all this is stupid ... I told my mother that she should write to Mr. andropov and find out who caused the trouble. She said, "Why don't you write to him? Andropov personally replied to Samantha's letter, assuring her that his country only wants peace and mutual understanding with the United States, and they have no malice towards her country. At the end of the letter, he invited the little girl to go to the Soviet Union that summer so that she could see the country for herself.

As soon as Samantha and her parents accepted andropov's invitation, letters poured in from all over the United States, mostly in support of a trip to the Soviet Union. Many people criticized the visit and accused the Soviet Union of using children as a propaganda tool. Maybe-but andropov has long proposed to improve relations with the West, which is an excellent opportunity to eliminate some negative misunderstandings of Americans about the Soviet Union.

Samantha's two weeks in the Soviet Union were broadcast on Soviet TV every night. She visited all the common tourist attractions, had lunch with the American ambassador to Moscow, and attended the summer camp in Atik camp with Soviet children. Samantha left a very positive impression on the Soviets, who in turn believed that her master "didn't want to hurt the world, just like us."

Unfortunately, Samantha died in an air crash two years later at the age of 13. Yuri andropov's successor, mikhail gorbachev, expressed condolences to Samantha's mother, Jane:

Everyone who knew samantha smith in the Soviet Union will always remember the image of an American girl. Like millions of young Soviet men and women, she dreams of peace and friendship between the American and Soviet people.

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The man who personally executed more than 7,000 people in 28 days, the Soviet Superman: How did Chizi start and end the Cold War? The copyright of Tetris, an anti-tank dog that exploded in World War II, originally belonged to the Soviet Union. After 30 years, visit the Samantha Reed Smith image of the Soviet Union through Samantha Smith.info for reference.