08 Control of the People 1953-1985 Flashcards
Role of the Secret Police - Ways in which Khrushchev relaxed control of the population
-Between 1953 and 1960, 2 million political prisoners were released from the camps.
-Secret Police brought under Party control
-1960 new criminal code limits Secret Police power and abolishes night time interrogations
Role of the Secret Police - Ways in which Khrushchev maintained strict control over the population
-Despite the new sense of freedom, the regime continued to use oppression where necessary
-There were around 20,000 political prisoners in the camps and the secret police (KGB) remained part of the system
-KGB helped put the Hungarian Uprising 1956 down by arresting Hungarian delegations.
-KGB silenced anti- communist political and religious ideas.
Role of the Secret Police - Khrushchev’s new method of control
-Preferred method of social control was popular oversight in which ordinary citizens disciplined themselves and each other for things like being lazy or alcoholics
-1959 Khrushchev proclaimed no longer any political prisoners in the USSR, however there were ‘persons of unsound mind’ which were Dissidents treated with compulsory psychiatric treatment
Cult of Personality - Ways in which Khrushchev relaxed control of the population
-Khrushchev condemned Stalin’s use of personality cult in his Secret Speech in 1956
-Khrushchev criticised the glorification of the leaders
-Cancelled the annual Stalin prizes
-Removed Stalin from Lenin’s Mausoleum in 1961, symbolic separation of Stalinism and Leninism
Cult of Personality - Ways in which Khrushchev maintained strict control over the population
-Khrushchev’s (not as extensive) cult allowed him to be seen as the important Party leader after power had originally been shared with Malenkov.
-Khrushchev appointed his son in law Alexei Adzhubei as Izvestiya editor
-Khrushchev relied on photo opportunities with collective farms and the common person
-Radio cinema, and television was used for self- publicity, suited Khrushchev’s style.
-Developed Cult of Lenin with the purpose of developing this cult to move away from the Cult of Stalin
The place of Religion - Ways in which Khrushchev increased strict control over the population
-Khrushchev was fervently anti-religious and had a program of active repression, similar to Stalin before WW2
-In 1958 Khrushchev launched a harsh anti-religious campaign that continued until his removal from office
-Within 4 years, 10,000 of the existing churches were closed
-Catholic monasteries closed in 1959
-Used the space programme to attack religion by Yuri Gagarin as he said he went to the heavens and found no God in 1961
-Khrushchev aimed his propaganda at women because women were 2/3 of Orthodox churchgoers, and he believed that women as mothers had a large sway over their children
Media, Art, and Culture - Ways in which Khrushchev relaxed control of the population
-Artists and writers received hope of a greater freedom to express themselves with Khrushchev’s policy of de-Stalinisation after 1956
-In line with the criticism of Stalin and his ‘errors’, Khrushchev allowed works that had been banned to be published
-Works by Isaac Babel were published, a writer shot during the purges
-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was published, a book recounting the appalling experiences of life in the gulags
Media, Art, and Culture - Ways in which Khrushchev lost control of the youth
-By the 1950s, nonconformity was starting to have a lasting impact on youth culture in the USSR, as people were tired of the repetitive and unexciting themes of official cultural output
-Soviet youth became influenced by western music of pop and rock’n’roll with record smuggled into the country
-From 1955 this music was allowed to be broadcast in the USSR by the radio station Voice of America Propaganda were designed to keep citizens in line and keep each other under surveillance.
-Consumerism rose with Western magazines becoming accessible
Media, Art, and Culture - Ways in which Khrushchev maintained strict control over the population
-Style Hunters had an official campaign against women with Party Officials shaming Russian women who had relations with foreign men
-1958 had the number of television sets reach 3 million compared to only 10,000 in 1950. Televisions were cheap and helped the Party push propaganda on a new media form to a large audience.
Secret Police - Ways intimidation was still used under Brezhnev to stop art and culture
-e.g. the 1974 ‘Bulldozer Exhibition’
-Urban forest outside of Moscow
-Broken up by large force of off duty police officers using bulldozers, water cannons, and dump trucks
-These off-duty police officers were pretending to be gardeners that just happened to be there at the time
Cult of Personality - What were the 3 components of Brezhnev’s Cult of Personality?
A great Leninist - Even though Brezhnev hadn’t personally know Lenin, He claimed to be continuing his works, particularly claiming to continue the policy for world peace
A military hero - Brezhnev attempted to present himself as a military leader and he stressed his military prowess in WW2, Promoted himself Marshall of the Red Army and received 60 medals
A true man of the people - Brezhnev biographies talked of a man with humbled origins, worked as an engineer in the steel industry
Mass Media - How did Brezhnev attempt to use film and television to increase his control over the people?
-Brezhnev kept traditional elements such as success in World War Two
-However, during the same period, there were more films dealing with working people’s lives
-Soviet film makers tended to focus on citizens in luxurious apartments, causing a spike in desire for consumer goods and fashion
Mass Media - How did the use of television under Brezhnev unintentionally undermine Soviet’s control?
-Transmission of Brezhnev’s speeches were at full and he was the centre of a great deal of domestic media coverage
-By 1970s, this tactic backfired, the camera’s showed Brezhnev as an old man who was clearly physically incapable:
-unable to make speeches
-became confused mid sentence
-difficulty walking
-Television voice overs praised Brezhnev but still viewers could see his physical incapacity for themselves
Religion - In what ways did Brezhnev continue the trend of being hostile to religion?
-Brezhnev advocated spreading atheism rather than attacking religious groups
-In 1968, he opened the institute for Scientific Atheism which published articles in newspapers and advised teachers how to spread atheism in the classroom
Religion - Why did Brezhnev decide to end the attacks on Islam?
-Brezhnev sought allies in the Middle East, whilst other Soviet leaders described Islam as backwards and barbarian
-Under Brezhnev, the government started supporting anti-American Islamic groups
-As a consequence, in the late 1960’s, the government described ‘Islam as progressive, anti-colonial and revolutionary creed’ that was compatible with socialism
