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History - USSR 1917 - 1991 > 3.1 Media, Propaganda and Religion > Flashcards

3.1 Media, Propaganda and Religion Flashcards

1
Q

When did Khrushchev launch his anti-religious campaign?

A

1958

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2
Q

What was Khrushchev’s campaign towards religion?

A

Khrushchev was anti-religious and pursued a programme of active repression. Khrushchev launched a harsh anti-religious campaign. The role of the priest was limited to a spiritual advice role. Priests were dismissed on the grounds they were no longer needed. Baptists and Jews also suffered from severe restrictions to their right to worship

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3
Q

How many churches were closed by 1962?

A

10,000

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4
Q

What were Brezhnev’s actions towards the Church?

A

Active persecution of the Church declined. The Church was allowed to operate within its defined limits. The Orthodox Church was expected to support Soviet Policy, especially social policy where the Church could provide support for the poor. If you refused you could be punished by imprisonment. Jews and Baptists were treated less tolerantly. Prayer meetings were broke up and members were dismissed from their jobs

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5
Q

What was the result of religious policy?

A

In the 1980s, 25% of the population were said to have believed in God and far fewer actually engaged in active worship

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6
Q

Did Lenin have a cult of personality?

A

He did not approve of it, but it grew. For example, photos of Lenin were associated with, eg.’ Leader of the Revolutionary Proletariat’

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7
Q

How many newspapers had been shit down by 1921?

A

2000

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8
Q

What was the Pravda newspaper?

A

Newspaper of the Communist Party, meaning ‘truth’

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9
Q

How were newspapers made widely available?

A

Newspapers were cheap to buy. Copies were posted on boards along pavements and at workplaces

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10
Q

What was established in January 1918?

A

The power to censor press. If journalists and editors committed crimes they could be punished by the Cheka

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11
Q

What was established to distribute news?

A

The All Russian Telegraph Agency (ROTSA)

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12
Q

Why was a cult of personality used?

A

To reinforce the powers of individual leaders and detach them from the collective leadership exercised, in theory, by the Politburo

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13
Q

What was Stalin’s cult of personality like?

A

Stalin was presented as Lenin’s closest colleague, a hero of the Civil War and the saviour of the Revolution. The town of Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad. The slogan ‘Stalin is the Lenin of today’ was used by party members. Portraits of Stalin presented him as the ‘big hero’. He was presented in military uniform with workers and peasants to represent him as one of the everyday Soviet. Records of speeches were produced and distributed to the far reaches of the Soviet Union, statues were erected in most cities and towns

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14
Q

Was Stalin’s cult of personality successful?

A

Evidence of Success - After WW2, Stalin was viewed as the saviour of Russia and socialism, a lot of people hated Khrushchev’s process of de-Stalinisation
Evidence of Failure - Many saw his cult as an over-exaggeration

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15
Q

How did Stalin expand the use of censorship?

A

Works of Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Trotsky were removed from libraries. Lenin’s work was also edited to remove positive information about Stalin’s opponents

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16
Q

Explain Khrushchev’s cult of personality

A

Purpose of the cult was to move away from Stalinism. By 1958, Khrushchev had created his own cult. For example, Soviet propaganda showed Khrushchev responsible for the successes of the space race and Virgin Land Scheme - it also showed Khrushchev as a hero of WW2

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17
Q

What was the problem with Khrushchev’s cult of personality?

A

When the Virgin Land Scheme failed, it associated him with its failures

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18
Q

What was shown on TV in 1961?

A

Documentary on space flight. It highlighted the successes of the USSR

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19
Q

What did televisions show about Valentina Tereshkova?

A

It showed as an ordinary person who was born and raised on a collective farm

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20
Q

Explain Brezhnev’s Cult of Personality

A

Four Features:
1) A Great Leninist - He claimed to continue the work of Lenin
2) A Military Hero - He promoted the power he had in WW2
3) Dedicated to ensuring World Peace - stressed his foreign policy successes as he helped develop the détente with the USA
4) A True Man of the People - Biographies of Brezhnev talked about how he used to work in the steel industry as an engineer

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21
Q

How was Brezhnev’s cult of personality unsuccessful?

A

Veterans of WW2 complained about the exaggeration of Brezhnev’s role in the War. Young people did not believe his claims of world peace

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22
Q

What did films feature under Brezhnev?

A

They focused on ordinary people that showed them living in luxurious apartments and this caused a high interest in fashion

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23
Q

How was TV successfully used under Brezhnev?

A

Brezhnev’s speeches were shown at full and he was the centre of media coverage

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24
Q

Explain Lenin’s religious policy towards Islam

A

Mosques were closed down, deprived of land they owned, Mullahs were removed during the collectivisation process, religious rituals were banned, still had a strong following and women were forced to cast off their veils

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25
Q

How was TV unsuccessfully used under Brezhnev?

A

It showed Brezhnev as an old man who was unable to make speeches and had difficult walking. Viewers could see Brezhnev’s physical weakness

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26
Q

How did Stalin treat religion?

A

Through collectivisation more churches were closed and village priests were labelled ‘Kulaks’ and deported. As a result of the Great Purge, only 12 out of 163 bishops were still at liberty. However, this religious policy changed with the German invasion in 1941. The Church supported the war and so some Churches were re-opened and new seminaries were set up to train Priests. It illustrated that the religion could sustain moral in times of war

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27
Q

Explain Lenin’s religious policy toward the Orthodox religion

A

Churches were closed down, deprived of land they owned, priests were removed during the collectivisation process, still had a strong following, religious rituals were banned, churches were converted and used for other purposes to benefit the state, valuable objects were seized from churches (especially in times of hardship) and priests were deprived of the vote

28
Q

In what year were all non-socialist newspapers banned?

A

1917

29
Q

How was the decree banning newspapers elevated and in what year?

A

In the 1920, any non-Bolshevik newspapers were also banned

30
Q

What did Lenin view newspapers as?

A

The mouthpiece of the bourgeois

31
Q

How were the newspapers used for propaganda under Stalin?

A

Exaggerated achievements of industrialisation and collectivisation. Reported production targets being exceeded

32
Q

What were the two biggest newspapers in the USSR?

A

Pravda and Izvestiya

33
Q

Give two examples of prohibited topics in newspapers

A
  • Plane crashes
  • Natural disasters
34
Q

What were local newspapers permitted to do?

A

Publish letters criticising minor bureaucrats and poor housing in the 1970s but never party leaders

35
Q

Who did magazines target?

A

Specific groups of workers such as soldiers, famers or teachers as well as young children and sports fans as newspapers generally did not comment on sport

36
Q

How did the Bolshevik’s get their message out to the people?

A

Radio receivers were expensive so the Bolshevik installed loudspeakers in public places and factories. Group listening was used to make sure everyone got the right intended message

37
Q

Why were radios especially useful early on under Lenin and Stalin?

A

Their message was sent to the 65% of the population who were illiterate. During the German invasion in 1941, Stalin used it to commemorate the October Revolution to assure the population all was not lost in the war

38
Q

Until what year was there only 1 radio station?

A

1964

39
Q

How did the government restrict access to foreign radio stations?

A

Mass producing cheap radios with limited range. They also threatened to arrest anyone listening to foreign radio

40
Q

Why did the government restrict access to foreign radio?

A

To restrict the level of public debate

41
Q

How many TV’s were there in 1950 compared to 1958?

A

10,000 sets in 1950 - 3 million in 1958

42
Q

By what year did most of the rural population have televisions?

A

1980

43
Q

What was portrayed over television?

A

That soviet life was joyous and life under capitalism was full of crime, homelessness and violence

44
Q

Why was censorship and restriction of information not always successful?

A

The population got used to reding between the lines

45
Q

Why were the cults of personalities used?

A

To reinforce power of leaders and detach them from a collective leadership

46
Q

Outline the key features of Lenin’s cult of personality

A
  • Images, statues, films, and newspapers all depicted Lenin as a hero
  • His body was embalmed and put on display
  • Petrograd renamed Leningrad 1924
47
Q

Why did Stalin create a cult of personality for Lenin?

A

To seem like his rightful heir

48
Q

Key features of Stalin’s cult of personality up until 1930

A
  • Links between Lenin and Stalin enforced, pictures doctored to remove political opponents
  • 1925 a town renamed Stalingrad
  • Slogan “Stalin is the Lenin of Today”
49
Q

Key features of Stalin’s cult of personality up until 1950

A
  • Images of Stalin widely used giving the impression of his being godlike, all knowing and all powerful
  • Pictures of Stalin with Children enforced father figure image, images of him meeting average people
  • Portrayed as down to earth, simple, happy man
  • Family home turned into shrine, happy childhood painted despite only seeing his mother 3 times in 40 years
  • Statues, films and biographies made of Stalin
50
Q

Key features of Stalin’s cult of personality up until death

A
  • Many towns named after Stalin
  • Genuine admiration after WW2, said even people in gulags wept at his death
  • Cult of personality provided big image during health decline
  • Large celebrations for 70th birthday
51
Q

How did Stalin’s cult of personality change?

A
  • Originally to make himself seem as the rightful heir
  • From 1930s used to solidify personal dictatorship and image
  • Continued to rise to higher extremes from the 1950s
52
Q

How did Khrushchev feel about cults?

A

He criticised Stalin for having one in the 1956 secret speech

53
Q

Outline the key features of Khrushchev’s cult of personality

A
  • Made him seem as a more important leader than Malenkov during shared power in 1953
  • Adulation through articles, books and posters with images of him meeting workers
  • Used radio, tv and cinema for self-publicity. increased newspaper publicity when son-in-law became editor
  • Used it to downplay policy failures
  • Reason for dismissal in 1964
54
Q

Outline the key features of Brezhnev’s cult of personality

A
  • Awarded himself over 100 medals, as a result became the butt of political jokes such as he must get his chest expanded to accommodate for all his medals
  • Genuinely popular
  • Substitute for real power when his health declined
55
Q

What was the Bolshevik attitude to religion?

A

Saw religion as a threat to socialist ideology, dismissed religion as little more than superstition. Called it the ‘opium of the masses’ and aimed to destroy the church and influence of religion

56
Q

What was the 1918 decree on the freedom of conscience?

A

Separated the Orthodox Church from the state and it lost its status. It entailed: depriving the church of its land, banning religious education outside of the home, and outlawing publications

57
Q

What measures were taken against the church under Lenin?

A
  • Churches destroyed or used for other purposes, closed all monasteries, head of orthodox church under house arrest 1918
  • During civil war priests denied rations and the vote
  • By 1923 due to red terror 28 bishops and over 1000 priests killed
    -Religious rituals attacked
    by the end f 1930 4/5ths of village churches destroyed or inactive
58
Q

What was the league of the militant godless?

A

A campaign to disprove the existence of god. It involved taking peasants in planes to show there was no heaven and propaganda against religion

59
Q

When was the League of the Militant Godless created?

A

1925 - shows continuity

60
Q

How did religious policy change under Stalin?

A
  • More churches were closed and priests were labelled as kulaks and deported
  • When Germany invaded in 1941 Stalin took a more liberal approach and reopened some churches and the patriarchate was reinstated to provide moral as the church supported the war effort
61
Q

What was the religious policy under Khrushchev?

A
  • Very anti religious
  • Within 4 years, 10,000 existing churches closed
  • Surviving priests harassed
  • Jews and Baptists had severe restrictions on worship
62
Q

What was the religious policy under Brezhnev?

A
  • Allowed church to act under defined limits to benefit foreign policy
  • Council of religious affairs monitored services
  • Churches expected to support soviet policies
63
Q

How did the church resist under Brezhnev?

A
  • 1976 Christian committee for the Defence of Believers Rights
  • Leader of the org was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment
  • Jews and Baptists who were more likely to be critical were treated with less tolerance
64
Q

What were the soviet actions towards Islam?

A

Only in the 1920s did the government feel confident enough to attack Islamic institutions and rituals

  • religious ownership of land prohibited
  • mosques closed down
  • sharia courts phased out
  • polygamy prohibited
  • campaign of unveiling of women
  • Ramadan fasting condemned
65
Q

What were the results of the religious policy?

A
  • Mid 1920s survey of peasants revealed 55% still active Christians despite measures
  • During 1980s it was found only 25% of the population believed in god, far fewer engaged in religious worship

History - USSR 1917 - 1991 (16 decks)

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