Lenin - Methods of Control

Question 1

MEDIA - What were Lenin’s views on the use of media?

Answer 1

He thought the press and media was central to advancing the revolution and ensuring the communists retained power.

Question 2

MEDIA - When was the decree on press and what was it ?

Answer 2

The decree on press - 1917

It gave the government the power to shut down any newspaper that was opposed to the communists or ‘counter revolution’.

Question 3

MEDIA - When was the Revolutionary Tribunal of the Press and what was it?

Answer 3

Established in 1918.

Gave the state power to censor the press. They used the Cheka against newpapers/ journals ect that disobeyed.

Question 4

MEDIA - What was ROSTA and when was it?

Answer 4

ROSTA - The All Russian Telegraph Agency.
Established in 1918.
Gave the state control of advertising and news reporting.

Question 5

MEDIA - What was Galvilt? When did it start?

Answer 5

Began in 1922. The GPU involved in the policing of books and art and the purging of libraries.

Question 6

MEDIA - What was Lenin’s view on cinema?

Answer 6

He thought it was very important in mobilising the people towards the common goal of socialism, and reinforcing ideology.

Question 7

MEDIA - How many cinema tickets were sold in 1928?

Answer 7

300 million.

Question 8

MEDIA - What was the role/ importance of Avant-Garde art?

Answer 8

It aimed to eliminate the bourgeoisie culture of fine art and develop something representative of the people. It wanted to create a collective culture in which ordinary people were actively involved in the creation of art culture based on industrial tech.

Question 9

PROPAGANDA - When did Lenin survive and assassination attempt and what was the effect of this?

Answer 9

August, 1918.

Lenin’s cult of personality was accelerated to the point that he was described in almost religious, miraculous terms.

Question 10

PROPAGANDA - What was Lenin’s view on his cult of personality?

Answer 10

He disapproved of it because it fundamentally went against Marxist ideology that no one person should be elevated to a status above others, or glorified in any way.
However, he recognised its importance in giving the communist revolution a human face with the which the proletariat could identity and support.

Question 11

PROPAGANDA - What was Agtit prop and when was it used?

Answer 11

Agit prop were trains that travelled around the Soviet Union putting on plays that gave a forceful political message. They were used in 1920, during the civil war as a method of gathering support for the red army.

Question 12

RELIGION - What was Lenin’s view on religion and why?

Answer 12

He was dedicated to its destruction because he believed that it was the enemy of the people and that a communist revolution could liberate the people from religious delusions.

Question 13

RELIGION - How did Marx describe religion?

Answer 13

‘The opium of the people’.

Question 14

RELIGION - Why were the communist suspicious of religion?

Answer 14

• The church was an organisation independent of the government was it could form an oppositional group.
• Their values were not in line with that of the communist party.

Question 15

RELIGION - How were Lenin’s views on religion contradictory?

Answer 15

He asserted that everyone had a right to equality regardless of beliefs yet launched a campaign of terror against religion.

Question 16

RELIGION - What were some of the early legal reforms that Lenin introduced towards religion and when were they?

Answer 16

Oct 1917 - Decree on Land: peasants could seize land off the church.
Jan 1918 - Decree on Separation of Church and State and Church and Schools: church subsidies ended, religious education banned, church property nationalised.

Question 17

RELIGION - What were some events in the state’s campaign of terror against religion?

Answer 17

Jan 1918 - Priests in Moscow were massacred following a church decree excommunicating the bolsheviks.
Nov `1918 - Politburo issued a secret order to the Cheka sanctioning the mass execution of of priests.

Question 18

RELIGION - What changed in communist policy towards religion in the 1920s (after the civil war)?

Answer 18

Mass executions, violence and deportations stopped - replaced by more subtle techniques.

Question 19

RELIGION - What was the Living Church and when was it established?

Answer 19

Established in 1922 by the communist party.
Claimed to be a reformed version of the old orthodox church but was actually intended to create a schism in Russia Orthodox Church in order to weaken its national structure.

Question 20

RELIGION - What did the Living Church do in 1923?

Answer 20

Aided by the GPU, they deposed the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarch Tikhon) and imposed a new decentralised structure.

Question 21

RELIGION - Why didn’t the regime attack Islam as much?

Answer 21

There was no official link between Islam and the old Tsarist regime, as there was with the orthodox church.

Question 22

RELIGIONS - When did campaigns of terror against Islam begin and why?

Answer 22

In the 1920s. Lenin recognised that Islam had support in Causcasus and Central Asia so they wanted to destroy Islam in order to extend their own power.

Question 23

RELIGION - What kind of action did the state take against Islam?

Answer 23

• Close mosques
• Attacked Islamic shrines
• Opened anti-Islamic museums
• Launched campaigns again Islam’s traditional dress.

Question 24

CULTURE - What was Proletkult?

Answer 24

A proletarian culture movement intended to foster the growth of proletarian culture and encourage artistic talent among the working people.

Question 25

CULTURE - What did Lunacharsky do?

Answer 25

He pioneered the creation of the proletkult.

Question 26

CULTURE - When was Proletkult established?

Answer 26

Prior to the october revolution.

Question 27

CULTURE - What sort of things did Proletkult entail?

Answer 27

• It became a national movement with branches across Russia.
• Through it, working people had access to local studios where they could paint, sculpt and rehearse plays.
• They established a monthly magazine to showcase proletarian art.
• By 1920, there were around 84,000 members.

Question 28

CULTURE - What was significant about Proletkult?

Answer 28

It was an independant organisation, free of Communist control.

Question 29

CULTURE - What were Lenin’s views on Proletkult?

Answer 29

He was critical of it. He argued against Lunacharsky’s philosophy, saying that the best culture was universal, neither proletariat nor bourgeoisie.

Question 30

CULTURE - Why was Proletkult disbanded in 1920?

Answer 30

Lenin has become increasingly suspicious of it. He believed that the working people needed a basis for education rather artistic expression. Therefore, he believed the continued independence of the proletkult was a danger to the revolution. He insisted it merged with the commissariat of education.

Question 31

TERROR - What were Lenin’s views on the use of terror?

Answer 31

It was an essential part of his strategy for staying in power. He thought political terror was only a temporary measure that could be discarded once the revolution was secure.

Question 32

TERROR - When were the Cheka established and who was its head?

Answer 32

In December 1917.

Felix Dzerzhinsky served as head from 1917 to 1926.

Question 33

TERROR - What was the role of the Cheka?

Answer 33

During the civil war, their role was to protect communist rule in the areas already held by communists.
The Red Army’s jobs was to defend and expand communist territory.

Question 34

TERROR - Who did the Cheka target? What did they shut down in 1918?

Answer 34

Counter-revolutionaries and other socialist opponents.

In 1918 they shut down the Constituent Assembly which had been democratically elected by the Socialist Revolutionaries.

Question 35

TERROR - What kind of jurisdiction did the Cheka have? What kind of things did they do for the state?

Answer 35

They were not restricted by law, nor did they enforce it. Their role was to dispense ‘revolutionary justice’.
From 1917 to 1921 they used terror in a variety of ways:
- requisition of grain during war communism.
- closed down oppositional newspapers and imprisoned, tortured and executed political opponents.
- ran concentration camps
- supported red army during Kronstadt revolt.

Question 36

TERROR - What changed in the use of terror under the NEP?

Answer 36

• Red Terror came to an end.
• However, the cheka were still used to attack political opponents.
• In general, terror was on a much smaller scale.

Question 37

TERROR - How did the Cheka/GPU use surveillance and deportation? What was set up in 1922?

Answer 37

• In 1922, an agency was set up within the Cheka to spy on the press.
• Intellectuals and experts were often spied on and deported.
• Public opinion was scrutinised by intercepting various forms of communication.
• GPU reports were sent straight to the central committee.

Question 38

TERROR - Why did Lenin begin political trials of socialist opponents?

Answer 38

He was insecure about the future of socialism, especially after the concession of the NEP so he ordered Dzerzhinsky to set up political trials of Socialist Revolutionary Leaders.

Question 39

TERROR- When were the political trials of the Socialist Revolutionary leaders? What happened?

Answer 39

In 1922. All were sentence to death on charges of treason.

Question 40

TERROR - What kind of religious, moral and economic crimes did the GPU police?

Answer 40

• They imprisoned nepmen
• Harassed women dressing in western styles
• persecuting young people who listened to jazz
• persecuted priests.

Question 41

TERROR - When did the Red Army crush the Kronstadt rebellion?

Answer 41

March, 1921