theme 3: control of the people 1917-1985 Flashcards
in what year were all non-socialist newspapers banned?
1917
how was the decree banning newspapers elevated and in what year?
in the 1920s any non-Bolshevik newspapers were also banned
what did lenin view newspapers as?
mouthpieces of the bourgeois
how where newspapers used for propaganda under stalin?
exaggerated achievements of industrialisation and collectivisation. reported production targets being exceeded
what were the two biggest newspapers in the USSR?
Pravda and izvestiya
how did the government ensure high readership?
papers were cheap and widely available. Pravda had a circulation of 10.7 million in 1983
what topics were prohibited in newspapers?
plane crashes and natural disasters
example of something that happened that wasn’t reported
july 1972 big fire in Moscow, population had to wait a month before blue haze over city was explained
What were local newspapers permitted to do?
publish letters criticising minor bureaucrats and poor housing in the 1970s but never party leaders.
Who did magazines target?
specific groups of workers such as soldiers, farmers or teachers as well as young children and sports fans as newspapers generally did not comment on sport
how else did Bolsheviks get their message out to the people?
radio receivers were expensive so the Bolsheviks installed loudspeakers in public places and factories. group listening was used to make sure everyone got the right message
why were radios especially useful early on under lenin and stalin?
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
until what year was there only 1 radio station?
1964
how did the government restrict access to foreign radio stations?
mass producing cheap radios with limited reception range. they also threatened to arrest anyone listening to foreign radio.
why did the government restrict access to foreign radio?
to restrict the level of public debate
how many TV’s were there in 1950 compared to 1958?
10,000 sets 1950 3 million 1958
by what date did most of the rural population have televisions?
1980s
what was portrayed over television?
that soviet life was joyous and life under capitalism was full of crime, homelessness and violence
why was censorship and restriction of information not always successful?
the population got used to reading in between the lines
why were cult of personalities used?
to reinforce power of leaders and detach them from a collective leadership
key features of Lenin’s cult of personality
- images, statues, films and newspapers all depicted lenin as a hero
- his body was embalmed and put on display
- Petrograd renamed Leningrad 1924
why did stalin create a cult of personality for lenin
to seem like his rightful heir
key features of stalin’s cult of personality up until 1930
- links between lenin and stalin enforced, pictures doctored to remove political opponents
- 1925 a town renamed Stalingrad
- slogan “Stalin is the Lenin of today” used
key features of stalin’s cult of personality up until 1950
- 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
key features of stalin’s cult of personality up until death
- many towns named after stalin
- genuine admiration after second world war, said even people in gulags wept at his death
- cult of personality provided big image during health decline
- large celebrations for 70th birthday
how stalin’s cult of personality changed
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
how did Khrushchev feel about cults
criticised stalin for having one in 1956 secret speech. yelled “You call this a cult” when accused of making his own cult of personality
key features of Khrushchev’s cult of personality
- 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
key features of Brezhnev’s cult of personality
- 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
Bolshevik attitude to religion
saw as 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
what was the 1918 decree on freedom of conscience?
separated the orthodox church from the state and it lost its status. deprived of its land, banned religious education outside of the home, publications outlawed
measures taken against churches
-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
what was the 1929 league of the militant godless
campaign to disprove existence of god, involved taking peasants in planes to show there was no heaven. propaganda against religion
changes to religious policy under stalin
more churches closed and priests labelled as kulaks and deported
when Germany invaded stalin took more liberal approach and reopened some churches and the patriarchate was reinstated to provide moral as the church supported the war effort
religious policy under khrushchev
very anti-religious. within 4 years 10,000 existing churches closed. surviving priests harassed. jews and Baptists also had severe restrictions on worship
religious policy under brezhnev
allowed church to act under defined limits to benefit foreign policy. council of religious affairs monitored services. churches expected to support soviet policies
church resistance under brezhnev
1976 Christian committee for the Defence of Believers Rights. step too far, leader sentenced to 5 years imprisonment
jews and Baptists who were more likely to be critical were treated with less tolerance
soviet actions towards islam
only in 1920s felt 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
results of religious policy
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
when was yagoda the head of the secret police
1934-1936 shot 1939
main things yagoda did
- expanded gulags and used prisoners as labour for industrialisation, those deported to labour camps either starved or froze to death whilst working
- white sea canal hand dug by labourers from gulags, 10,000 died
why yagoda was dismissed
couldn’t get confessions out of people and accused of not pursuing opposition with enough enthusiasm
When was the red terror and how many people were shot?
1921-22 200,000
