Unit 3 - Control of the People

Question 1

What early reforms did Lenin do to help to establish control of mass media? (Press)

Answer 1

Decree on the press (November 1917) - emergency power for government to close any newspapers which supported counter revolution

Revolutionary Tribunal of the press (Jan 1918) - power to censor the press.

Question 2

What early reforms did Lenin do to help to establish control of mass media? (Advertising)

Answer 2

Creating a state monopoly of advertising in Nov 1917, which ensured only the government could publish ads.

Question 3

What early reforms did Lenin do to help to establish control of mass media? (Communication)

Answer 3

Nationalising the Petrograd Telegraph Agency in Nov 1917 which gave the new government control of electronic means of communication.

Question 4

What early reforms did Lenin do to help to establish control of mass media? (News)

Answer 4

All-Russia telegraph agency - responsible for distributing news

Question 5

How did Lenin use the media?

Answer 5

• GPU was put in charge of policing every publication available in the Soviet Union.
• New professional censors were employed.
• All books were investigated for anti-Communist bias.
• The GPU compiled a list of banned books.
• Soviet libraries purged of politically dangerous books. New special holding libraries, or “book gulags” were set up to house the banned books. Access was restricted to senior Party members.

Question 6

How did Stalin use Censorship? (Purging)

Answer 6

In the mid-1930s the works of Zinoviev, Kamwnev, Trotsky and other revolutionaries from the 1920s had to be purged from Soviet libraries.

Question 7

How did Stalin use Censorship? (Lenin’s work)

Answer 7

Lenin’s own works were “edited” to remove compliments about Stalin’s opponents. Stalin’s works were edited to remove any sign he had once been close to them.

Question 8

How did Stalin use Censorship? (Soviet History)

Answer 8

Soviet history was rewritten to remove contributions of Stalin’s opponents and to emphasise Stalin’s role in the revolution.

Question 9

How did Stalin use Censorship? (Glavlit)

Answer 9

From 1928, glavlit controlled access to economic data. Restrictions were placed on all kinds of ‘bad news.’ The soviet media were forbidden from publishing anything about natural disasters, suicides, industrial accidents or even bad weather in order to create the impression that the USSR was a place in which good things happened. Stalin was given all the credit for successes of the regime.

Question 10

How did the use of Media change under Khrushchev? (Magazines)

Answer 10

As a part of his attempt to create a new consumer society, magazines proliferated as did radios and television sets. These magazines were encouraged to publish readers’ letters. However, these letters did not praise the communist government, instead it exposed long term problems with soviet society. In consumer magazines, readers complained about the quality and scarcity of consumer goods. Readers also exposed more profound problems such as male alcoholism, inequalities in the home relating to childcare and housework, as well as domestic violence.

Question 11

How did the use of Media change under Khrushchev? (Cinema)

Answer 11

Soviet cinema also changed. Many films focused on soviet victories, whilst others focused on the roles of ordinary people.

Question 12

How did the use of Media change under Khrushchev? (Space race)

Answer 12

Television also took off. TV played a major role in celebrating the Soviets triumph in the space race. In 1961 millions of viewers watched a five hour programme celebrating Yuri Gagarin. Similar shows in 1963 focused on Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.

Question 13

How did Brezhnev use the media? (TV)

Answer 13

Brezhnev used TV to his advantage. He was able to keep tight control of the footage of the Afghanistan war, and in doing so, could keep the truth about the war hidden. Soviet officials also ensured Brezhnev’s speeches were transmitted in full, and that he was at the centre of a great deal of domestic media coverage.

Question 14

How did Brezhnev use the media? (Western influence)

Answer 14

Soviet leaders lost control of print media. Western magazines became increasingly available in the soviet union. While these western magazines were not overly political, they undermined the faith in the soviet system by showing the quality of western goods and the luxury of western lifestyles.

Question 15

What did Lenin believe about personality cults?

Answer 15

Lenin disapproved of a personality cult and propaganda.

Question 16

How was Lenin portrayed in his personality cult?

Answer 16

In August, following his assassination attempt, Lenin was described in religious terms. His survival was described as ‘miraculous’ and the emphasis on his willingness to suffer and sacrifice his life for his people made Lenin into a modern day Christ.

During 1919-20 Lenin was depicted as being humane, a man of the people, a man who refused luxury, a visionary and a man of great power. Lenin was also often photographed with a cap because it symbolised that he was approachable and down to earth.

Question 17

How did Stalin portray himself (think about the myth of two leaders)?

Answer 17

Stalin portrayed himself in a duumvirate consisting of Lenin and Stalin. ‘The Myth of Two Leaders’ led soviet people to believe the victories of Lenin were aided by Stalin himself.
This was done through the publication in 1938 of two histories of the communist party edited by Stalin, Socialist realist paintings and altering photographs.

Question 18

How did the way Stalin portrayed himself change after/during the war?

Answer 18

Stalin was now portrayed as a Generalissimo, or war leader. While Stalin preferred the title Marshal to Generalissimo, both titles reflected an increasing emphasis on Stalin as a military figure.

Question 19

What did Khrushchev do to Stalin’s cult?

Answer 19

He criticised Stalin’s cult

Question 20

How did Khrushchev use Personality cults?

Answer 20

Soviet propaganda portrayed him as:

• Disciple of Lenin who was completing the journey Lenin started
• Responsible for new successes such as the Soviet space programme and rising harvests in the Virgin Lands
• Respected statesman who negotiated with the US President as an equal
• Hero of WW2
• An authority of literature, art, science, industry and agriculture
• Great performer who was perfecting the Soviet system

Question 21

What were the limitations to Khrushchev’s personality cult?

Answer 21

Failure of corn campaign, embarrassing foreign policy climb-downs, when the virgin lands failed - damaged confidence to govern.

Question 22

What was one of the four key aspects to Brezhnev’s Personality Cult? (A great Leninist)

Answer 22

Brezhnev had not known Lenin but he claimed to be continuing the work started by Lenin, particularly working for world peace.

Question 23

What was one of the four key aspects to Brezhnev’s Personality Cult? (A military hero)

Answer 23

Attempted to present himself as a military leader and official publications stressed his military prowess in WW2 - he was promoted to Marshal of the Red Army and received 60 medals.

Question 24

What was one of the four key aspects to Brezhnev’s Personality Cult? (Dedicated to ensuring world peace)

Answer 24

Stressed his foreign policy successes in developing detente with the USA.

Question 25

What was one of the four key aspects to Brezhnev’s Personality Cult? (A true man of the people)

Answer 25

Brezhnev biographies told of his humble origins and how he worked as an engineer in the steel industry.

Question 26

How did Brezhnev use Personality Cults? (Public festivals and anniversaries)

Answer 26

Constructed his image through a series of public festivals marking important anniversaries of the October Revolution in 1967, 20th and 30th anniversaries of victory in WW2 in 1965 & 1975 and his major birthdays with speeches by him and photographs of the leader were an important part of press coverage of the celebrations.

Question 27

How was Brezhnev’s Personality Cult counterproductive?

Answer 27

Was mocked for his claims to greatness. Veterans of WW2 resented the inflation of Brezhnev’s role in the war. Young people aware of the size of the Soviet military were not taken in by his claims to be an advocate of peace. Lavish and luxurious lifestyle of Brezhnev’s family undercut the claims that he was a man of the people. Became butt of numerous jokes focused on his vanity and his hollow claims - Stalin’s encouraged loyalty and respect whereas Brezhnev’s inspired cynicism. (self-interested)

Question 28

What legal reforms attacked the church under Lenin?

Answer 28

1917 Decree on Land - gave peasants the right to seize land from the church.

1918 Decree concerning separation of church and state - Church lost its privileged position in society. Church land, buildings and property were nationalised, state subsidies for the Church were ended, religious education was banned in schools.

1922 Soviet constitution - guaranteed religious freedom

Question 29

What was the Living Church? (Lenin)

Answer 29

Reformed version of the Orthodox Church in which ordinary people had power. Aided by GPU. Organised a national congress in April 1923 which deposed Patriarch Tikhon and introduced a new decentralised structure - government-backed strategy to split the church, take away its central leader and weaken its national structure.

Question 30

What limitations did the Living Church face? (Lenin)

Answer 30

Leader Archbishop Vedenskii was not prepared to support the communists.
In 1923, he publicly debated science and religion with Lunacharksy gaining widespread support for his argument that science could not disprove the existence of God. Public debates proved counterproductive and therefore in 1925 the Central Committee stopped public debates with the Church. Their policy of splitting the church by supporting the living church was more successful but the Church split did not diminish Church growth

Question 31

What was Lenin’s view on the Church?

Answer 31

Lenin was convinced the Church was an enemy of the revolution.

Question 32

How did Lenin treat Catholics?

Answer 32

Catholics were treated differently because they had been a persecuted minority under the Tsar, so were initially just deported but during the civil war, they were executed.

Question 33

How was Lenin’s attitude to Muslims?

Answer 33

Less harsh on Islam as Islam and Tsarism had no real link.

Question 34

Besides the Living Church, what did Lenin do to the church?

Answer 34

In 1918, the Politburo issued a secret order to the Cheka sanctioning the mass execution of priests.

• Within 2 years, most of the popular Orthodox church priests were executed.
• New government used propaganda against the church and seized church property.
• Soviet authorities seized Church assets to fund famine relief and blamed priests who resisted sabotaging relief efforts.

Question 35

What campaigns did the Soviets launch against Islamic groups?

Answer 35

During the 1920s Soviet authorities initiated campaigns against Islamic groups. Communists objected to Islam for two main reasons:

• First, they claimed that Islam encouraged “crimes based on custom” particularly those infringing women’s rights.
• Secondly, they recognised that Islamic organisations had the loyalty of many people in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and therefore they wanted to destroy the religion in order to extend their own power.

Question 36

How did Stalin treat the church to begin with (think about collectivisation)?

Answer 36

He closed many of them down because they were aiding resistance to his policies.

Question 37

How did the war change how Stalin treated the church?

Answer 37

Stalin allied with the Church to aid with boosting patriotism during the second world war. Stalin reached out to the Church for a number of reason:

• The Russian orthodox Church was linked to Russian national identity
• The Church provided comfort for bereaved families
• Soldiers also found comfort in the thought that God would welcome them into heaven.

Question 38

How did the government change it policy towards the Church? (Stalin in WW2)

Answer 38

The Government changed its policy towards the church:
- Anti-religious propaganda ceased to exist
- Stalin granted Sergey (Church’s senior figure) an official residence in Moscow
- Stalin promised to end censorship of religious magazines
- Stalin reopened 414 Churches during the final year of the war
The easing of restrictions led to the church growing. It expanded from 9254 in 1946 to 11,827 in 1948.

Question 39

What happened to Islam under Stalin’s Rule?

Answer 39

• In the Central Asian republics, the NKVD attacked local priests and intellectuals.
• The NKVD also attacked groups that had been set up to defend Islam in the 1920s from the Soviet attacks.
• This included attacking Jadids and Sufi groups who were dedicated to “saving Islam from Marxist pollution.”
• By the end of 1936, Sufi groups, even those in former Islamic strongholds of the Ferghana Valley of Turkestan, had been destroyed.
• Despite what Soviet propaganda said, Islam survived and Sufi groups, often led by women, kept the traditions alive and growing, particularly in Kazakhstan.

Question 40

What happened to Islam under Stalin’s Rule?

Answer 40

• In the Central Asian republics, the NKVD attacked local priests and intellectuals.
• The NKVD also attacked groups that had been set up to defend Islam in the 1920s from the Soviet attacks.
• This included attacking Jadids and Sufi groups who were dedicated to “saving Islam from Marxist pollution.”
• By the end of 1936, Sufi groups, even those in former Islamic strongholds of the Ferghana Valley of Turkestan, had been destroyed.
• Despite what Soviet propaganda said, Islam survived and Sufi groups, often led by women, kept the traditions alive and growing, particularly in Kazakhstan.

Question 41

What measures did Khrushchev’s major anti-religious campaign starting in 1958 implement?

Answer 41

• Churches reopened during and after WW2 were closed
• Anti-religious propaganda was reintroduced
• Anti-religious magazines were reintroduced, for example Science and Religion was published regularly from 1960.
• Roman Catholic monasteries were closed in 1959.
• Orthodox converts were placed under surveillance
• Patrols refused to let believers have access to holy sites.

Question 42

What measures did Khrushchev’s major anti-religious campaign starting in 1958 implement?

Answer 42

• Churches reopened during and after WW2 were closed
• Anti-religious propaganda was reintroduced
• Anti-religious magazines were reintroduced, for example Science and Religion was published regularly from 1960.
• Roman Catholic monasteries were closed in 1959.
• Orthodox converts were placed under surveillance
• Patrols refused to let believers have access to holy sites.
• School teachers were also expected to deliver an anti-religious message.

Question 43

How did Khrushchev’s campaigns target females and nuns?

Answer 43

2/3 of Orthodox churchgoers were women and over 80% of Protestant Christians were women. He was concerned that women were passing religious beliefs to their children.
- From 1960 a propaganda campaign encouraged men to take the leading role in education of their children.

There were also campaigns against nuns, which accused them of being “unnatural women” for refusing to do their “natural duty” by becoming wives and mothers.

• Churches and Islamic groups were banned from running special events for women, such as women-only prayer meetings. Khrushchev’s campaign also targeted Islamic women, reviving the 1920s campaign to “liberate” women from Islam.

Question 44

How did Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaigns succeed?

Answer 44

KGB successfully closed thousands of churches, reducing the number of Orthodox Church buildings from 8000 in 1958 to 5000 in 1964.

Question 45

How did Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaigns failed?

Answer 45

• Failed to win the battle for the “soul of the Soviet people”.
• Women organised their own campaigns to protect their religious freedoms.
• Some marched, others circulated pamphlets Christianity or Islam, while others took their children out of schools in order to counter the anti-religious propaganda.
• In short, Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign led to the birth of a new dissident campaign that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s

Question 46

How did Khrushchev use Science against Religion?

Answer 46

Also used the soviet space race programme to attack religion e.g. Yuri Gagarin said he travelled to the heavens and found no God. Tereshkova (first woman in space) argued that her trip to space had led to the victory of atheism over “the mysterious heavens that used to mystify the imagination”.

Question 47

What happened to Islam under Khrushchev’s Rule?

Answer 47

• Islamic groups were banned from running special events for women, such as women-only prayer meetings.
• Khrushchev campaign also targeted Islamic women, reviving the 1920s campaign to liberate women from Islam.

Question 48

How did Brezhnev reduce the persecution of religion?

Answer 48

• Church closures stopped and so did the poster campaigns.
• Brezhnev advocated spreading the philosophy of atheism rather than attacking religious organisations or practices.
• In 1968, opened the Institute for Scientific Atheism, which published articles in newspapers and advised teachers how to spread atheism in the classroom.
• Brezhnev’s foreign policy of seeking allies in the Middle East led to a change in policy towards Islam.
• Previous leaders had described Islam as a “backward and barbarian” religion.

Question 49

What was the limitation in Brezhnev’s attempt to promote atheism?

Answer 49

Brezhnev’s attempt to promote atheism did not lead to a reduction in the numbers of people professing a religious faith remaining 20% from 1960s through to 1985.

Question 50

What was the impact on Islam under Brezhnev?

Answer 50

Under Brezhnev, the government started supporting anti-American Islamic groups. As a result, from the late 1960s the Soviet Government described Islam as a “progressive, anticolonial and revolutionary creed” that was compatible with socialism.
- Established the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan which allowed Soviet Islamic leaders and scholars to have limited contact with fellow Muslims in other countries.

Question 51

How did Lenin use the secret police to repress opposition?

Answer 51

Cheka closed down opposition newspapers and imprisoned, tortured and executed socialist opponents. They used extreme violence against enemies of the party in recently captured areas; priests were crucified, members of the white army were frozen to death and turned into ice statues, others were scalped or buried alive. Cheka aided the red army in attacks such as the attack on the Kronstadt Naval base. Cheka ran concentration camps. They also stopped private trading.

Question 52

How did Lenin’s use of the Secret Police change over time? (End of Civil War)

Answer 52

At the end of the civil war, the red terror ended and the use of the Cheka minimised, although they still did carry out attacks on the government’s opponents.

Question 53

How did Lenin’s use of the Secret Police change over time? (What did the GPU monitor?)

Answer 53

The GPU under Lenin monitored the press in 1922. GPU also monitored anti communist sympathisers. More generally the GPU kept public opinion under close scrutiny. The GPU also kept intellectuals under close scrutiny.

Question 54

How did Lenin’s use of the Secret Police change over time? (GPU & Central Committee)

Answer 54

The GPU also reported to the Central Committee about moral problems. Dzerzhinsky (head of Cheka/GPU) set up political trials for socialist opponents. In 1922 he organised the trial of Socialist Revolutionary leaders who were accused of treason, sabotage and plotting to overthrow the soviet state. At the end of these trials in August 1922 all of the defendants were sentenced to death.

Question 55

How did Lenin’s use of the Secret Police change over time? (Semi-capitalist marketplace)

Answer 55

The GPU also policed the semi-capitalist marketplace established through the NEP. This included: Imprisoning Nepmen, harassing women in western styles, persecuting young people who danced to jazz, and persecuting priests. The GPU defended the interest of the revolution and therefore could act arbitrarily against perceived class enemies.

Question 56

How did the role of the secret police change under Stalin? (1st Yagoda)

Answer 56

Stalin used the secret policies to attack those outside and within the party. Yagoda was appointed head of the NKVD in July 1934 and was responsible for leading the hunt for enemies of the party. However, Yagoda proved to be a disappointment even though he organised the arrests of Zinoviev and Kamenev. This was due to Stalin expecting more.

Question 57

How did the role of the secret police change under Stalin? (2nd Yezhov)

Answer 57

Yezhov replaced Yagoda during the height of the terror. under Yezhov, terror was accelerated as:

• Stalin set targets for arrests, executions etc.
• In 1937, the NKVD was purged. Some members were opposed to the terror therefore the removal of these members sped up the terror
• New NKVD agents were recruited. these new members simply enjoyed the power that they had, increasing violence and the speed of the speed of terror

Yezhov’s terror attacked all aspects of soviet life; The party, the army, industry and collective farms. During the period, around 1.5million, approx. 10% of the adult male population were arrested. This period became known as ‘Yezhovshchina’, meaning that the whole of Soviet society was engulfed in Yezhov’s terror.

Question 58

How did the role of the secret police change under Stalin? (3rd Beria)

Answer 58

Beria replaced Yezhov in 1938. Beria was the head of the NKVD when the terror started to wind down. Beria’s first major successes were Yezhov’s arrest in april 1939 and Trotsky’s murder in Mexico in 1940.

Question 59

How did the role of the secret police change under Stalin? (4th Beria + WW2)

Answer 59

During WW2, The NKVD were responsible for policing ethnic minorities and groups that Stalin feared would side with the Soviet enemies. After WW2 Beria’s NKVD continued to persecute the soviet people.

Question 60

How did Khrushchev reduce the role of the Secret Police?

Answer 60

Khrushchev renounced the use of mass terror and stopped using it as a weapon against the Party. He organised the rehabilitation of thousands of party members. Khrushchev preferred using ‘popular oversight’ in which citizens disciplined themselves and each other. Khrushchev also dealt with dissidents through psychiatric rehabilitation / treatment.

Question 61

How did Andropov change the tactics of the secret police and deal with dissidents?

Answer 61

Andropov’s strategy was to achieve maximum control through a minimum of violence. There was no return to mass terror. Andropov was also keen to expose and prosecute corruption in the Communist Party, but Brezhnev was less sympathetic to this agenda.

Question 62

What did Andropov issue in 1968? (Secret Police)

Answer 62

In 1968 he issued KGB order No. 0051, ‘On the tasks of state security agencies in combating ideological sabotage by the adversary’. The order set out the policy of increased surveillance of and action against dissidents. Having identified dissidents, Andropov had two ways of dealing with them. Those with a high profile were allowed to emigrate whereas those who were less well known were sent to psychiatric institutions for compulsory psychiatric treatment. Andropov ultimately changed the emphasis of the KGB from repression to prevention.

Question 63

How was the avant-garde style used by Lenin?

Answer 63

Avant-garde style was a style using abstract shapes and was used to promote the civil war

Question 64

What were the Prolekult and agitprop? (Lenin)

Answer 64

Prolekult - proletariat culture

Agitpop - agitation and propaganda

Question 65

How did Lenin use cinema?

Answer 65

Lenin believed cinema was the best way to promote ideals.

Question 66

Why did Stalin promote Socialist realism?

Answer 66

Stalin understood the powerful message which could be sent through images to a primarily illiterate population. Once he was in power, posters quickly became the new medium for educating illiterate peasants on daily life.

Question 67

How did the terror under Stalin affect art?

Answer 67

Artists were purged

Climate of fear lowered the amount of artistic dissidents

Question 68

What were the thaws? (Khrushchev)

Answer 68

The Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when repression and censorship in the Soviet Union were relaxed, and millions of political prisoners were released from Gulag labour camps.

Question 69

How did western culture emerge under Khrushchev?

Answer 69

The thaws allowed for freer expression and also allowed for things such as western culture to emerge

Question 70

Any limits to the Thaws? (Khrushchev)

Answer 70

There was a greater chance of criticism through art.

Question 71

How did artists clash with the government before 1985?

Answer 71

They criticised the government through their art (dissident artists)
- Sinyavsky and Daniel were known for producing anti-soviet agitation and propaganda; This led to their trial in 1966.

Question 72

What was the impact of international pressure/Prague Spring? (Brezhnev)

Answer 72

Show trials and imprisonment became rare. Well known dissidents were allowed to emigrate (Brodsky emigrated to the US)
Lesser known artists would be subject to psychiatric institutions

The Prague Spring created increasing pressure for artists to conform. (Solzhenitsyn, who published controversial works under Khrushchev, found it hard to publish in the USSR following 1968).