Control of the people

• Stalin - Mass media

  
  

  • Edited Lenin's writings to remove any praise of his ops and to emphasise the closeness of their relationship
  • banned publication of news about natural disasters, industrial accidents or bad weather to perfect impressions of Russia
  • During mid 1920s he purged the works of Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky from libraries
  • 1928 - Glavlit controlled media access to all economic data
• Khrushchev - propaganda

  
  

  • Depicted as being a disciple of Lenin, a hero of WW2, a great reformer and the one responsible for the success of the space programme
  • This depiction fell apart after the failed agricultural policies of the corn campaign and virgin land scheme
  • Appealed to Lenin's cult of personality by appearing as hard working and distancing himself from Stalin's terror
• Brezhnev - terror

  
  

  • Was suspicious of K's high levels of freedom but knew he couldn't return to high terror
  • Helsinki Agreement in 1975 made USSR committed to protecting human rights
  • Andropov was told to exert max control over people with min violence
  • Andropov made head of the KGB in 1967 and encouraged dissidents to emigrate
  • 100,000 people left USSR in the 70s
  • Andropov imprisoned 528 people from 1968-72
  • Dissidents sent to hospitals to receive psychiatric treatment for limitless amounts of time and records kept secret
• Lenin - mass media

  
  

  • Nov 1917 - 'Decree on press' could close newspapers that didn't support the revolution
  • Nov 1917 - nationalised the Petrograd Telegraph Agency so they controlled electronic communication
  • 1918 - outlawed non-socialist newspapers
  • 1918 - 'Revolutionary Tribunal of the Press' gave the power to censor, fine and imprison journalists
  • 1921 - 2,000 newspapers and 575 printing presses shut down
  • 1922 - Glavlit (press censorship) employed people to compile a list of banned books and libraries
  • Pravda (Truth) highest circulating publication
• Khrushchev - terror

  
  

  • Mostly ended use of terror
  • 1953-60, 2 million political prisoners released
  • Still used secret police, political opponents received psychiatric treatment in hospitals as a form of imprisonment
  • When Central Committee made him step down he said that 'Stalin would have had them shot'
• Stalin - propaganda

  
  

  • 'Myth of two leaders' idea that the October Revolution and Civil War were masterminded by both Lenin and Stalin
  • Altered photographs to remove Trotsky
  • Published 2 books about his role in the revolution in 1938
  • Was called Generalissimo and pictured as a fearless military leader, tactical genius and depicted with a military uniform on
  • Painting by Shegal called 'Leader, teacher, friend' pictured Stalin in front if a bust of Lenin
• Lenin - religion

  
  

  • Saw it as a method of social control
  • October 1917 'Decree On Land' gave peasants legal right to take church property
  • January 1918 'Decree On Freedom of Conscience' separated Orthodox church from state
  • Government funding ended and religious education banned
  • During famine - churches attacked, valuable objects stolen and sold for food, priests denied vote and rations
  • Over 1000 priests killed by 1923
  • Created the 'Living Church' in 1923 which the Bolsheviks controlled
• Lenin - terror

  
  

  • Cheka hunted enemies and executed 200,000 people between 1917 - 23
  • They froze the bodies of victims as ice statues in Oryol
  • They closed the Constituent Assembly in 1918 as it was dominated by social revolutionaries
  • They monitored free market during NEP, private traders and gamblers arrested
  • Red Terror estimated 50,000 - 140,000 executions
  • Political opponents accused of treason and sabotage in 1922, they were sentenced to death but where imprisoned and only killed under Stalin
• Brezhnev - culture

  
  

  • Promoted nostalgia and romanticised communist origins, like the 1970s film 'Liberation' and its 4 sequels that celebrated soviet victory in WW2
  • Censored artists/authors that didn't fit his style like Daniel and Sinyavsky, but international pressure meant limited public show trials
• Brezhnev - mass media

  
  

  • Control relaxed as he lost control over printed media, led to Vouge becoming increasingly popular
  • The KGB struggled to stop the printing of political magazines
  • They controlled the TV and the news, limited broadcasting of the war in Afghanistan
  • Tvs backfired as it showed Brezhnev as old and weak to the world
  • Institute for Scientific Atheism published articles and newspapers promoting atheism and encouraged teachers to spread it
• Khrushchev - culture

  
  

  • Less freedom to women and were encouraged to stop following the west fashion trends, this failed
  • There were 'freezes' and 'thaws' of freedoms and control of criticisms, led to criticisms of Stalin like Ehrenburg's 'The Thaw'
  • Allowed jazz and African music as the World Youth festival 1957
  • The works of classical composers were allowed to be taught in schools
• Stalin - culture

  
  

  • Encouraged socialist realism from 1932, which helped build socialism with straight forward depictions of Stalin's ideal world
  • Criticised foreign culture and said jazz encouraged sexual promiscuity
  • Used NKVD to break up jazz parties
  • FYPs celebrated by Klutsin in 'The Storm of the Third Year of the Five Year Plan' which gave a heroic depiction of miners at work
• Khrushchev - religion

  
  

  • Anti-religion campaign in 1958 closed churches, started anti propaganda and holy sites were prohibited
  • 1960 'Science and Religion' magazine published
  • Yuri Gangaria was the first man in space and said he "found no God in the heavens"
  • Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space and said space confirmed her atheism
  • Women home educated their kids to avoid anti-religious propaganda, as 2/3 of Orthodox churchgoers were women
• Lenin - propaganda

  
  

  • Bolsheviks had their own newspaper called 'Provda'
  • Failed assassination attempt in August 1918 used to emphasise his willingness to suffer and sacrifice
  • Portrayed as an ordinary man by wearing a simple hat and dressing in an industrial style
• Lenin - culture

  
  

  • People believed art under communism should be made by the working class and was called 'Proletkult'
  • Lenin believed art was universal and shouldn't be subject of one class
  • Brought Proletkult under Bolshevik control in 1920 and limited its funding
  • Encouraged romanticised experimental films about the rise of the Bolsheviks
  • Believed cinema to be the most important art form of the 20th century
• Brezhnev - religion

  
  

  • Abandoned K's campaigns and instead encouraged atheism rather than criticising religion
  • Stopped closure of churches and anti-religious propaganda
  • Used religion to make allies with the Middle East, called Islam 'progressive and compatible with socialism'
  • 1968 'Institute for Scientific Atheism' opened and teachers encouraged to spread its teachings
  • Unsuccessful as religious affiliation remained at 20% throughout 1960-85
• Khrushchev - mass media

  
  

  • Allowed magazines with letters from the public that highlighted social problems, like domestic violence in 'The Women Worker'
  • TV ownership increased and Khrushchev promoted success of ordinary people, like Valentina Tereshkova being the first woman in space and coming from a collective farm
  • Foreign media still banned
  • Novel 'Doctor Zhivago' critical of Lenin so it was banned
• Brezhnev -propaganda

  
  

  • Portrayed as a friend of Lenin and was keen to portray himself as a military hero
  • Appointed himself Marshall of the USSR in 1976
  • Ended propaganda campaigns against religion
  • Was frequently seen in military uniform and covered in medals
  • Had a ghost written memoir which exaggerated his WW2 contributions
  • People knew he had never seen the front line or met Lenin
• Stalin - terror

  
  

  • Secret police called NKVD
  • Great Terror 1935-38 he ordered 10 million dead, equal to 10% of the adult male population
  • 8 million in Gulags by 1941
  • Purged the Red Army and anyone under Trotsky in 1937, including 8 generals and 37,000 officers
  • Show trails where rivals publicly admitted to fake crimes and couldn't defend themselves (Trial of 16 with Zinoviev and Kamenev part of the accused)
  • Jadid and Safi Muslim groups attacked, by 1936 Sufi groups almost eliminated in Turkestan
• Stalin - religion

  
  

  • Closed Russian orthodox churches during collectivisation as churches were assisting peasants in hiding their grain
  • WW2 made him realise that religion inspired people more than communism ever could
  • Soldiers found comfort in the thought of Lord and Heaven
  • Reopened 414 churches and promised to end religious censorship
  • Russian Orthodox priesthood went from 9,000 in 1946 - 12,000 in 1948