Censorship

• Alex II:

  • Russia experienced glasnost, censorship was relaxed
• Alex III:

  • His reactionary rule resulted in a clampdown on publications, as well as certain newspapers, journals and educational institutions being shut down.
• Nich II:

  • Reverted to the glasnost of Alexander II
  • Expansion of the press in 1894, and the number of periodicals increased threefold from 1900 to 1914
  • Political matters discussed in the Duma also began to be reported in print, although some details were occasionally omitted or changed.
• Stalin:

  • Censorship increased. By 1932, all literary groups were closed down, and anyone wanting to write had to join the USW
  • During the war, news was fictionalised and writers glorifies Russia’s achievements
• Khrushchev:

  • Censorship eased. By the late 1950s, nearly 65,000 books were being published a year (double that of the 1920s) 
  • By 1959, there were 135,000 libraries containing 8 billion books (10 times more than in 1913)
• Synthesis:

  • Censorship was often a less obvious and repressive form of repression - least consistently used
  • No clear link between usage of censorship and whether the leader was a Tsar or a Communist - Stalin and Alex III used it most frequently as a method of repression