control Flashcards
1
Q
Examples of paintings
A
- El Lissitzsky, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, 1918. Geometric shapes used. LENIN, supported gov
- Socialist Realist art such as Lobanov Training Workers for Magnitogorsk, daily work at steelworks. STALIN, supported gov
- Goriunova, Forest Ritual, 1968. Nudity and female desire. BREZHNEV, opposed gov (dissident)
2
Q
Examples of music
A
- World Youth Festival 1957, jazz music and African drumming. KHRUSHCHEV, opposed gov.
- jazz taught in schools from 1950s such as US composer George Gershwin
3
Q
Examples of film
A
- experimental cinema with Vertov/Eisenstein such as Vertov A man with a movie camera, 1929. Deemed ‘insane’ and ‘puzzling’ by Pravda. LENIN, supported/opposed gov
- dissident film trilogy 3 Songs about Lenin, 1934 (no focus on Stalin). STALIN, opposed gov
- ridicule of fashion in An Office Romance but audience identified with female secretary. KHRUSHCHEV, supported/opposed gov
- Nostalgia in Liberation, 1970. BREZHNEV, supported gov
4
Q
Examples of literature
A
- Gladkov, Cement, 1924. Workers reconstructing a cement factory. STALIN, supported gov
- Dudinster, Not by Bread Alone, thaw period 1956-57. Critical of the Stalin period. KHRUSHCHEV, supported gov
- Daniel, This is Moscow Speaking, anti-Soviet propaganda. BREZHNEV, opposed gov
5
Q
How did Lenin control mass media?
A
- controlled news distribution through ROSTA (1918)
- Nov 1917, Decree on Press (closed newspapers associated with the counter-revolution)
- state monopoly on advertising
- nationalised the Petrograd Telegraph Agency Nov 1917 which meant government control of all electronic communication
6
Q
By 1921, how many newspapers and printing presses were gone?
A
- 2000 newspapers
- 575 printing presses
- only official newspapers were Pravda and Isvestia
7
Q
What style of art was propaganda under Lenin?
A
- avant garde
- used Agitprop to support new government (Department of Agitation Propaganda)
- it was more experimental than Lenin intended
- Glavlit: censored books. Book gulags for banned books
8
Q
What was Lenin’s cult of personality like?
A
- successful
- humane leader, great power, face of the revolution
- following an assassination attempt, Lenin was seen as this modern day Christ for surviving the attack
- first picture of Lenin taken August 1918, Lenin didn’t really like it but allowed the cult to grow
9
Q
What was Proletkult and what did Lenin think of it?
A
- an organisation led by Lunacharsky, influenced by Futurism and focused on proletarian culture
- Lenin was critical as he believed the best culture was universal, not bourgeois/proletarian
- Gorn = magazine they published in
- 1920 = 84k members, 300 studios
- by 1920, dissolution of Proletkult and merged with Commisariat of Education
10
Q
What happened to propaganda under Lenin as the 1920s progressed?
A
- more control of art
- critical of Western culture as it promoted promiscuity, etc
- traditional art was used to support the government
- forced closure of Petrograd State Insitute of Artistic Culture in 1926
11
Q
Why was Lenin critical of religion?
A
He was following Marx who said ‘religion is the opium of the masses’
12
Q
When was land seized from Christians?
A
- Oct 1917 Decree on Land, seized land from wealthy Russian Orthodox Church
- 1921 famine, seized more land (and used propaganda against Christianity)
13
Q
Separation of Church and State
A
- Jan 1918
- church no longer had privilege in society
14
Q
What did Lenin’s secret order to the Cheka say?
A
- to conduct a mass execution of priests
- 1922, 8000+ were killed in the anti-Church campaign
- within 2 years, most popular priests were dead
15
Q
Union of Militant Godless
A
- 1921
- proof against God’s existence
16
Q
Living Church
A
- 1923
- split the church from within by taking away the central leader (Patriarch Tikhon) and weaken its national structure
- however, Archbishop Vedenskii (leader of Living Church) didn’t support the communist regime and in 1923 gained support for saying that science couldn’t disprove God’s existence
17
Q
Lenin’s campaign against Islam
A
- started after 1921
- claimed that Islam ‘encouraged crimes based on custom’ and they recognised that Islamic organisations had loyalty in Caucasus and Central Asia, so by destroying Islam the Party would increase their power
- e.g. closed mosques, attacked Islamic shrines and led campaigns against women wearing chador (a veil)
- He then reversed this position, and even funded Islamic schools
18
Q
How many were still practicing religion by the mid 1920s?
A
55% of the population
19
Q
Initial features of the secret police under Lenin
A
- established Dec 1917
- closed down the Constituent Assembly Jan 1918
- seen as a temporary measure
- terror and surveillance
- head of Cheka = Dzerzhinsky 1917-26
- not bound by laws
20
Q
What did the Cheka do in the Civil War?
A
- requisitioned grain
- closed down opponent newspapers
- end private trade as part of War Communism
- hunt enemies and put them in concentration camps
21
Q
What did the Cheka do in the NEP?
A
- monitored the NEP marketplace
- imprisoned too rich Nepmen
- harassed women who dressed in Western styles
22
Q
What did Lenin order Dzershinsky to do?
A
- 1922, told him to set up an agency in the GPU to monitor press e.g. had power to intercept the mail and other forms of communication
- 1922, organised trials of opponent leaders (SR leaders)
23
Q
Changes to media and propaganda under Stalin
A
Media
- purged works of rivals
- history rewritten (rivals and revolutionaries such as Trotsky removed)
- radio played in public from 1921 (as 65% of population illiterate)
- restrictions on bad news from 1928 e.g. natural disasters
- Glavlit: controlled access to economic data
Propaganda
- Stalin portrayed as semi divine
- focus on archetypal Soviet worker in propaganda
- SOVIET REALISM
24
Q
Religion under Stalin initially
A
- initially pragmatic
Later
- closed churches during collectivisation as they aided resistance
- set targets for purges of ethnic groups
- attacked Islam defence groups e.g. Sufis in Central Asia (by the NKVD) and despite Sufis being destroyed by 1936, Islam survived (women kept traditions alive)
25
Religion under Stalin in WW2
- alliance with the church to appeal to patriotism as Russian Orthodox Church was linked with Russian national identity
- Church proclaimed Stalin as God's chosen leader so Stalin changed policies against church e.g:
- 414 churches reopened in 1945
- Stalin granted Metropolitan Sergey an official residence in Moscow
26
Who did Stalin use terror against?
Party members
27
Yagoda (secret police)
- **1934-36**
- arrested Zinoviev and Kamenev
- collaborated with Stalin to turn NKVD against Party (Great Terror therefore TURNING POINT in use of terror)
- expanded gulags e.g. White Sea Canal used **180,000** gulag labourers
- BUT Stalin was disappointed with him as he was incompetent regarding Kirov's murder (wanted to use this to attack Bukharin and Trotsky supporters)
- SHOT 1936
28
Yezhov (secret police)
- **1936-38**
- targets set for executions, deportations and arrests by Stalin
- 1937 NKVD was purged as they were loyal to the Party and Stalin's opponents and opposed to use of mass terror
- new NKVD members weren't loyal to the Party and had no opposition to terror, enjoyed power
- 'conveyor belt system' of NKVD agents working shifts around the clock for torture to make confessions quicker
- increased surveillance
29
Yezhovschina (secret police)
- **1937-38**
- terror engulfed all of society
- 1.5 million men arrested (10% of male population), 680,000 executed, 635,000 deported
- 95% of those targeted = MEN, social group most likely to oppose Stalin = urban educated men 30-45yo
- also show trials at local level
- BUT Yezhov dismissed 1938 because he fell from Stalin's favour
30
Beria during WW2 (secret police)
- **1938-53**
- first major successes = arrest of Yezhov in 1939 (and shooting in 1940) and Trotsky's murder in Mexico in 1940
- policed ethnic minorities e.g. deported Kalymks to Siberia as he feared they'd welcome a German invasion, by 1953 53k/130k alive
31
Beria post-WW2 (secret police)
- purge of Soviet POWs as Stalin viewed them as allowing themselves to be captured and therefore traitors (1.5 mil, most deported to Siberia)
- Leningrad Affair 1949: purge against officials in Leningrad Party as they acted independently, 2000 arrested and forced to confess to crimes against Party
- 1952-53 Doctors' Plot: many of Stalin's medical staff arrested for trying to poison Stalin (may have also been caused by anti-Semitism as many doctors = Jewish/had Jewish names)
32
Socialist Realism under Stalin
- reflected reality
- in order to build socialism
- set targets for art to produce
- much of the art was unrealistic but depicted a utopian future that they were working towards
- traditional music e.g. Shostakovich (ordinary people could sing along to it)
- a play by Meyerhold was too realistic so he was shot in January 1940
33
Purpose of Stalin's cult of personality
- it was more extensive than Lenin's cult
- aim was to prove Stalin's legitimacy to take over the Party
- wanted people to trust him to create a better Russia
34
Myth of two leaders
- led people to believe Lenin AND Stalin masterminded the Oct 1917 Revolution, Civil War, etc.
- rewrote history to remove Trotsky and other rivals e.g. history of USSR published **1938**, edited Trotsky out of photos
35
Lenin's heir (Stalin's cult of personality)
- Stalin was continuing Lenin's work
- e.g. Klutsis photomontage depicted Stalin as the latest of revolutionary leaders by putting him in a line with Marx and Lenin
36
Vozhd (Stalin's cult of personality)
- celebrated figure
- Vozhd = Leader, had no legal significance or limitations unlike President
- celebrated Stalin's birthday
37
Generalissimo
- post WW2
- depicted Stalin as a military genius, man who defeated Hitler
- it was a special rank created just for him, new white uniform (special) instead of old green uniform
38
Mass media and propaganda under Khrushchev
- broader cultural liberalisation
- films focused on traditional themes like Soviet win in WW2
- readers’ letters in magazines exposed problems in society
- TV also boomed e.g. 1960-64 supported regime, celebrated achievements such as the Space Race (e.g. 1961 Yuri Gagarin space voyage)
- first news TV show in 1960 (Estafeta Novosteo)
39
Cult of personality under Khrushchev
- criticised Stalin’s cult
- focused on Lenin’s cult, depicted him as fun and humane, loved children and family (resembled Khrushchev)
- purpose: MOVE AWAY FROM STALINISM
- Khrushchev = discipline of Lenin, responsible for success e.g. VLS, hero of WW2
40
Why was Khrushchev’s cult of personality problematic by the 1960s?
- associated himself with VLS which was failing so Khrushchev in turn became associated with failure
- Corn Campaign disaster
41
Khrushchev and religion
- anti religious campaign began from 1958 e.g. churches opened during WW2 were closed again (8000 in 1958 but 5000 in 1964)
- anti religious propaganda e.g. magazine *Science and Religion*
- Space Race used e.g. Gagarin claimed he found no God in heaven
- targeted female believers as 2/3 of Orthodox church-goers were women, therefore encouraged men to educate the children instead to prevent religious beliefs from being passed
- women continued to protect religion, people marched to defend religion, children taken out of school to avoid anti-religious propaganda
42
Secret police under Khrushchev
- no mass terror
- heads of KGB = low profile
- use of repressive psychiatry and popular oversight (keep other citizens under surveillance rather than use the KGB for surveillance)
- rehabilitation of former Party members
43
Thaws and freezes under Khrushchev
- 1953-54 (THAW) generational differences between Stalinists and new gen e.g. Ehrenburg **The Thaw** critical of Stalin
- 1956-57 (THAW) e.g. Dudintsev **Not By Bread Alone** critical of Stalin
- 1961-62 (THAW FOLLOWING 22ND PARTY CONGRESS), Stalin’s body removed from Red Square
- temporary freeze after every thaw
44
What were some things banned in freeze periods under Khrushchev?
- 1954: Boris Pasternak **Dr Zhivago** banned due to criticism of the October Revolution
- Jan 1964: various artists including Brodsky arrested (final freeze)
45
Propaganda and popular oversight under Khrushchev
- propaganda increasingly poked fun at Soviet people
- e.g. 1961 **The Lazy Bureaucrat** shows non-conformist man as comically fat and disorganised
- also recognised inefficiencies of Soviet farms and factories
- good citizens expected to intervene with helpful moral advice rather than report to the KGB
46
Khrushchev: disciplining style hunters
- ‘stilyaga’
- worried that women would become consumerists, also worried about female sexuality and promiscuity, targeted Western fashion
- women had a ‘natural desire’ to shop
- official campaigns against Western fashion such as during 1957 World Youth Festival, shaved heads of women having sex with foreign male delegates/men
- male heterosexual desire = normal, any kind of female sexual desire = unhealthy. Tried to direct women to childbearing and marriage
47
Failures of disciplining style hunters under Khrushchev
1964-70, consumer spending on clothes tripled (couldn’t battle consumerism)
48
Mass media and propaganda under Brezhnev
- kept traditional elements such as WW2 success but also focused on working people’s lives
- more films about fashionable citizens and luxury which spiked desires for fashion and consumer goods
- TV: tight control of footage like of Afghanistan War (1979-89)
- full transmission of his speeches but this meant people could watch his decline in real time e.g. he became confused mid sentence (so it backfired)
- lost control of printed media e.g. Western magazines like Vogue became publicly available in Soviet cities despite KGB control
49
Brezhnev’s cult of personality
- shadow of Stalin
- purpose: pragmatic as it had become a key feature of Soviet politics
- 4 key features:
- Great Leninist: continuing his work (even if he didn’t know Lenin personally)
- Military hero: WW2 success
- Dedicated to world peace: foreign policy to develop detente with US (detente 1967-79)
- True man of the people: Brezhnev had humble origins etc.
50
How did Brezhnev develop his cult of personality?
- public festivals marking important anniversaries e.g. Oct 1917 Revolution
- Brezhnev’s major birthdays
51
How was Brezhnev’s cult of personality counterproductive?
- he was mocked for his claims of greatness
- WW2 veterans resented that he inflated his WW2 role
- young people were sceptical about his claims for world peace
- Brezhnev had a lavish lifestyle, NOT HUMBLE
52
Religion under Brezhnev
- ended Khrushchev’s overt campaign against religion, church closures and poster campaigns were ended
- advocated atheism instead of attacking religious groups
- **1968**: Institute for Scientific Atheism, advice for how to spread atheism
- sought allies in the Middle East, supported anti-American Islamic groups -> late 1960s, described Islam as ‘progressive, anti-colonial, revolutionary’ compatible with socialism
- BUT 20% of the population remained religious
53
Focus of secret police under Andropov (began in 1967 under Brezhnev) (1967-82)
- head of KGB became a leading position in government
- goal was to control dissidents rather than have limitless power like Yezhov etc.
- no return to mass terror
54
Discipline in the KGB (Andropov (*Brezhnev*))
- KGB agents not allowed to accept gifts, declared all financial assets
- KGB agents promoted from whole of USSR
- 1967: Directorate V, a special KGB branch to deal with dissidents
55
Ways that Andropov dealt with dissidents
- high profile dissidents with a big reputation were allowed to emigrate e.g. over 100,000 trouble makers allowed to leave USSR
- less well known dissidents were sent to repressive psychiatry, didn’t attract media attention. Indefinite treatment unlike prison
- focused on prevention, not repression -> issued official warnings from November 1972
- surveillance, interviews and warnings of dissidents. Around 70k dissidents received a warning but it wasn’t always effective (number of dissidents sent to prison increased by 5x from 1965-67 to 1968-70)
- also used show trials and violence to intimidate
56
Popular discontent 1982-85
- citizens discontent with the regime, loss of faith in the system
- led to an increase in alcoholism, poor labour discipline, falling birth rate, etc
57
Andropov's policies to deal with discontent
- anti-corruption campaign
- anti-alcohol campaign
- Operation Trawl
58
How did arts and culture change under Brezhnev?
- became more nostalgic for the days of the revolution
- magazines ridiculed and discouraged Western ways and styles
- creation of some exceptional art especially in ballet (e.g. Bolshoi Ballet was most famous company, **1968** created ballet Spartacus
59
What were the three groups of artist under Brezhnev?
- obedient functionaries: prepared to work with the system without question despite own opinion
- loyal oppositionists: expressed criticism of system within official channels, trying to improve the system from the inside
- dissidents: expressed their criticisms publicly
60
Sinyavsky-Daniel Trial
- September 1965
- show trial in 1966
- arrested for anti-Soviet agitation propaganda, own writing was used as evidence e.g. **This is Moscow Speaking** (Daniel)
- happened in order to send a clear message that the thaw of Khrushchev was over
- charged with 7 and 5 years in labour camp
61
What was the impact of international pressure regarding dissidents on Brehznev?
People arrested under Khrushchev were released under Brezhnev e.g. Brodsky in 1965 (he was arrested in 1964 for working independently of state (not licensed under Writers’ Union), and he was allowed to emigrate to the US
62
Impact of Prague Spring on culture under Brezhnev
- Prague Spring in 1968
- led to a hardening of attitude towards culture due to the chaos in Czechoslovakia as Dubcek tried to create 'socialism with a human face'
- cultural liberalisation was a danger to Communist rule
- e.g. Solzhenitsyn found it increasingly difficult to publish in the USSR
- culture became more nostalgic e.g. the 1970 film **Liberation** celebrating USSR win in WW2
63
Bulldozer Exhibition
- Sep 1974, art bulldozed (underground art scene)
- Most artists preferred to conform
