Soviet Propaganda
The soviet communist party, or the Bolsheviks, always new that strong propaganda was essential to increase the consciousness of the masses. As stated in the Encyclopedia of Propaganda, " propaganda was central to Marxist-Leninist ideology long before the Bolshevik revolution of 1917."(675) The power of persuasion and coercion were exercised with great force by Soviet leaders. The two leaders whom utilized propaganda to influence public opinion in the USSR were Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Both men used many different facets of the media to spread their propaganda. They also used the troubled social climate along with the ignorance of the masses to custom tailor a regime that lasted for over seven decades.
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Lenin said, "The struggle of the Russian working class for it's liberation is a political struggle, and it's goal is the attainment of political liberty." (Pipes 45) Lenin used this form of propaganda, agitprop, to convey the need of a total reformation of Russia's government. He knew that this form of propaganda would work best. "Propaganda of agitation, being the most visible and widespread attracts all the attention." (Ellul 71) In his agitative propaganda Lenin cited specific enemies, or scapegoats namely, The Mensheviks. Along with the Mensheviks, or "whites" as they were called, the soviets expressed outright hatred of the western world and it's ways. Soviet propagandists created the idea that the western capitalist civilization was falling behind, as the superior socialists marched forward. Soviet artists and intellectuals were ordered to create propaganda material that portrayed this idea of a weak and inferior western world. The soviets official ideology was that they needed to gain complete control of all aspects of communication. Lenin embraced the idea of agitative propaganda that was introduced earlier by Georgi Plekhanov. Since the Soviet union was founded in 1920 there was an official department of agitprop. This department worked directly through schools, publications and the broadcast media. (Encyclopedia of propaganda 17) Part of Lenin's strategy
Propaganda flourished in the public as posters, newspapers, and other print media all praised Stalin, communism, the military, and his ideals. Soviet schools were controlled by Stalin from nursery to college. [“Censorship under Stalin.”] Industrialization allowed women to gain more rights in the workforce (factories). Other groups were not as lucky. From 1941-1949, Stalin ordered mass deportations and sent 3.3 million Ukrainians, Poles, Koreans, Greeks, Bulgarians and Jews to Siberia and Central Asian Republics. [Languages Of The World, 10 Mar. 2015,] Collectivism and industrialization were his two biggest economic policies under his Five Year Plan implemented in 1928. The idea of collectivization was meant to allow peasants to grow crops on the farms using machinery tractors from the state. Peasants would be compensated and they would keep a small plot of land near their homes for personal use. Stalin wanted to see increases in the USSR’s crop growth quickly. By the end of 1931, the goal set for grain was met but there was a drop in the grain production. Many factors that caused this. Stalin’s activists did not have a wide range of farm knowledge or the skills. Also, the amount of animals were not enough to pull the plows because the hungry peasants ate them. A drought occurred throughout large parts of the USSR and Ukraine during 1931-32. Because all of this, collectivism ultimately failed.
Lenin defined his movement by the slogan “all power to the soviets” Lenin believed he could make a new revolution in a way the old one happened by starting large street demonstrations. The soviets were giving lenin little support, but lenin believed he could manipulate them for his own purposes. Lenin tried to sieve power for the bolsheviks
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
Propaganda was used in 3 main types of ways in the First World War. It
The first section of Fitzpatrick’s essay discusses how Marxism was such an important part to creating classes during the Bolsheviks rule in the beginning of the 20th Century. She notes that this western belief system was popular with Russian intellectuals, especially on revolutionary left. (173) However, around the 1890’s industrialization was starting to catch up with the Marxist dreams, and the first soviets were founded in Moscow and Petersburg in 1905 helped bring down the tsarist regime in February 1917 (Suny 173).
Both negative and positive, propaganda affects our lives daily sometimes without us even acknowledging that it exists. The main goal of propaganda is trying to sell your product or idea to other people, one major form of Propaganda occurs in the news. Propaganda is used for companies and trend setters who want to get their products and ideas out in the world so that they could potentially become popular. Smart propagandists discovered that to create the best propaganda, the viewer must not even realize that the product or idea is being sold to them. Propaganda creates an extremely large impact on us and is sometimes mistaken for being “just another advertisement” when they actually change the way we live our lives.
The purpose of this essay is to explain how some out of the many propaganda techniques that are used in the novel Brave New World, and in parties like the Communist Party in Russia. Propaganda was a very important weapon in the Communist party in Russia. Propaganda was used to share information, educate, and lead people to the standard purpose. The Communist party of Russia took control of many communication tools, art, film, radio, theatre, music, books, posters, as propaganda. Those were the best way to reach out to a wider audience about the Communist party of Russia. The novel Brave New World also uses propaganda techniques to influence people. Propaganda was also very important in this novel, without it the people in the novel would not
Stalin’s unquestionable dominance over the Bolshevik party and their actions highlights the impact of Stalinism
In Oceania, rumors, myths, ideas and false information controls the minds of the citizens. The Party uses propaganda as a powerful weapon against the citizens. There are many types of propaganda used. Propaganda is brainwash. The citizens of Oceania are brainwashed to think that the Party is really there to help them, to make them happy. “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” and “Big Brother is Watching You” are examples of doublethink. These uses of propaganda prevent rebellion of the citizens of Oceania because they believe that this society is the ideal society. They believe they are protected, and that they could not be happier. Propaganda is the Party’s
No one anticipated the international chaos that would emerge during the twentieth century, especially the devastation caused by World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. World War II was the most destructive war in human history and changed the history of the world forever, engaging the world’s most influential superpowers in the largest international event of the era. World War II was fought not only by the armed forces, but also by the home fronts of every belligerent nation, exhausting the economy, the industry, and the morale of those living at home, escalating the conflict into a total war that was larger and fought more expansively than any other conflict in history. The use of American propaganda in the World War II war effort
Thus, the “Cult of Personality” was flourishing. Propaganda glorifying Stalin and Soviet ideals brainwashed the minds of Russian people. Stalin successfully impressed his socialist philosophies on millions of workers and peasants. Over time, socialism transformed into Stalinism, and it took hold. Stalin was able to hypnotize people towards one belief, the love of Stalin. When they saw Stalin being portrayed heroically everyday in the news or on posters, they began to idolize him. Stalin is like Big Brother; he was the main focus and had total power over the people and their actions.
The Cold War was one of the wars that made everyone hold their breaths and ponder would would happen next and when. The Cold War was a time period between 1947 to1991 in which the Western powers (US) and the USSR competed with each other in a tense rivalry and strive to outperform one another. It was also one of the key moments in history which spiked a motive and drive to develop and produce new strategies, weapons, and technologies. There was no actual fighting which took place (hence the name Cold War), but the two were always trying to best each other. The two superpowers often contested with each other militaristically, socially, politically, and economically. With this in mind: what weapons were used to fight the Cold War? Generally, Cold War weapons included the use of propaganda, nuclear weapons, and new technological development.
The Soviet Union also had its heroes to promote. One of the most important heroes in the USSR was the worker, who was always a key element in Bolshevik ideology. In creating an icon out of the worker the Bolshevik leaders
First, one must define propaganda and since many have done so already, I shall use the Sheryl Ross model. Her model defines propaganda as “an epistemically defective message designed with the intention to persuade a socially significant group of people on behalf of a political institution, organization, or cause.”
In the USSR’s view the term dissident “ represents a cunning propaganda maneuver, intended to confuse the public” . The government claimed that they respected freedom of speech, however, their actions demonstrated the opposite. Soviets were even institutionalized in psychiatric hospitals or deported from the USSR . Dissidents mainly protested through literature and other artistic media. They criticized their government for lack of progress and suppression of human rights. The spreading of dissident opinion was primarily distributed through the samizdat, self-published writings or pamphlets illegally distributed .