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.
The Russian Revolution was where the Bolsheviks proved that their propaganda machine worked. The Communists seized power over an empire that suffered from a progressive downfall. Russia at the time of the revolution was merely a broken down "barely functioning" version of its former self.(Encyclopedia of Propaganda, 675) A disastrous World war, a civil war, and foreign occupation opened the door for Lenin's propaganda.
How did Lenin obtain power over the working class? "The working class was very suspicious of intellectuals." (Pipes 43) Lenin did not portray himself as an intellectual. Rather than preach politics as the intellectuals had done, Lenin opted to use agitation propaganda or "agitprop" to make the workers aware of the need for political action. He new that by showing how workers were being exploited by their employers he could gain their support. Lenin hoped that with this strategy he could ignite industrial strikes. Once these workers would strike they would surely see that the emp...
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...until the dissolution of the USSR, propaganda was frequently used. The art of persuasion and coercion is what anchored the rise and fall of the communist Regime.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
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Getty, J. Arch and Roberta T. Manning. Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives. New York:
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Pipes, Richard. Revolutionary Russia. Cambridge: Harvard university Press, 1968.
Shlapentokh, Dmitry and Vladimir Shlapentokh. Soviet Cinematography1918-1991.
New York: Aldene De Gruyter, 1993.
Treadgold, Donald W. Twentieth Century Russia. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.
Von Laue, Theodore H. Why Lenin? Why Stalin? Philadelphia: J.B. Lippingcott, 1964.
Both the superpowers have made use of the propaganda to fight the Cold War. Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause of point of view. Especially, the USSR or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics efficiently manipulated the prop...
propaganda was to rally the country to fight the war. The first step in shaping the
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Propaganda has long been used as a tool to defend institutions and organizations. It was used during World War One and World War Two to placate the masses and to protect the governments at the time. Simply put, propaganda is a tool used by the intelligent to ma...
Manipulation can be executed in many different ways, but there is a difference between a stretch of the truth and a full re-writing of the past. Both men, Stalin and Big Brother, are guilty of altering the course of history. Stalin used propaganda and falsified data for his own self improvement to change books, films, and the learning material provided to children for their education. Big Brother also changed the course of history, but to a far more drastic extent. Big Brother created an entire ministry solely devoted to transforming old information into new information making Big Brother appear to the public as an astonishing leader of men. The Ministry of Truth focuses on altering books, articles, pictures, as well as creating fake stories
Russia entered the 20th century as an oppressed tsarist state and the last of the Medieval European strongholds. The people were poor, starving and hopeless and, unlike the rest of Europe, had not experienced revolution. Eventually, however, a small group of revolutionaries emerged and overthrew the tsarist regime. Russia quickly devolved into anarchy and the resulting turmoil saw the rise of the Bolshevik Party and Vladimir Lenin. This was the beginning of the Russian Revolution, a prolonged event that deeply impacted Russia and the whole of Europe and the effects of which continue to be felt today.
In China, Mao Zedong developed many things to entice people. The most effective uses of propaganda in the Cultural Revolution was the 100 Flowers movement and propaganda posters. The 100 flowers movement was meant to encourage popular criticism on the state and party officials to convey a more favorable communist party (Keesing’s research report). Although the 100 Flowers movement eventually died out, the use of posters to entice people’s support was successful. These pieces of art were sometimes the only source of information for the people because the campaigns were so short-lived (Cultural Revolution Campaigns. pg2). Not only were they simple and direct, but they were more dependable than the media. While similar, Cuban leaders used propaganda in different ways. Fidel Castro used pirate radio broadcasts, public displays and interviews to makes his army seem bigger and more powerful then it was. This, in turn, led the people to support Fidel
What does the word propaganda really mean? For most of us we assume that it is a word for negativity use. Just to assure those that think of propaganda as a negative word. Propaganda does have a positive objective if used correctly. The word propaganda is defined in a few different ways, But in the most general usage, it varies from bad to good persuasion of our minds. It is used during election time to our daily lives on television to our newspaper stands. According to Donna Cross’s essay, “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled,” there are thirteen different types of propaganda; this paper will discuss six varieties. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney used primarily every sort of propaganda to influence the citizens; therefore, our national society needs to develop awareness in the propaganda used by such politicians so that they can make wise decisions intelligently.
Vladimir Illich Lenin was the first individual to put Marxist ideologies to work. In April 1917 Lenin returned to Russia from his exile in Switzerland to give his 'April Theses.' It was here that Lenin outlined how his revolution was to take place, the Bolshevik Revolution began on November 6 1917. Within a week the Bolsheviks were in control of most of European Russia, and immediately Lenin ordered that the Russians abandon the war against Germany. After abandoning her allies in World War One the Russians were hurled into a civil war. It is here that we first see the ideologies of Totalitarianism and Democracy clash. The democracies of Britain, France, and the United States all sent troops to Russia in the support of the 'Whites,' or enemies of the Bolsheviks. Lenin took the poor country of Russia and turned it into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or U.S.S.R. Through his policies of War Communism and its replacement the NEP Lenin was able to stand the newly formed U.S.S.R. on its own two feet. One of Lenin's ideas was 'International Socialism,' it was under this idea that he set up the Comintern with the purpose of spreading communism throughout the world. His successor, Josef Stalin took a different approach in his ideas of 'Socialism in one country."
The Bolsheviks believed that Marxism was the solution to all of Russia’s problems to better the country and the world. Thanks to Lenin and the Bolsheviks progressed in every aspect. The Russian revolution was a motivation for other countries with similar conflicts. It improved the quality of life of the people and changed Russia along with other countries that followed all for the best. The Bolsheviks turned hard times for everyone in Russia into hope for The Russian peo-ple and any other country. The Russian Revolution worked out as a inspiring event that happened in history.
If you wanted to look at a good example of someone who understood the impact a television network may have on the minds and opinions of the people, you would have to look no further than media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Early on in life Murdoch recognized the valuable opportunity he possessed to influence public opinion on political issues. And if you are Rupert Murdoch, and you control a very effective, very powerful channel of communication such as the most widely read British tabloid or most watched American news network, how do you go about effectively persuading the thoughts of others? And what obstacles may a propagandist face in this process?
Lenin’s pragmatic leadership was the most considerable factor in helping to fortify Bolshevik power. His willingness to take power in October/November 1917 and the successes of the move, through his right-hand man, Trotsky, was critical as it helped give him unquestioned authority within the party despite members of the Central Committee i.e. Zinoviev and Kamenev who suggested industrialisation needed to occur first. This highlighted Lenin’s communist ideology in practice which was essential to the Bolsheviks maintaining power. Following the failure of the Provisional Government, Lenin recognised that it was the Bolshevik’s priority to legitimise their government. As a result, issues of ‘Peace, Bread and Land’ were addressed through the issuing of a number of decrees in late 1917 including decrees on land, peace, Workers’ Rights as well as reforms to marriage and religion. ...
Karrington, Kelly. American and Russian Propaganda Techniques During the Cold War. Yahoo Voices. 20 July 2007. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
The means of influencing an individual to the point that they will believe anything you say is the core of propagandas. Propagandas use emotion and psychological
...ple will find that propaganda helped the government as well as the people. Though those cases most likely ended in war, which used war propaganda that does not help the people in fact it does only benefit the leader or government.