Control of the people USSR Unit 3

What was radio under Lenin like as a form of control?

-1917, the radio was a fairly recent development + therefore easier for the Bolsheviks to gain influence

-Radio had broadcast news of the revolution in October 1917 in morse code

-Radio receivers were expensive, + to get the message to the people, the Bolsheviks installed loudspeakers in public places, factories, + clubs -> group listening also resulted in a collective response that ensured everyone got the intended message

-Control of radio communications was centralised through the commissariats posts + telegraph, as the govt recognised the importance of this form of communication, resources were given to ensure rapid development

-Radio = controlled by the govt, + by the 1920s, they conveyed the official message alongside light or classical music to make it more palatable

What had Soviet scientists quickly developed by 1921?

Who did this?

• voice radio- programmes were being broadcast ->

• 'The Spoken Newspaper of the Russian telegraph Agency' featured news + propaganda material with little emphasis on music

Why was radio particularly important?

it enabled the govt to get its message access to the 65% of the population who were illiterate

What was radio under Stalin like as a form of control?

When was it particularly useful?

-The speed by which the govt could convey its message through radio was to prove invaluable during the German invasion of 1941

-With German forces less than 50 miles from Moscow, Stalin gave a speech live on radio from the Red Square in the centre of Moscow, to commemorate the October revolution

-It was to prove highly effective in reassuring the Soviet population that not all was lost in war

What was radio like under Khrushchev as a form of control?

How many Soviet radio stations were the until 1964?

• Most new apartment blocks were wired for a radio reception, thereby access was restricted to govt stations

• 1

Features of radio under Brezhnev as a form of control?

-Under Brezhnev, the range was extended to 3, including Radio Maiak (Lighthouse), which played some foreign music + was popular with Soviet youth

-Govt tried to restrict access to foreign stations by mass-producing cheap radios with a limited reception range, but they also had to rely on jamming foreign broadcasts + threatening to arrest those that listened to stations such as Voice of America or the BBC

-Although these threats rarely succeeded, the limits on the amount of information received by the Soviet population were important in restricting the level of public debate

What was TVs under Stalin like as a form of control?

How many TV sets did the USSR have by the 1950s?

• By the 1950s, TVs were becoming a key method by which the govt got its message to the Soviet public

• in the 1950s, the USSR had 10,000 sets

What had this number risen to by 1958?

Almost 3 million

What was TVs under Khrushchev as a form of control?

-Mass production of TVs in the 1960s brought their price within the range of most of the population, even if availability failed to keep face with the demand

What was TVs under Brezhnev as a form of control?

-By the early 1980s, most of the rural population had access to TVs, 2 TV channels + greater emphasis on light entertainment

-This was undemanding but popular

-In the 1970s, Soviet singer Edward Khil (Trololo) became a noted popular celebrity, although his easy-listening style was not everyone's taste

What was TVs as a form of control in the USSR overall?

-There was a wider range of programmes -> what was in the programmes was strictly controlled

-Issues with private radio + illegal watching of Western TV

What was magazines under Lenin as a form of control?

-Newspapers often gave sports coverage little attention, + the gap for sports fans were filled by Red Sport established in 1924

What was magazines under Stalin as a form of control?

-Alongside the diet of the daily newspaper, there was a vast selection of magazines + journals to cater for an ever increasing range of interests

-Many were aimed at young children, sports fans + those with a particular hobby

-Some areas of interest were off limits: sex, pornography, crime + religion was among those topics that the govt had no wish to encourage (do to want it to be discussed)

-After 1946, the successor of Red Sport was Sovetskii Sport -> it was hugely popular magazine that gained respect for its accuracy + honesty in sports coverage, even if it had to carry political news praising the govt on its front page

What was newspapers under Lenin as a form of control?

-Lenin moved quickly to stamp any signs of freedom of the press, viewing newspapers as mouth pieces of the bourgeoisie

-Printing press was nationalised, with access restricted to those working in the interests f the workers + the socialist order

-All editors + journalists were employers of the govt members of the USSR journalists + expected to be a party member

-Approval from Glavlit, the censorship office, was needed for every article written for publication

what were the 2 newspapers?

Pravada- party (truth)

Izvestiya (govt news)

What was made in 1917?

What happened by the early 20s?

• A decree in Nov 1917 banned all non-socialist newspapers

• by the early 1920s, all non-Bolshevik papers were eliminated

What was newspapers under Stalin as a form of control?

-Newspapers carried endless details about the achievements of socialism with production figures related to meeting or, better still, exceeding targets of the latest economic plan

-This fixation was especially true of the 1930s, under Stalin's push to industrialise

-Favoured topics = expeditions to the Artic + Northern Russia in search of gold + oil that were part of a theme which struck a chord with many Soviet citizens: the triumph of technology over nature

What was newspapers under Khrushchev as a form of control?

-Sep 1957 there was a disaster at Kyshtym which was simply ignored by the govt's press agencies

-A nuclear waste storage tank exploded, resulting in at least 200 fatalities + over 270,000 people being exposed to dangerous radiation levels

-The Soviet public only became suspicious when keen map readers noticed that over 30 small communities had disappeared from Soviet maps between 1958-91

-In the absence of any acknowledged disaster, the govt took 2 years to evacuate unsafe areas

What was newspapers under Brezhnev as a form of control?

-Pravada had a circulation of 10.7 million in 1983 -> this was the paper of the govt

-Controlled trade unions Trud (labour) was even more popular with a print of 13.5 million

-In July 1972, a vast fire got out of control outside of Moscow, but the city's population had to wait a month before the blue haze over the city was explained -> by that time the fire had been put out

What are some facts about newspapers overall?

-Daily newspapers included Pravada (truth) + Izvestiya (News)

-Both used as vehicles of propaganda, highlighting the achievements of govt + socialism -> their purpose was to act as an instrument for propaganda, agitation + organisation

-The guiding principle of the Soviet press was partiinost (party-mindedness)

How effective was the control of people through the media?

-Negative = censorship made media boring + repetitive + made people switch it off because of it, its a niche society -> trying to force people to respond to things in a certain way

-Changing opinions in the party -> censorship has changed direction -> controlled encyclopaedia + people are instructed to remove pages from a Soviet encyclopaedia

-Censorship is not constant, particularly in 1953, meaning it won't work

How did changing technology affect the state's use of media as a method of control?

-Led to more people being able to see/hear about Western ideas + other ideas across the world

-As technology increases, it becomes an ever increasing problem, e.g. Stalin had to watch out for people watching TV (led to them losing, time, money + focus)

Art + culture

What was the Prolekult under Lenin?

-Led by Bogdanov + Lunarcharsky -> Bogdanov argued that the state needed to use new technology to create its own 'Proletarian Culture'/Prolekult

-Felt a new group of proletarian artists should evolve, whose art was to serve a social + political purpose -> a key stand = Constructivists who aimed to create a new socialist culture -> the emphasis was to be on the collective of the workers as a class, rather than individualism

-Workers + peasants were encouraged to produce their own culture, from writing their won stories, to putting on theatre productions

-Magazine Smithy was established, which contained poems about machines + factories

-Govt also made use of festivals to develop a new culture with socialist values, + extra food rations were sometimes used as an incentive for crowds to turn up

-Anniversary of the Revolution in 1920 was celebrated by a re-enactment of the storming of the Winter Palace using over 8,000 people

-This was a direct challenge to high culture + it became popular for a time

What was Avant-garde under Lenin?

-Result of WW1 under a new govt, it was a wave of experimentation

-Influenced by modernism, emphasis on abstract art was coupled with that of Futurism as artists attempted to convey visions of a new futuristic world

-Poster art -> Bolshevik regime acquired playwright Mayakovsky, who set to work producing slogans + posters for the govt -> his work may have been propaganda but it was genuinely innovative

-Painting + sculpture by Malevich + Kandinsky represents examples of 'Fellow Travellers' who produced a large output of experimental work in the 1920s

-Literacy rates were low so Bolsheviks put so much stress on visual arts

-Theatre was led by Meyerhold who produced the pageant Mystery Bouffe (1918) = a fantasy based on the workers defeating their exploiters, but it was so confusing to audiences that it was cancelled after 1 performance

-Cinema = Sergei Eisenstein -> made Strike (1924) + Battleship Potemkin in production to be released in 1925 -> experimental use of imagery made Eisenstein's work truly innovative

What was Komsomol under Lenin?

-Young enthusiastic communists from Komsomol were encouraged to root out + attack 'bourgeois' elements

-Theatre production of suspect plays were disrupted by booing + whistling

-In literature, the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP), made increasingly bitter attacks on the Fellow Travellers + condemned the decadent individualism of writers who adopted new experimental techniques -> they preferred works that stressed the achievements of the workers, + it became termed cult of the 'little man'

What was Socialist Realism under Stalin?

-Brought an end to the Cultural Revolution under Lenin

-Stalin recognised the importance of writers + artists, calling them 'engineers of human souls'

-Socialist Realism = a term used to describe art that presented idealised images of life under socialism to inspire the population towards its achievement

-The Union of Soviet Writers was to police the movement, rewarding those who complied, + restricting those who did not

What was Art and Socialist Realism under Stalin?

-No experimentation -> forms like avant-garde + abstract art were rejected

-Art was harnessed by the regime to project ideal images of life under the 5-Year plans, often presented through images of the worker + peasant working for socialism

-Stalin had told artists they should make it clear who was responsible for the achievements of socialism

-This often resulted in a fusion of Socialist Realism with the cult of personality, as vast statues of Stalin started to appear

What was Literature and Socialist Realism under Stalin?

-Change of emphasis to heroes connected to the party

-Standard plot of novels in the 1930s was of a hero from the people who is guided by the party to greater things

-This theme is developed in much of 'high' literature through works by Sholokhov + Gorky who had much in common with traditional Russian folk stories

-'Lowbrow' literature was usually concerned with heroes from Russian history, war stories, or detective novels where a police agent thwarts the evil capitalists

-Low prices on books + the tenfold growth in library acquisitions ensured the population had easy access to this material

-Through govt agencies, the party controlled that was published + by whom

What was Music and Socialist Realism under Stalin?

-1935, Stalin walked out of a performance of Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of Mstensk due to discordant notes -> the real reason was Stalin's shock at the bedroom scene, where trombones were used to underline what was happening

-In popular music, the govt favoured military songs more than jazz

-Govt concern over the perceived decadent associations of jazz led to the banning of the saxophone in the 1940s

-It was better to stick to well-worn themes than experiment if you wished to carry on working (same with literature)

What was Architecture and Socialist Realism under Stalin?

-Socialist Realism promoted a style known as 'Stalinist baroque', better known as 'wedding cake' architecture, which made use of classical lines

-Many public buildings were built in this style, the best example being Moscow University, which was rebuilt after 1945

-The Moscow Metro system was another fine example of Stalinist baroque, with stations decorated with chandeliers + elaborate murals, showing the endeavours of the workers

What was Film and Socialist Realism under Stalin?

-Achievements of the revolution were conveyed through films, such as Eisenstein's October (1927), which presented the heroic version of the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917

-This served the interests of the govt in presenting the Revolution as a mass movement

-Unfortunately, due to Eisenstein's excessive use of extras + live ammunition, more people died in the making of the film than in the actual events themselves

-During WW2, the cinema was used to promote patriotism in defence of both Mother Russia + socialism: the film Alexander Nevsky was one of the most popular

What was non-conformity during the last years of Stalin's leadership?

-Some changes of emphasis in cultural policy -> immediately after WW2 there were signs that the govt was prepared to allow artists + writers greater freedom,

-Both Pasternak + Akhmatova were allowed to give public readings of their unorthodox poetry in Moscow 1946 to enthusiastic applause

-Signs of greater freedom were quickly dispelled as elements of Western culture were condemned in a campaign referred to as Zhdanovschina

-1946, a campaign was launched to remove all aspects of 'bourgeois' culture from the West -> heavily influenced by xenophobic attitudes that had been enhanced by the development of the Cold War

-Classical composer, Shostakovich, was subjected to the humiliation of being called into Zhdanov's office to have suitable tunes tapped out of him in a piano by Zhdanov himself -> he said to Shostakovich there was little point in composing music you could not hum

What were the limits on cultural freedom under Khrushchev?

-Limits thaw was shown by the treatment of Boris Paternak over his novel Doctor Zhivago -> it was an epic story set during the Russian Civil War, containing criticisms of the Revolution

-Soviet publishers were unsure if it should be published or not until Khrushchev intervened, + without reading the full text, decided that the book should be banned

-However, the novel was smuggled abroad + an edition first appeared in Italy in 1957 -> reception gained was extremely positive, + to Khrushchev, an embarrassment

-Pasternak was awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature -> Khrushchev refused to allow Pasternak to travel to Sweden to receive his prize

-Whole affair was an international embarrassment for the Soviet govt + Khrushchev later regretted his actions

What was the criticisms of abstract art under Khrushchev?

-It was another area where nonconformity was not encouraged -> it was pet hate of Khrushchev's, as demonstrated in 1962 when he visited the exhibition hall in the Kremlin to view a collection of work by young artists

-On seeing the pieces of art, Khrushchev fumed with rage, proclaiming that 'a donkey could smear better art with its tail'

-The artists were harangued in full view of the cameras + left the exhibition in fear of arrest + imprisonment

-No action was taken against the artists

What were Komsomol groups under Khrushchev?

-Employed to patrol the streets + dance halls to report on young people whose behaviour was deemed unacceptable

-In 1961, the govt had gone as far as to hold a conference that decided on which dance moves were permissible -> enforcing the deacon was a complete failure

-Khrushchev's cultural policy reflected his personality in that it was subject to his mood swings

-He became less tolerant of nonconformity in his last months as leader + this attitude was entrenched by his successors

What was the trial of Joseph Brodsky under Brezhnev?

-Non-conformity was shown through this -> having dropped out of school at 15 Brodsky decided to write poetry

-Encouraged Anna Akhmatova, his poems were read aloud at secret gatherings -> the secret police soon became aware of his actions + he was arrested

-Brodsky was not licensed as a poet under the Writers' Union -> he was accused of 'parasitism' + condemned for the 'depravity' of his poetry

-Became clear that the trial was being used to send a firm message to all artists who wished to work independently of the state

-Brodsky was dealt with severely + sentenced to 5 years of hard labour in prison -> on the ground, govt had used the legal apparatus of the state against Brodsky

-Meant detailed court records were kept, a copy of which was smuggled abroad

-Fellow writers at home + abroad campaigned for Brodsky's release, which was garbled after 2 years

-He was expelled from the Soviet Union

-Treatment of Brodsky indicated that despite the cultural thaw in Khrushchev's years, there were limits to what Brezhnev's govt prepared to tolerate

What was the trial of Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel?

-Arrested in 1965

-Had written short novels that depicted life in the USSR as harsh and surreal

-Although written under pseudonyms, the writers became the attention of the KGB -> were arrested + accused of anti-Soviet propaganda under Article 70 of the criminal code

-Significance of this case was the fact that the allegations against them were based on the actual content of their literary work

-Their arrest resulted in 200 students from Sinyavsky's institute + an open letter of support for the accused signed by 63 leading intellectuals

-Over 200 letters were sent to the Twenty-third Party Congress asking for the case to be reviewed

-The trial was a tricky moment for the regime as it combined the threat of non-conformity with that of dissidents

-10 Feb 1966, the court sentenced Sinyavsky to 7 years in a strict-regime labour camp -> Daniel = 5 years -> harsh sentences designed to send a warning to others

What was the use of awards and punishments to control types of culture being produced and accessed?

-Govt attempted to control + direct cultural output by an extensive system of state subsidies + ensuring access to the radio + venues

-Awards + privileges were given to those writers + artists who served the interests of the state

-Writers who continued to push the boundaries led to the govt using more punitive measures -> Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Writers' Union in 1969 + the USSR in 1974 -> he continued to write in exile about the harshness of Soviet life +, although the Soviet govt could no longer stop him, his book The Gulag Archipelago was condemned for being filthy, anti-Soviet propaganda

-Abstract + experimental art continued to be a source of conflict for the govt

-1970 local art gallery director at Novosibirsk was sentenced to 8 years in prison for displaying art by dissident painters

What did Andropov and his government do to clamp down and gain more control?

-Recognised that some accommodation with popular music was necessary, the govt restricted output of songs not composed by official Soviet composers to 20% of radio airtime

-A commission was set up to vet all rock groups before they were given permission to perform + Komsomol groups were once again employed to patrol streets + report on unacceptable activity

What does historian Davies say about cinema (form of art and culture) under Stalin?

-"Stalin's passion for cinema is well known."

-"provide a detailed picture of Stalin's influence in this crucial period for the development of Soviet mass culture."

Cults of personality

What was the cult of Lenin?

-Lenin's face/images of him were used to create a clear visual reminder of the party + its aim, so his face is the face of socialism/communism -> used in early Civil War period where the Bolshevik Party is weak

-His cult was not deliberate

-His likeness was used to motivate the population to imitate his commitment to the revolution

-Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in 1924 in honour of his achievements

-Portrayed Lenin as opposite to the Tsar -> extremely down to earth + humble -> Lenin is often portrayed as wearing/holding a cap to make him seem ordinary like a worker

-Hailed as a hero of the revolution after he was buried

After Lenin's death, how was the cult of Lenin used by other leaders?

-The embalming of Lenin's body for display in the mausoleum in Red Square in the centre of Moscow was the most striking example of the use of Lenin as a focus for political purposes

-His cult was used by successive leaders to support their claim to be the legitimate heir of Lenin + the socialist order -> useful for Stalin to become Lenin's rightful successor

-Stalin portrays himself as Lenin's successor

-Legacy of Lenin suggests he was very important, powerful + created a lasting impact

-Close working relationship between Lenin + Stalin -> Stalin developed a father son dynamic between him + Lenin -> contributes to the idea that Lenin was an excellent leader + that he had good personal qualities

-Mausoleum allows his cult of personality to continue after death

What was the purpose of Stalin's cult of personality?

-Invaluable in supporting Stalin's career: firstly, by linking him to Lenin to highlight his loyalty to the Lenin legacy during his manoeuvring for power in the 1920s; secondly, as a way of reinforcing his personal dictatorship in the 1930s

What are key examples of Stalin's cult of personality?

-1925, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad

-Images portrayed Stalin as a benefactor, inspiration + defender of socialism -> paintings identified Stalin with the achievements of the 5-Year plan

-Pictures of Stalin with children was also common, emphasising his role as a father figure + children looking up to their hero (‘Uncle Joe’)

-Posters of him in military uniform -> propaganda posters also highlighted Stalin as a man of the people e.g. Morning of our Motherland by Shurpin -> sheer number of images like this had an intimidating impact on the Soviet public

-Poets were used to add to the quantity of material disseminated in praise of Stalin

-Films were used to highlight Stalin's prominent role in events e.g. film The Fall of Berlin (1950) depicted Stalin's role in the fall of Berlin to the Red Army in 1945 (it however overemphasised his image)

What is Stalin's link to Lenin and the myth of the two leaders/Lenin's heir?

-Stalin was presented as Lenin's closest colleagues, a hero of the Civil War + the saviour of the Revolution

-Soon after Lenin's death in 1924, the slogan 'Stalin is the Lenin of today' became widely used by sections of the rank + file party membership

What was Stalin as the Vozhd?

-1930s, Stalin used images to reinforce his power by giving him the impression of the all-present + all-knowing leader

-Artists set to work presenting Stalin as 'the big hero' or Vozhd -> wants to be portrayed as God-like

-Portraits of Stalin made the rough Georgian peasant look like a Hollywood film star, but it did require a lot of soft focus

What had happened to Stalin's cult by the end of WW2 and his death?

-End of WW2, Stalin's popularity had grown + many soviet citizens viewed him as a benefactor, inspiration + the saviour of socialism + Mother Russia

-Even those who did not like Stalin often had respect for him as a leader

-It was telling that even prisoners I'm the Gulag wept when they heard of Stalin's death

What were the changes to the cult of personality after Stalin?

-Khrushchev had condemned Stalin's use of a personality cult in his secret speech of 1956

-Khrushchev criticised its monstrous glorification of the leader at the expense of the role played by the Soviet people

-Criticising the cult had political uses for Khrushchev as he pushed forward his policy of de-Stalinisation

What were the reasons for Khrushchev's cult of personality?

-Allowed him to be seen as the more important party leader when power had originally been shared after 1953 with Malenkov

-Also suited Khrushchev's style of leadership, which involved him personally meeting Soviet citizens on a much greater scale than Stalin

What were the key features of Khrushchev's cult of personality?

-Egotistical personality

-Developed into adulation throughout articles, books, + posters

-Khrushchev's publicity increased when he appointed his son-in-law, Alexei Adzhubei, as editor of Isvestiya

-Also made use of radio, cinema + TV for self-publicity, which took on a more desperate tone as Khrushchev's policy failures mounted

-Involved him personally meeting Soviet citizens on a much greater scale than Stalin -> visits to peasants on collective farms were good photo opportunities for the leader

What were the failures of Khrushchev's cult of personality?

-Khrushchev's cult of personality was never on the same scale as Stalin's

-Khrushchev stopped short of commissioning a biography, but it was evident enough for it to be one of the stated reasons for his dismissal in 1964

What were the reasons for Brezhnev's cult of personality?

-Useful after 1964 as Brezhnev sought to emerge as 'first among equals' in he power struggle with Kosygin + Podgorny that followed Khrushchev's removal

-However, Brezhnev's cult of personality was less a method of securing power than a substitute for real power

What were the key features of Brezhnev's cult of personality?

-Reluctance to use his power to bring about change

-The cult gave Brezhnev the symbols of power without having to exercise it

-Brezhnev was content with the trappings of power, especially the endless medals he was awarded

-A Soviet joke made fun at Brezhnev's expense by suggesting that Brezhnev was having his chest expanded to accommodate more medals

-He was awarded at least 100 medals including the Lenin prize for literature for his memoirs, poorly written account that greatly exaggerated his role in WW2

-Brezhnev was not unaware of the ridiculous aspects of his cult, but strangely, it does not seem to have affected his popularity

-Took a more practical element after 1975 when his health deteriorated

What were public festivals under Brezhnev for his cult of personality?

-Marking important anniversaries such as 50th anniversary of the October Revolution in 1967, the 20th + 30th anniversaries of WW2 in 1965 + 1975, + Brezhnev's major birthdays

-Speeches by Brezhnev dominated these occasions, + photographs with the leader were an important part of the press coverage of the celebrations

What were the failures of Brezhnev's cult of personality?

-Counterproductive

-Brezhnev was mocked for his claims to greatness

-His health hindered the development of his cult of personality

-Historian Medvedev claimed that for the last 6 years of his life, Brezhnev was clinically dead -> with the leader unable to function, the cult at least provided the appearance of leadership to the Soviet population

What does historian Brandenberger say about Stalin's cult of personality?

"the Stalin cult as anew way of bolstering popular loyalty to the Party and state."

Secret Police in the USSR

The Red Terror/Cheka (Civil War)

-Led by Felix Dzerzhinsky + established in 1917

-Acted against counter revolution and sabotage, a task which was undertook with great ruthlessness

-During CW, Cheka were given powers that allowed it to act with minimal interference from other legal bodies -> meant it could act quickly to deal with actual + perceived enemies

-Attempted assassination of Lenin by Fanya Kaplin in August 1918 prompted a wave of arrests

-During the Red Terror of 1921, the Cheka intensified its actions against the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks

-Up to 200,000 opponents were shot: execution now became a rule rather than exception

The OGPU (After the Civil War)

-Cheka was replaced by GPU in 1922 + OGPU in 1923

-Significance of changes was the growing independence of the secret police from the interference from other state institutions

-Secret police became a body that only took orders + instructions from the leadership of the Communist Party

Stalin's use of terror

-Excessive, out of control

-Secret police under Stalin is purged itself

The role of Yagoda (head of the secret police in 1934)

-Oversaw the rapid expansion of gulags and it turned into a forced labour camp to support industrialisation

-Ensured NKVD could operate without interference from regular courts

-White sea Canal project used 180,000 prisoners digging by hand; 10,000 of which died in the process

-Transformed the focus of the NKVD from ideological to economic consideration (gulag provided a pool of labour though the camps were in hostile environments and lots died including the NKVD guards)

-He was arrested in 1936 for incompetence in protecting Kirov then Stalin had him shot in 1938

The role of Yezhov (head of secret police after Yagoda)

-The NKVD deployed plain clothed police to survey the general public and torture suspects in 1937, 231 ppl processed every day (quotas)

-Numbers of inmates in the gulag rose considerably

-The number of detectives recruited on the NKVD quadrupled and extra staff employed

-NKVD had their own members purged, Yezhovchina liked to personally torture victims himself who did not show sufficient commitment to the revolutionary cause -> nicknamed 'bloody dwarf'

-Sped up the process of arrest creating 'troika' courts made up of three people, one of whom was an NKVD regional boss

-Stalin realised the use terror was out of control -> Stalin accused him of being responsible for the excess of purges

The role of Beria

-After WW2, Beria's NKVD continued to persecute people -> in 1945, the NKVD integrated the 1.5 million soviet prisoners of war who had been liberated from Germany

-Most were deported to Siberia

-Stalin viewed these men as traitors for allowing themselves to be captured rather than fighting to the death

-Used the most intensified version of control -> used sexual violence

-Rape was used as a method of control over females -> insane amount of terror/power by the secret police

Terror during WW2 through the NKVD

-NKVD responsible for policing ethnic minorities during WW2, those whom Stalin feared would side with the USSR's enemies

-In 1942, Beria organised the mass deportation of the Kalmyks, from Kalmykia, which is north west of the Caspian to Siberia

-Stalin feared that that Kalmyks would welcome a German invasion

-By 1953, only 53,000 of the original 130,000 survived

-In 1944, Beria ordered the deportation to Siberia of all 460,000 Chechens from their homeland in Chechnya within seven days

-Those who refused to leave, were locked in their stables and barns and burned alive

-Deportations resulted in 170,000 deaths

Terror after WW2

-Stalin's last years saw a growing rivalry between members of the Politburo as Stalin's health began to fall

-Beria used his role to launch a fresh wave of purges to gain Stalin's favour -> target = Leningard branch of the Party

-In 1949, over 2,000 members were imprisoned or exiled

-Stalin's next purges were deliberate warnings to Beria -> Mingrelian Affair of 1951 involved a purge of the party in Georgia -> targeted Beria's ethnicity

-In 1953, there was evidence that Stalin was planning another major purge before he died

-Due to Beria's large amount of power, when Stalin died, the Politburo colleagues removed him so quickly from his position in June 1953

Khrushchev's removal of Beria from power and dismantling of the Gulag system

-Beria's behaviour is seen as inappropriate + out of control

-Once removed, the Politburo moved quickly to limit the independence of the secret police

-Brought firmly under party control

-Khrushchev dismantled the Gulag system + forced labour never again played a part in the Soviet economy

-Even the Lubyanka building ceased to be a prison

-KGB controlled the secret police

The KGB under Khrushchev

-Committee for state security

-Established in 1954 + was the organisation that controlled the secret police

-Main tasks was to deal with International security, intelligence gathering both at home + abroad

-Bodyguard for Politburo members

-Run like a branch of the army, with military ranks

-Andropov was head of the KGB from 1957 + he became General Secretary in 1982 -> under his leadership the KGB gained a reputation for its professionalism + effectiveness

-No longer perceived as a group of thugs as had Stalin's secret police in the 1930s

What is a dissident?

-Made the head of the KGB in 1967

-Wanted reform as he believed the dissident = someone who criticised the soviet state/system -> movement were dangerous

What sorts of people were viewed as dissidents?

-Intellectuals - high status in society who often came up against restrictions -> Andrei Sakharov wrote a letter about limitations with the system -> dealt with - removing their titles + their ability to work and travel restricted by govt (writers /novelists)

-Political - those who tried to hold the gov. accountable for its own laws e.g. Abuse of human rights -> dealt with - groups were established to monitor the application of the UN declaration of human rights (1948) / the Helsinki accords (1975)

-Nationalist - vocal dissident groups of Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians (Baltic states) calling for greater status of their language and cultures -> authorities tried to ban Ukrainians from celebrating 150th century of a poet -> 1974 - four Lithuanians groups joined together to form a national popular front to end soviet colonisation- arrests followed

-Religious - those who faced restrictions on their worship and religious practices eg. Catholics and Baptists -> a prominent group was the Refunsiks- soviet Jews who had been denied the right to emigrate to Israel - they had strong support from USA making it a difficult issue at international summits between the leaders of the USA + USSR

What action was taken against dissidents?

-Secret police would conduct surveillance + harassment of suspected dissidents

-Threatened with expulsion from their professional organisation

-Might be denied permission to publish

-Houses were searched +b any material or apparatus that could be used to produce or spread material was confiscated

-Faced discrimination at work, failure to gain a place at uni, continued surveillance + harassment

-Used psychiatric hospitals to try + treat them -> 1967, decided leading dissident Bukovsky should be placed in a 'special mental hospital', this became a common method to discredit dissidents in the eyes of the soviet public and Bukovsky stayed until 'cured' (agreed to change views), if they refused, they were drugged/ given electric shocks

-Send them into exile

How effectively did the government deal with the problem of dissidents? Was the problem a large one? Did targeting dissidents help increase control over the Soviet people?

-Gained bad publicity + was a constant source of irritation to the Soviet govt

-The treatment of dissidents was highlighted by human rights groups as a violation of this agreement -> in the age of growing mass communication on a worldwide scale, news of the arrests of a prominent dissident could embarrass the USSR leader + damage Soviet diplomacy

-It was a large problem -> the dissidents had little support from the general public + despite govt fears, they never threatened the social or political stability of the country -> dissidents were a collection of individuals + never a coherent group, let alone a movement -> struggled to organise public demonstrations

-In 1968, dissidents organised a public protest at the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in Red Square Moscow -> only 7 people turned up -> fear of the secret police played a part in preventing more people joining the protest

What does a historian say about terror in the USSR?

"Nevertheless, the Soviet regime was not growing more liberal - and events moved quickly in the wake of the Brodsky trial." (during Brezhnev's years)

Religion in the USSR

What did Soviet leaders do to mosques to try and alter Muslim beliefs/practices?

-Most mosques were closed down -> nearly all mosques were shut down + repurposed so they couldn't be reopened + used to

-Mullah = a term commonly used for Islamic clerics + mosque leaders

What did Soviet leaders do to Sharia Law/courts to try and alter Muslim beliefs/practices?

-Sharia courts were phased out -> made them illegal

-The body of the law that is used by Muslims to regulate their public + private life -> if it id based on the principles of Islam

-Sharia law leads to 'crimes against custom' -> it encourages criminal behaviour

What did Soviet leaders do to Ramadan to try and alter Muslim beliefs/practices?

-Fasting was condemned as interfering with work discipline

-Importance of being a good worker + contribution to society -> fasting means your contribution will be limited

What did Soviet leaders do to Polygamy to try and alter Muslim beliefs/practices?

-Was prohibited on the grounds of its subjection of women

-Communism wants equality -> all equality + gender equality -> women were given rights

-Polygamy is seen to devalue women

-Soviet Union said the same thing about islamic dress codes

Examples of USSR attacks on Islam

-Soviet Union opened anti-Islam museums + opened them purposefully in Muslim areas

-USSR recognised that Islamic organisations had the loyalty of many people in the Caucasus and Central Asia, therefore the Communists wanted to destroy the religion in order to extend their own power

-Some groups of Muslims are eradicated -> Turkistan, Sufi groups were eradicated in 1936

-Decline in persecution of Muslims under Brezhnev -> 'spiritual bond of Muslims of Central Asia' organisation is formed with Muslims in the USSR + Asia -> a political move + a reduced repression of Islam

What did Lenin say religion is?

"Religion is opium for the people." -> says its dangerous and captivating, has a negative affect on people

What was Lenin's Decree on Freedom of Conscience?

-Separated the Orthodox Church from the state + it lost its privileged status

-The Church was deprived of its land without compensation were allowed + all religious education outside the home was banned

-Lenin secularises society

How did Lenin destroy churches/attack priests?

-Large number of churches were destroyed or converted for other purposes

-Govt closed all monasteries + by the end of 1918 the head of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Tikhan, was under house arrest

-100 priests + 28 bishops were executed by 1923

-Orthodox priests in Moscow were massacred in January following a Church decree excommunicating the Bolsheviks

-Highlights the extreme use of violence

How did Lenin attempt to disprove the existence of God?

-Bolsheviks used propaganda campaigns against religion

-Launched events to disprove the existence of God which included taking peasants for plane rides to show them heaven did not exist in the sky

-Scientifically trying to prove that God does not exist

How did Lenin replace religious rituals?

-Religious rituals were attacked + there was a campaign to replace baptisms with 'Octoberings'

-New names such as Revolyutsiya + Ninel (Lenin spelt backwards) were encouraged

What under Lenin shows how there was not divide between the the government and religion?

-Government policy towards Islam was contradictory, initially Communist forces used the Decree concerning separation of Church and State to justify taking land from 'Waqfs' the Islamic foundations and charities

-Quickly reversed as Waqfs funded schools in Muslim areas and the Communist leaders encouraged Muslims to join the Party

-No link between Islam and the Tsar

How did Stalin attack religion during the Great Purge (1936-39)?

-Further purges + attacks -> by 1939, only 12 out of 163 bishops were still at liberty

Why did attacks on religion stop during WW2?

-German invasion of the USSR in 1941 led to the policy being changed

-U-turn in religious policy

-Want to increase nationalism + motivation to fight in the war effort

-414 churches were reopened

-One of his strategies for winning the War was to appeal to the patriotism of the Russian people to boost morale and inspire them to fight

-Russian Orthodox Church was linked with Russian National Identity

-Therefore as patriotism re-awoke, it was a natural instinct for Russians to look up to the Church

How did Khrushchev limit the role of priests?

-His govt wanted to de-Stalinise

-Issuing of anti-religious propaganda

-Abuse was shouted at members of the clergy

-Role of priests was limited to one of spiritual advice only

-Parish councils were placed under the control of Party officials who often took action to dismiss priests on the grounds that they were no longer needed

-Surviving priests were often harassed by the secret police

-Baptists + Jews also suffered from severe restrictions on their right to congregate + worship

-Keen to highlight how he was like Lenin whom was highly anti-religious

-Space programme was at its height + used by Khrushchev to attack religion -> says that when they went to space there was no God in 'heaven' -> similar to Lenin

Under Khrushchev, how many churches closed?

-Within 4 years, 10,000 of the existing churches were closed

What was happening to religion under Brezhnev?

-Focused on scientific education

-A movement away from violence + aggression + confrontation

-The need to target religion is decreasing

What was the council of religious affairs under Brezhnev?

-Govt used to monitor religious services + clergy were classified according to loyalty to socialism

-Orthodox church was expected to stick to formal church services + support Soviet policies, especially social policy where the church could provide facilities, such as help for the poor

What was the challenging of the Christian Committee for the Defence of Believer's Rights under Brezhnev?

-In 1976, a group of Orthodox priests set up the Christian Committee for the Defence of Believer's Rights to draw attention to human rights abuses

-This was a step too far for Brezhnev: it's leader, Father Yakunin, was sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment for anti-Soviet propaganda in 1979

What was restricting the religious actions of Baptists under Brezhnev?

-Jews + Baptists were more likely to be critical of the regime as they were treated with less tolerance

-Their evangelical activities of preaching to gain converts were restricted

-Prayer meetings were broken up + members dismissed from their jobs

-Nonetheless, unregistered congregation continued to meet + distribute prayer books

What does a historian say about religion as a form of control?

"The pilgrimage to Mecca... was severely hampered by the tighter control the regime imposed on the frontiers, and was formally prohibited in 1935"