RUSS 3300 Quiz 2: Key History Terms & Definitions

"Films for Millions"

Films that could appeal to the masses.

The call to create widely accessible films with optimistic, Soviet propaganda films that emphasize the importance of skill and labor.

Chapaev: Stalin-era mass-oriented films designed to appeal broadly to Soviet audiences

Socialist Realism

Art, literature, and music officially sanctioned by the state in which artistic work was supposed to reflect and promote the ideals of a socialist society.

Circus: heroic characters, clear moral messaging, and strong emphasis on collective Soviet ideals.

The "Worker-Peasant" Alliance

Workers and peasants can work together to achieve the communist goal.

She defends the mother land: the workers and the soldiers working in unity

The "Iron" Scenario

Once a screenplay has been approved, there can be no deviations; musicals were popular because the lyrics could be controlled.

Circus: Musical elements seemed prioritized over everything else

Commissar

An official of the communist party charged with political education and organization in the Red Army.

Marxist intellectuals embedded in Red Army units and responsible for political indoctrination.

burnt by the sun: Mitya, betrays and destroys personal lives under the guise of loyalty to the state.

Valery Chkalov

He Flew from Russia to Washington in a flight record; Demonstrating the Cult of Aviation.

Circus, Martenov is reminiscent of him due to him being a fighter pilot and his charm.

The Komsomol

Political youth are organized by teenagers.

The youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Hipsters, Mel leaves this organization.

Stilyaga

Hipster/youth counter-culture.

Roentgenizdat

Engraving of x-rays with illegal Western music.

X-ray film can be used for the engraving of musical recordings and was cut into discs to be played on gramophones in Russia in the 1950s and 1960s. Officially forbidden Western jazz and rock music circulated in this way in the Soviet Union.

Hipsters.

Dekulakization

Collectivization

Farmers were required to give up private goods to collective farms. Build socialism in the countryside.

She Defends the Motherland, Pasha executes a farmer who wants to go home and not fight for Russia.

Andrei Vlasov

Captured Red Army general who fought for the Nazis; Soviet law that soldiers could not be taken alive.

General of the Red Army in World War II who eventually led men for the Germans against the Russians. His men were Vlasovites. One reason why partisan warfare proved more successful is that attempts to depict the Red Army.

The Siege of Leningrad

Nazi army's unsuccessful attempt to capture the city of Leningrad in the Soviet Union during World War II; As many as 1 million civilians died.

Cranes are flying: hardships reflecting the human cost of the siege and wartime struggle.

Nomenklatura

Elite communist party members who were given special privileges.

A category of people within the Soviet Union who held various key administrative positions in the bureaucracy, running all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, and commerce. Almost all members were full members of the communist party.

Hipsters, Fred's father.

The "Thaw"

The period after Stalin's death in which the government relaxed his policies.

The Cranes are Flying, Veronica says she only fears the police.

Dmitrii Shostakovich

Composer who played in the besieged city of Leningrad to increase morale.

His theme song in the Song of the Counterplan became the anthem of the UN in 1945. He entertained the Secret Service in the 1930s.

The Cranes are Flying, piano is reminiscent of his work.

The Double Faith

Russia was so vast that the Christianization of the entire country was nearly impossible; Christianity and paganism coexisted.

Andrei Rublev, Pagan scene.

Holy Foolishness

The giving up of material possessions once joining a monastery.

Andrei Rublev: characters naive or eccentric, yet embodying spiritual insight and humility

The Saints Boris and Gleb

The theme of fraternal betrayal because their brother assassinated them; patron saints of Moscow.

Glasnost'

Policy of increased openness and transparency of the State declared by Gorbachev.

Little Vera, jokes about communism and poor living.

Chernukha

Genre that shows the blackness and gloom of contemporary society.

Little Vera dysfunctional family, sexual frustrations, and violence

Subbotnik

Voluntary Saturday afternoon labor. In some cases, children would be bused to fields to gather potatoes or other activities.

Little Vera, fulfilled her voluntary labor by doing extra work in her physics lab.