To what extent did government policy towards arts and culture change in the years 1917–85?

How did Government policy towards arts and culture change significantly between 1917-1985?

relative freedom of the early revolutionary years (under Lenin) progressed to the strict controls of Stalin's cultural revolution, before Khrushchev introduced a limited relaxation and then Brezhnev reimposed tighter restrictions

However, throughout the period, the Soviet leadership consistently viewed culture as a means of doing what?

educating society and promoting Communist ideology

Although there was considerable change in artistic freedom and censorship, what was there much continuity in?

the political purpose of cultural policy

What was the most important continuity?

that every Soviet leader viewed culture as a political weapon for supporting the Communist regime

Although the degree of artistic freedom varied under different leaders, what were arts and culture were consistently used to do?

educate the population, promote Communist values and strengthen support for the regime

Under Lenin, what was culture viewed as an important tool for building?

support for the new Bolshevik government

What did Lenin implement early after the seizure of power?

the Commissariat of Enlightenment (Narkompros)

What was the Commissariat of Enlightenment?

a ministry of culture, to support and encourage artists

Who was the head of the Commissariat of Enlightenment?

Anatoly Lunacharsky

What did the Bolsheviks use to spread Communist messages across the country during the Russian Civil War (1918–21)?

agitprop trains and steamers decorated with revolutionary artwork

What was the Aim of Proketkult?

aim of creating a distinct proletarian culture that reflected socialist values rather than bourgeois traditions

Who suggested Prolekult?

Bogdanov

How many members did Prolekult have by 1920?

around 400,000 member

What did the government make use of festivals to develop?

a new culture based on socialist values (even if extra food rations were sometimes used for crowds to turn up)

Although artistic experimentation was tolerated, what was culture was still expected to do?

contribute to the revolutionary project

What became more explicit under Stalin?

the political purpose of culture

Socialist Realism?

Writers, artists and composers were required to portray idealised images of life under socialism to inspire the population towards its achievement

What was Socialist Realism used to convince the Soviet population was true?

Stalin’s statement of 1935 - ‘Life has become more joyous’

Examples of what cultural works celebrated (3)?

industrial achievements such as the Five-Year Plans, collectivisation and the leadership of Stalin

Standard plot of novels in 1930s?

hero from the people who is guided by the party to greater things

Under Stalin, what was Art expected to do, not merely to entertain?

educate citizens in socialist ideals

What did Khrushchev relax after Stalin’s death?

some cultural restrictions

Under Khrushchev (after Stalin’s death), what was criticisms of allowed during the ‘Thaw’?

some criticism of Stalinism became acceptable, but artists were still expected to remain loyal to Communist principles

What did Khrushchev argue when he personally attacked abstract and experimental artists at the Manege Exhibition?

arguing that art should remain understandable and useful to ordinary Soviet citizens

When did he attack the Manege Exhibition?

1962

What does him attacking the the Manege Exhibition demonstrate?

that Even greater cultural freedom therefore did not mean acceptance of politically independent art

Under Brezhnev, what remained central?

ideological objectives remained central

What did state publishing houses, film studios and television networks continue to promote themes of (3)?

patriotism, Soviet achievement and loyalty to the Communist Party

What did cultural policy increasingly emphasise (2)?

the achievements of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War and the superiority of socialism over capitalism

What happened to works that challenged these themes?

they faced censorship or suppression

What wasn’t accepted at any point?

complete artistic independence accepted

Despite significant changes in censorship and artistic freedom, what was there a strong continuity in?

the underlying purpose of government policy - from Lenin to Brezhnev, arts and culture were consistently used as instruments for promoting Communist ideology and reinforcing support for the Soviet regime

When did the most dramatic change in government policy towards arts and culture occur?

under Stalin

Under Stalin, what was the relative freedom and experimentation of the 1920s replaced with (3)?

strict state control, censorship and ideological conformity

What was culture according to Lenin?

vital but subordinate to class conflict and the retention of power

What artists was Lenin prepared to accomodate?

artists who were not communists but who were sympathetic to the ideals of the Revolution (labelled ‘Fellow Travellers’ by Trotsky)

Examples of the considerable artistic diversity in the 1920s?

Avant-garde movements such as Constructivism and Futurism flourished - and artists enjoyed a degree of creative freedom (no single officially imposed artistic style)

Under Stalin - When was the Cultural Revolution?

1928-32

What was the Cultural Revolution?

the movement by Communist Party Activists to purge all ‘bourgeois’ elements from Soviet culture

What did the Cultural Revolution replace all abolished independent artistic groups with?

state-controlled union

Who were fellow travellers removed and replaced by?

artists whose loyalty to socialism was not in question

In 1934 what became the official artistic doctrine?

Socialist Realism

Under Socialist Realism, what did cultural works have to do (4)?

• Portray Soviet life positively.

• Glorify workers and peasants.

• Promote Communist values.

• Demonstrate optimism about the future.

What could artists no longer do under Stalin?

could no longer openly experiment with abstract or critical forms of expression - Instead, culture was expected to present idealised images of socialism and support state objectives

What did the regime increase for those who failed to conform?

increased censorship and punishment

Example: what did Pravda publish an article attacking?

the composer Dmitri Shostakovich after Stalin attended his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - walked out of it in 1935

What did this article do to Shostakovich?

placed his career in danger and served as a warning to other artists

What did Fear of official disapproval encourage?

widespread self-censorship

Zhdanovshchina?

1946 campaign launched to remove all aspects of Bourgeois culture from the west - Writers and artists accused of insufficient ideological commitment were publicly condemned.

What was Zhdanovshchina heavily influenced by?

xenophobic attitudes enhanced by the development of the cold war

An example of a Writer accused of insufficient ideological commitment were publicly condemned (Zhdanovshchina)?

The poet Anna Akhmatova was denounced for producing supposedly individualistic and pessimistic work

Compared with the cultural pluralism of the 1920s, how did Stalin's policies represented a fundamental transformation?

Government intervention became far more systematic, and artists increasingly faced censorship, professional sanctions and political pressure

What did the state now dictate

the acceptable content and style of artistic production - no longer merely encouraged support for socialism

After Stalin’s death, under Khrushchev, what was relaxed and what was the nature of the greater freedoms given to artists?

censorship was relaxed and artists were given greater freedom to explore social problems and criticise aspects of the Stalin era

Although the state continued to supervise cultural activity, what did the period known as the Thaw represent?

a clear departure from the intense controls of the Stalin years

In his Secret Speech at the 20th Party Congress in February 1956, what did Khrushchev condemn?

Stalin's cult of personality and many of the abuses associated with the purges

What type of Political atmosphere did Khrushchev’s Secret Speech create?

a political atmosphere in which limited discussion of past mistakes became possible

One of the clearest signs of change between Stalin and Khrushchev?

the publication of works that would have been impossible under Stalin

Example of the publication of a work that was banned under Stalin?

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn (published in 1962) -

What did the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich describe?

The novel described life in a Stalinist labour camp and exposed some of the hardships suffered by prisoners in the Gulag system

What did this period also see increased contact with?

increased cultural contact with the outside world

Example of increased cultural contact with the outside world?

The 1957 World Festival of Youth and Students held in Moscow brought thousands of foreign visitors to the Soviet Union, exposing Soviet citizens to foreign music, fashion and artistic ideas

What does this demonstrate was more accessible than they had been during Stalin’s rule?

Western books, films and cultural influences

In literature and the arts, what was there being a as greater scope for discussing social issues a considerable change from?

he rigid optimism demanded by Socialist Realism during the 1930s and 1940s

Examples of themes writers could explore (3)?

bureaucracy, inefficiency and the difficulties of everyday life, provided they did not challenge the legitimacy of the Communist system itself

Example of the limits of the Thaw?

1962 Manege Exhibition in Moscow - demonstrated that experimentation was tolerated only within boundaries defined by the Party

What happened to Boris Pasternak?

His novel Doctor Zhivago was banned from publication in the USSR because it presented a critical view of the Revolution and Civil War. When Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, Soviet authorities subjected him to intense pressure, forcing him to decline the award

Compared with the Stalin era, how did Khrushchev's cultural policies represented a substantial relaxation of state control?

Artists enjoyed greater freedom, censorship was less severe and discussion of previously taboo subjects became possible

Nevertheless, what did the Communist Party retained ultimate authority over?

cultural life, and criticism of socialism itself remained unacceptable

Therefore, why did the Khrushchev Thaw mark a significant change in government policy towards arts and culture?

it reduced censorship and expanded artistic freedom (However, it did not establish genuine cultural independence, as the Party continued to determine the limits of acceptable expression_

Although Khrushchev's Thaw introduced greater cultural freedom, what did the Brezhnev era see?

a partial return to tighter state control

How does this demonstrate both continuity and change?

the liberalisation of the 1950s and early 1960s was not completely abandoned, but the government continued to view arts and culture as areas that required censorship and political supervision

When was Khrushchev removed?

October 1964

What did the regime become under Brezhnev, as he sought greater political stability and ideological conformity?

the regime became less tolerant of cultural criticism and dissent (no return to the mass terror of the Stalin era though)

Under Brezhnev, what part of the KGB’s role was increased?

increasing role of the KGB in monitoring intellectuals and cultural figures - Under Andropov, surveillance of writers, artists and academics intensified

What did the KGB do (3)?

monitored cultural activity, restricted publication of controversial works and targeted individuals whose ideas were considered politically dangerous

Samizdat?

underground network used to reproduce and circulate censored literature across the Eastern Bloc - as many couldn’t pass official censorship

What does the growth of samizdat itself demonstrate?

the continued restrictions on freedom of expression during this period

Example of the regime acting against a prominent dissident?

In 1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested, stripped of his Soviet citizenship and expelled from the USSR

What did the state's response to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn show?

that criticism of the Soviet system remained unacceptable

Despite these restrictions, why were Brezhnev's cultural policies were still less severe than Stalin's?

Artists were not routinely imprisoned or executed for failing to conform to official artistic doctrine. Some degree of experimentation continued, particularly in film, literature and theatre, provided that it did not directly challenge Communist authority

How does the Brezhnev period therefore illustrate continuity?

There was continuity because the state continued to censor culture, suppress dissent and insist that artistic activity serve political objectives

How does the Brezhnev period also illustrate change?

there was also change because repression was generally less severe than under Stalin and more focused on surveillance, censorship and selective punishment rather than widespread coercion

What did Brezhnev's policies represent?

a partial reversal of Khrushchev's liberalisation rather than a complete return to Stalinist control