1 mar 2025
3.1 - Control of Mass Media, Propaganda and
Religion
Mass Media
- under sate control, manipulated through nationalisation of industries, restriction
of information and censorship
Newspapers: Radio:
• Glavit (censorship o ce) approved • Spoken Newspaper of the Russian
works before publication Telegraph Agency - spread news
• 1917 Decree: closed all non-socialist • Recent development by soviet
newspapers, by 1920 all non- scientists in 1921 -> easier to control
Bolshevik were banned) and more e ective as 65% of public
• Pravda (Party), Izvestia (Gov), Trud was illiterate
(labour unions) -> cheap propaganda • Loudspeakers in public spaces and
instrument, by 1983 10.7 M issues of factories -> group listening led to
P were in circulation, T was 13.5 M collective agreement & peer
• Fixation on production gures and pressure
tech advances (e.g looking for oil in • Rapid development due to gov.
north pole) investment: by 1922 Moscow had a
sophisticated broadcasting station
• Prohibited plane crashes & natural
disasters -> e.g Kyshtym disaster 200 • Control centralised by Commissariat
fatalities, 30 small communities for Posts & Telegraphs
disappeared from maps but a ected
areas evacuated after 2 years • Cheap radios with limited reception to
prevent access to foreign stations,
limited public’s access to info
Magazines: Television:
• Variety to cater to a range of interests • 1950->1958, television sets
-> e.g 1946: Sovetskii sport (forced increased from 10,000 to 3M
to carry political news on front page)
• During 1950s-60s, mass production
• Areas of interest o -limits: made it cheap and accessible
pornography, crime, religion...
• Capitalism was portrayed negatively,
life under Communism idealised
• By 1985 there were 2 television
channels
1
ff ff ffi fi ff
, - Mass media led to people learning to read between the lines as they were fed a
steady diet of propaganda
- As technology advanced, it became more di cult for the gov to control it (e.g
people accessing foreign channels and radios...)
Cult of Personality and Propaganda
• Adoration of the individual through the use of art and popular culture, created a
sense of loyalty
• It was used to detach the leaders from collective leadership, thus reinforcing
individual power
Nature of Cult, key features FFS
Lenin Symbol of revolutionary ideas, heroic Petrograd renamed Leningrad 1924
remembrance Extremely long queues to see his
Intellect emphasised, likeness exploited embalmed body after his death
Developed by other leaders after his Slogans like ‘Lenin lived, Lenin lives,
death to establish themselves as Lenin will live’ used by Stalin
legitimate successors Writings used as sacred texts, e.g
became an educational & ideological ‘Collected Works of Lenin’ became
tool essential reading for Party members
No one could criticise him (i.e no de-
leninisation)
Stalin To win power struggle 1924-28, Tsaritsyn renamed Stalingrad 1924
reinforced dictatorship 1930s Titles like ‘big hero’, ‘brilliant genius of
Took personal credit for successes, humanity’, ‘gardener of human
rewrote history, controlled education happiness’
and art, linked to Lenin Images, posters, statues...
God-like, cult was not made up O cial biography by Alexandrov, Stalin-
A short biography, called him the ‘great
strategist of the Socialist revolution’
History of the All-Union Communist
Party
‘Song about Stalin’ - Izakiosky: ‘He have
us forever & ever//Youth, glory and
power’
Khrushchev (Condemned leader glori cation in Retain power during Berlin Wall crisis
‘secret speech’ 1956) 1949, Cuba Missile crisis 1962
To become most important leader of
collective leadership
Personally met with citizens & was
photographed -> good publicity
Increasingly desperate as policies failed
Despite use, authority weakened
Brezhnev To emerge as ‘ rst among equals’ Awarded over 100 medals
1964 against Kosygin and Podgormy Given ‘Lenin Prize for Literature’ for a
Gave appearance of leadership to poorly written account of WW2
pop. but was substitute for real power “If they are poking fun at me, it means
Ridiculousness of cult had no e ect on they like me”
his popularity Post 1975 health deteriorated,
Vain Character incapacitated until death 1982
2
ffi
fi fi ff ffi
3.1 - Control of Mass Media, Propaganda and
Religion
Mass Media
- under sate control, manipulated through nationalisation of industries, restriction
of information and censorship
Newspapers: Radio:
• Glavit (censorship o ce) approved • Spoken Newspaper of the Russian
works before publication Telegraph Agency - spread news
• 1917 Decree: closed all non-socialist • Recent development by soviet
newspapers, by 1920 all non- scientists in 1921 -> easier to control
Bolshevik were banned) and more e ective as 65% of public
• Pravda (Party), Izvestia (Gov), Trud was illiterate
(labour unions) -> cheap propaganda • Loudspeakers in public spaces and
instrument, by 1983 10.7 M issues of factories -> group listening led to
P were in circulation, T was 13.5 M collective agreement & peer
• Fixation on production gures and pressure
tech advances (e.g looking for oil in • Rapid development due to gov.
north pole) investment: by 1922 Moscow had a
sophisticated broadcasting station
• Prohibited plane crashes & natural
disasters -> e.g Kyshtym disaster 200 • Control centralised by Commissariat
fatalities, 30 small communities for Posts & Telegraphs
disappeared from maps but a ected
areas evacuated after 2 years • Cheap radios with limited reception to
prevent access to foreign stations,
limited public’s access to info
Magazines: Television:
• Variety to cater to a range of interests • 1950->1958, television sets
-> e.g 1946: Sovetskii sport (forced increased from 10,000 to 3M
to carry political news on front page)
• During 1950s-60s, mass production
• Areas of interest o -limits: made it cheap and accessible
pornography, crime, religion...
• Capitalism was portrayed negatively,
life under Communism idealised
• By 1985 there were 2 television
channels
1
ff ff ffi fi ff
, - Mass media led to people learning to read between the lines as they were fed a
steady diet of propaganda
- As technology advanced, it became more di cult for the gov to control it (e.g
people accessing foreign channels and radios...)
Cult of Personality and Propaganda
• Adoration of the individual through the use of art and popular culture, created a
sense of loyalty
• It was used to detach the leaders from collective leadership, thus reinforcing
individual power
Nature of Cult, key features FFS
Lenin Symbol of revolutionary ideas, heroic Petrograd renamed Leningrad 1924
remembrance Extremely long queues to see his
Intellect emphasised, likeness exploited embalmed body after his death
Developed by other leaders after his Slogans like ‘Lenin lived, Lenin lives,
death to establish themselves as Lenin will live’ used by Stalin
legitimate successors Writings used as sacred texts, e.g
became an educational & ideological ‘Collected Works of Lenin’ became
tool essential reading for Party members
No one could criticise him (i.e no de-
leninisation)
Stalin To win power struggle 1924-28, Tsaritsyn renamed Stalingrad 1924
reinforced dictatorship 1930s Titles like ‘big hero’, ‘brilliant genius of
Took personal credit for successes, humanity’, ‘gardener of human
rewrote history, controlled education happiness’
and art, linked to Lenin Images, posters, statues...
God-like, cult was not made up O cial biography by Alexandrov, Stalin-
A short biography, called him the ‘great
strategist of the Socialist revolution’
History of the All-Union Communist
Party
‘Song about Stalin’ - Izakiosky: ‘He have
us forever & ever//Youth, glory and
power’
Khrushchev (Condemned leader glori cation in Retain power during Berlin Wall crisis
‘secret speech’ 1956) 1949, Cuba Missile crisis 1962
To become most important leader of
collective leadership
Personally met with citizens & was
photographed -> good publicity
Increasingly desperate as policies failed
Despite use, authority weakened
Brezhnev To emerge as ‘ rst among equals’ Awarded over 100 medals
1964 against Kosygin and Podgormy Given ‘Lenin Prize for Literature’ for a
Gave appearance of leadership to poorly written account of WW2
pop. but was substitute for real power “If they are poking fun at me, it means
Ridiculousness of cult had no e ect on they like me”
his popularity Post 1975 health deteriorated,
Vain Character incapacitated until death 1982
2
ffi
fi fi ff ffi
