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To understand the reach and significance of Soviet propaganda, it is vital to understand the mechanics of propaganda. Propaganda is the dissemination of information, ideas, and theories, aimed to influence public opinion. Propaganda is often conveyed through mass media as a systematic strategy of influence. Not only is the goal of propaganda to spread ideas, but to also manipulate peoples’ belief systems, understanding of rights, and attitudes.

Russia classified all forms of propaganda under the term “agitprop”, meaning a “vigorous promulgation of ideas”. This term became popularized and used in regards to Marxism practiced by communists in the Soviet Union.

(Britannica, Thomas)

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Strategic use of propaganda on a national level began post-October 1917 revolution. Any press at this time that was deemed counter-revolutionary was forcibly closed down by the Bolsheviks. Following this period of shutting down the “counter-revolutionary press”, a government literacy campaign began. In early 1918, state publishing enterprises were established to create standardized literature filled with propaganda to be flowing throughout Russia. One of these publishing enterprises, the “Goszidat” (1919), produced one-third of all texts within the Soviet Union by 1921. The printing industry became nationalized, falling in line with the goals of the government literacy campaign of getting the majority of the population acquainted with Soviet propaganda literature.

In response to the economic tribulation that Russia had been enduring at the time, the New Economic Policy was introduced in 1921. The aim of the NEP was to loosen the country’s grip on its communist ideals to stabilize themselves economically for a while. This policy interrupted the steady system of the literacy campaign due to relaxation of state control. After the NEP ended, the return of these state publishing enterprises came, and the doctrine of social realism ruled. Propaganda through literature became the ideological tool of the totalitarian state.

(Thomas)

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The propaganda that the Soviet Union meticulously curated was formed on the basis of their goals. These goals shifted as the Soviet Union began to consolidate its power over time and become more stable, but for the most part these goals were to spread communist and pro-revolutionary ideals. The Soviet Union’s intentions with propaganda were to invoke support around revolutionary efforts, maintain anti-imperialism ideology, instigate hostile attention to common enemies, and move as a unified front. Above all, the Soviet Union wanted to ensure that the people of Soviet Russia had a complacent attitude toward the government, allowing the government to operate freely without fear of retaliation from its constituents.

(Smith, Thomas)

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The spread of propaganda can be categorized into three core steps. The first is acquiring agents. The Soviet Union searched for people that were fully indoctrinated with Soviet ideals, highly disciplined, loyal, committed to their cause, and committed to the labor that comes with protecting the cause. Examples of these agents in this time period could have been religious officials whose best interest lied in making the plutocracy and government happy.

The second step was creating allies. The Soviet Union understood the importance of gaining the commitment and trust of large, valuable, and unknowingly influential organizations, because these groups were strong enough to act as their own party, whether knowingly or not. Creating these allies helped generate attitudes of complacency towards the party, opposition of common enemies, and a feeling of unity. Examples of these favored allies in this time period were the trade unions, proletariat, and working class.

The third step was seizure of power. Once cushioning themselves with the respect and trust of their agents and allies, the Soviet Union gained enough influence to spread fear about acclaimed enemies, create confidence of the inevitable triumph of the party, and a sense of hopelessness and immorality around their enemies. All of their claims were legitimized, because they had already gained the trust of their agents and allies.

(Thomas, CIA, Library of Congress)

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The Soviet Union saw propaganda as the most feasible option to economizing the material cost of power. The mediums used for propaganda were mostly posters, signs, radio messages, slogans, and other accessible forms of artwork that were bound to reach all aspects of society. The Soviet Union used four core techniques to make their mediums of propaganda as effective as possible. The first technique was shifting implicit assumptions by challenging common thought and the validity of common thought on issues where the government wanted to make decisions that were considered counter-culture. For example, although there were pro-revolutionary ideals surrounding the Bolsheviks leading revolution, the propaganda created was quick to remind Russian constituents that revolutionary action should not be taken against the new government. The second technique was slanted paraphrase. This was viewed in taking commonly relied on texts, quotes, facts, and/or events, and twisting some of the concepts within them to suit their agenda. Paired with this technique was omitting aspects of a text. Lastly, using references to sorcery, witchcraft, and devils when talking about the Soviet Union’s acclaimed enemies created fear and subconscious hate amongst the minds of those taking in the propaganda filled media.

(Thomas, CIA)

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As the Soviet Union worked to gain stability during their new era, the propaganda they used took different angles depending on their immediate concerns. Propaganda, at times, preached themes of world revolution and anti-capitalist ideals, but then shifted to a more gentle theme of peaceful cooperation of the two systems to gain better international allyship. One of the strongest eras of Soviet propaganda was based on themes of nationalism. Nationalist propaganda was seen as legitimizing Soviet conquests and creating a unified perception within Russia.

It is important to distinguish the ideals of nationalism and those of patriotism. Patriotism manifests as a love and devotion for one’s country as a whole. Nationalism serves as a belief system that promotes all activities of the government regardless of the morality of the government’s actions. This concept was shown through Lenin’s Dual Control Campaign. Lenin enlisted small cliques of followers to do the dirty work of risky and illegal propaganda, as well as domestic and international investigative work, in spite of the party’s prohibitions. These secret organizations, such as the Cheka and the KGB, gathered international and domestic intelligence, supported Bolshevik rule, protected the leadership of the Soviet Union, spread, and cultivated propaganda, all in the name of nationalism.

(Library of Congress, CIA, Thomas)

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"Cool Means Competence" Claire Keck (1984) 

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"Cool Means Competence" Claire Keck (1984) 

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This is an example of anti-religious Soviet propaganda. The left side portrays a highly successful, happy, and proud non-religious woman in vibrant color, whereas the right portrays a depressed, powerless, highly-religious woman in bland colors. This poster glorifies the concept of atheist belief by alluding to the idea that religious devotion leads to a dull, oppressive lifestyle. It was within the Soviet Union's best interest to have a grip of religious liberties, because the ideals of religion often contradicted those of a strict totalitarian regime.

(Ames)

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Much of Soviet Propaganda was anti-western culture, particularly anti-US. The Soviet Union was particularly threatened by western democracy in contrast to their communist state. Soviet propaganda made efforts to convince their constituents that the perceived freedoms and liberties that US citizens seemed to have were not what they should want. This poster depicts American “freedoms” in a way that demonizes them. This highlights the aspects of American culture that the Soviet Union wanted to attribute to Americans, those aspects being greed, racism, and abuse of power.

(Ames)

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In 1954, some Hungarian escapees of the Soviet Union strategically released balloons filled anti-Communist propaganda material. Feeling oppressed by the communist government, they decided to rebel using the Soviet's techniques. This effort brought great discomfort to the Soviet Union due to their commitment to their own strategic spread of propaganda. The Hungarian escapees’ endeavors embarrassed Communist authorities, created more work for the government, and incited a rapid spread of distrust of the government within Russia.

(Vienna Embassy)

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Importance of Studying Russian Propaganda

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Importance of Studying Russian Propaganda

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Russia was composed of a vast group of people, the majority being of the proletariat and worker’s class. Propaganda was used as a tool to tame the proletariat and consolidate the power of the plutocracy. Russia had undergone great inconsistencies with a long revolution, as well as maintaining their role in World War 1. Propaganda techniques were applied to unify the state in order to repair the damage that was done, and further strengthen the unity of the state. The media aspect of revolutions and other huge societal shifts are often overlooked due to the widespread indoctrination of ideas, making it harder for citizens to think for themselves. Propaganda served as the uniting force of the Soviet Union and was crucial to their emergence as one of the strongest governments of its time.