Download Rise of Dictators: Stalin

Eleni Bantra
Marina Stamati
March 2, 2010
Rise of Dictators: Stalin
Propaganda & Education
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Stalin’s purpose of using
propaganda was:
→To establish a personal dictatorship
→To support, build and expand
soviet power
→To attack enemies
→To control people
→To increase the war effort
→Create a feeling of unison
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Propaganda focuses on
political discipline, control of
media, a claimed legacy, a
fostered personality cult and
the Five Year Plans, programs
whose aim was the
collectivization of agriculture
and establishment of
industry.
Propaganda was one of the
main means with which Josef
Stalin could rise his power
and make people believe in
him.
 His purpose was to create a heroic or godlike image, called “the cult of
personality,” through mass media and propaganda, which helped him later to
obtain the undisputed faith of the people, who supported him in every step he
was taking, believing that he was unaware of any possible harmful decision.
 By 1930, Stalin is in full control and he was able to set up his personal dictatorship and run
unopposed and unquestioned.
 4 ways with which Stalin succeed to create his “cult personality:”
“The main reason to create a
1. Censorship of anything that might reflect badly on Stalin.
cult of personality is to obtain
2. Propaganda everywhere -pictures, continuous praise and applause,
undying devotion of the
Places named after him (e.g. Stalingrad)
people”
3. Word of mouth: mothers taught their children that Stalin was “the
wisest man of the age”
4. History books and pictures were changed to make him the hero of the Revolution, and
obliterate the names of purged people (e.g. Trotsky)
 Stalin’s use of propaganda:
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Eleni Bantra
Marina Stamati
March 2, 2010
1. Posters: Photomontage was used with compositions of diagonal lines and strong contrast in
colors and shapes to give dynamic and powerful impression about Stalin.
2. Songs: Stalin used to encourage artists to promote the “better life” of the Soviet Union.
One of the best-known songs of these years was the 1936 “Life is getting better”, written by
Aleksandr Aleksandrov, founder and leader of the Red Army Ensemble. Aleksandrov got
influenced by Stalin’s speech in 1934, in which he announced that “life was getting better”
as a result of his program.
3. Photographs: They were used to present what the government wanted to expose. Every
time that someone was killed and was appeared on a photograph, Stalin’s people had to
“evaporate” his face from this picture in order to erase the past.
4. Films
5. Education: Through education, Stalin, succeeded to pass his ideas to his young audience.
Books were thrown away, exams abolished, and schools either shut altogether or opened
only for a limited number of days. Soviet history rewritten to provide himself a more
significant role in the revolution. He also wrote a book of his life, called “A short history of
USSR.”
6. News: mass media and radio
7. Youth groups: Young people were encouraged to learn trades and engage in activities that
were of particular value. Children were instructed to follow the party’s ideas, but they also
did fun activities. Additionally, they used to share a common uniform to once again create
a feeling on unity. The most famous Russian youth group was Communist League of
Youth over 9 million members.
 The Department of Agitation and Propaganda (Agitprop) of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party fed official propaganda to the media, closely scrutinized by the Soviet censors.
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Ways by which Stalin rose in power:
Stalin embalmed Lenin against his wives wishes.
Make people follow him without questioning his abilities and his
ideas.
He and his assistants achieved in creating a cult of Stalin’s
personality.
Created a cult round Lenin's death despite Lenin's ideals.
Declared himself Lenin's natural successor.
Every house hold had a picture of Lenin and Stalin.
Constant parades were held in his honour.
Streets were filled with huge posters.
Stalin’s statues were raised everywhere.
This poster shows a young
beautiful man who represents the
USSR talking to the rich but old
and agly Americans(atomic
bomb). The message conveyed by
this poster is that USSR is trying
to warn the Americans “not to
fool around”, meaning that they
should be very careful about their
actions, showing USSR’s strength.
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“Stalin did not rely on terror
alone, but also on the support
of the majority of the people;
effectively deceived by cunning
propaganda, they gave Stalin
credit for the successes of
others and even for
‘achievements’ that were in
fact totally fictitious.”
Roy Medvedev, Soviet
historian
Eleni Bantra
Marina Stamati
March 2, 2010
Some form in propaganda in Stalinist Russia
Postcard, 1917. Soldiers with sign stating, "Watches -- gold
and silver."
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New postcard, 1917. Same photo, but signboard is
replaced with slogans.
Propagandists seize every opportunity to get their message across. In the original of this
photo, the sign on the building says, "Watches, gold and silver." Now it reads, "Struggle for
your rights." Likewise the flag being waved says, "Down with the monarchy - long live the
Republic!" has no visible words in the original.ii
Education: Stalin’s diving aim was to modernize the Soviet Union and he believed that to
achieve this, the population especially the young, must be literate.
The USSR education system should be developed based on the creation of the same serious,
committed attitude that prevailed in the workplace.
The number of children attending school rose from 12 million in 1929 to 35 million in
1940.
Between 1926 and 1940 the literacy rate of the population over the age of 9 increased from
51% to 88%.
The intelligentsia, who formed the nomenklatura had greated opportunity to education.
As a result:
1. Continues propaganda effectively brain washed and clouded peoples judgment.
2. The Russian people truly believed that Stalin was unaware of the crimes on humanity that
became so banal during his rule and though he really worked for their interest.
3. Stalin was even included in the national anthem.
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Eleni Bantra
Marina Stamati
March 2, 2010
Hymn to Stalin
Thank you, Stalin.
Thank you because I am well.
No matter how old I become, I shall never forget how we received Stalin two days ago. Centuries will
pass, and the generations still to come will regard us as the happiest of mortals, as the most fortunate
of men, because we lived in the century of centuries, because we were privileged to see Stalin, our
inspired leader. Yes, and we regard ourselves as the happiest of mortals because…iii
i
http://images.google.gr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.davno.ru/posters/collections/propaganda/img/po
ster-01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.davno.ru/soviet-posters/propaganda/&usg=__H6_C4UMQcRHchBdk_BGVQlKfmo=&h=456&w=340&sz=44&hl=el&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=e4kwaU7SoxunK
M:&tbnh=128&tbnw=95&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsoviet%2Bpropaganda%2Bposters%26hl%3Del%26sa
%3DG%26um%3D1
ii
http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/propaganda.htm
iii
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/stalin-worship.html
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