Anti-Sovietism
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Anti-Sovietism (Russian: антисоветчина, romanized: antisovetchina) or anti-Soviet sentiment refers to persons and activities that were actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union.[1]
Three common uses of the term include the following:
- Anti-Sovietism in international politics, such as the Western opposition to the Soviet Union during the Cold War as part of broader anti-communism.
- Anti-Soviet opponents of the Bolsheviks shortly after the Russian Revolution and during the Russian Civil War.
- Soviet citizens (allegedly or actually) involved in anti-government activities.
History
In the Soviet Union
During the
During the Russian Civil War, whole classes of people, such as the clergy,
The Soviet Union made extensive use of the term "enemy of the people" (Russian: враг народа, vrag naroda). The term was first used in a speech by Felix Dzerzhinsky, the first chairman of the Cheka, after the October Revolution. The Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee printed lists of "enemies of the people", and Vladimir Lenin invoked it in his decree of 28 November 1917:[3]
all leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party, as a party of enemies of the people, are hereby to be considered outlaws, and are to be arrested immediately and brought before the revolutionary court.[4]
Other similar terms were in use as well:
- enemy of the labourers (враг трудящихся, vrag trudyashchikhsya)
- enemy of the proletariat (враг пролетариата, vrag proletariata)
- class enemy (классовый враг, klassovyi vrag), etc.
In particular, the term "enemy of the workers" was formalized in the Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code),[5] and similar articles in the codes of the other Soviet Republics.
At various times these terms were applied, in particular, to
Since 1927, Article 20 of the Common Part of the penal code that listed possible "measures of
Later in the Soviet Union, being anti-Soviet was a criminal offense, known as "
After the end of the
In Post-Soviet countries
Estonia
In August 2022 Estonia began removing Soviet monuments, beginning with a T-34 tank in Narva, claiming it was necessary for "public order" and "internal security".[8][9]
Latvia
On 6 May 2022, following the
A rally "Getting Rid of Soviet Heritage" taking place on March 20 was attended by approximately 5,000 people,[15] while a counter rally by Latvian Russian Union was prevented from taking place by security forces, claiming threat to "public security".[16]
A list of 93 street names still glorifying the Soviet regime (such as 13 streets named after the Pioneer movement), as well as 48 street names given during the Russification at the end of the 19th century (like streets named after Alexander Pushkin), has been compiled by historians of the Public Memory Center and sent to the corresponding municipalities who were recommended to change them.[17]
See also
- Anti-communism
- Anti-Soviet partisans
- Anti-Stalinist left
- Criticisms of communist party rule
- Enemy of the people
- German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war
- Red Scare
- Red Terror
- Soviet dissidents
- Soviet Empire
- Timeline of events in the Cold War
- Anti-Russian sentiment
- List of monuments and memorials removed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
References
- The Great Terror. USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 28–29.
- ISBN 0-374-52738-5.
- )
- ISBN 0-674-07608-7
- ^ "Article 58", an online excerpt
- ^ "Seventeen Moments in Soviet History". [permanent dead link]
- ^ Niccolò Pianciola; Paolo Sartori (2013). "Interpreting an insurgency in Soviet Kazakhstan : the OGPU, Islam and Qazaq 'Clans' in Suzak, 1930". Islam, Society and States Across the Qazaq Steppe: 297–340.
- ^ "Estonia removes Soviet Union war monuments". POLITICO. 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
- ^ Olsen, Jan. "Estonia removes Soviet-era monument, citing public order". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
- ^ "How this tiny Russian neighbour is fighting to save its tourism industry". Time Out. 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Soviet memorial's days are numbered, confirms Latvian PM". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 6 May 2022.
- ^ "Fundraising begins in Latvia for dismantling Soviet monument". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 12 May 2022.
- ^ "Saeima decides to legally allow Soviet monument demolition". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 12 May 2022.
- ^ Zvirbulis, Ģirts (13 May 2022). "Nearly EUR 200,000 collected for demolition of Soviet memorial". Public Broadcasting of Latvia.
- ^ "Thousands turn out to support removal of Soviet relics". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 20 May 2022.
- ^ "Security service gives red light to Latvian Russian Union's rally". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 24 May 2022.
- ^ "Soviet-related street name change urged in Latvia". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 8 August 2022.
- ^ The small caption in the lower right corner of this poster reads:
The Bolsheviks promised:
We'll give you peace
We'll give you freedom
We'll give you land
Work and bread
Despicably they cheated
They started a war
With Poland
Instead of freedom they brought
The fist
Instead of land – confiscation
Instead of work – misery
Instead of bread – famine.