Communist propaganda

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth" by Viktor Deni, 1920
Clock hand labeled "communism" about to cut off a top-hatted and brandy-nosed caricature head labeled "Capital" as the caption reads "The final hour!"

Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the

Marxist thought, the propaganda of communism is viewed by its proponents as the vehicle for spreading their idea of enlightenment of working class people and pulling them away from the propaganda of who they view to be their oppressors, that they claim reinforces exploitation, such as religion or consumerism. Communist propaganda therefore stands in opposition to bourgeois or capitalist propaganda
.

In

Bolshevik theoretician Nikolai Bukharin wrote: "The State propaganda of communism becomes in the long run a means for the eradication of the last traces of bourgeois propaganda dating from the old régime; and it is a powerful instrument for the creation of a new ideology, of new modes of thought, of a new outlook on the world."[1]

Theoretical origins

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines communist propaganda as being the expression of the essential worldview of the working class and its natural aims and interests defined by its historical position as the social force which will ultimately usher in the epoch of communism.[2]

According to communist theory, the history of all society has been the history of

class struggle and with each phase of this struggle comes a new set of social relationships that dictate the direction of society's development and, fundamentally, the system of producing and distributing goods and services.[3] Arising from the creation of surplus during the Neolithic Revolution, the unequal distribution of this surplus has been reinforced by the state which represents the interests of the ruling class of the time. While all societies and civilizations have had their own unique history of development, they each pass through six distinctive stages of economic relationships sharing common characteristics, these being: primitive communism (hunter-gatherer societies), slavery, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, and finally a return to communism in a highly advanced form which is considered to be the epoch of humanity having become fully civilized.[4]

Communist propaganda accordingly serves the same purpose as all its predecessor propaganda: to ideologically enforce the legitimacy of the working class (those who derive a living from selling their labor) as the ruling class of society. Within this context, the main counter-propaganda is bourgeois propaganda, or propaganda that promotes the rule of the capitalist class (those who derive a living from privately owning property and capital assets). Communist propaganda is defined as a scientifically based system of the dissemination of the communist ideology with the purpose of education, training and organizing of the masses.

Purposes

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia identifies the following functions of communist propaganda:[5]

  • The link of the Communist Party with the working class and other working people[6]
  • Incorporation of scientific socialism into the worker movements and revolutionary activities of the masses
  • Unification and organization of national divisions of the workers', communist, and democratic movements
  • Coordination of the activities of the above-mentioned movements, exchange of information and experience
  • Expression of the public opinion of the working class, working people, their needs and interests
  • Spread opposition to the bourgeois and revisionist propaganda
  • Dissemination of statistical data about socialist society (i.e., the one of a communist state).

Targets

As a common trait of any propaganda and its analogue, advertising, communist propaganda's goals and techniques are tuned according to the target audience. The most broad classification of targets is:[7]

  • Domestic propaganda of the communist states
  • External propaganda of the communist states
  • Propaganda of the communist supporters outside the communist states

A more detailed list would be

  • Members of the communist party and other groups that support communism: Communist propaganda is often directed at people who already support communism, in an effort to strengthen their commitment to the cause and to motivate them to work towards achieving the goals of the movement.
  • The general population: Communist propaganda is also often directed at the general population, in an effort to persuade people to support communism and to encourage them to join the communist party or other communist organizations.
  • Opponents of communism: Communist propaganda may also be directed at people who are opposed to communism, in an effort to sway their opinions and to convince them to support the ideology.
  • Other countries: Communist propaganda may also be directed at people in other countries, in an effort to promote the ideology and to build support for communist movements in those countries.

A more detailed classification of specific targets (workers, peasants, youth, women, etc.) may be found in the Communist Party documents, usually presented at the Congresses of the Communist Party.[7]

Overall, the main goal of communist propaganda is to spread the ideology of communism and to build support for the movement, both within the country where it is being disseminated and internationally.

Techniques

Use of Marxist ideology

Further information: Marxism

The creation of the

communist countries
is inevitable.

Class struggle played a central role in the social policies of the USSR and socialist countries, all of which constitutionally outlined the

Kulaks) accumulated disproportionately large amounts of wealth through merchant trading and small capital practices. Under Joseph Stalin, the government began to crack down on the Kulaks, to which their resistance was met with violent repression in what could arguably be considered a second civil war. Kulaks who resisted the socialization of their assets, along with anyone who collaborated with or fought for them, were punished with imprisonment, deportation to Siberia, or even execution. Lev Kopelev, who was personally involved in actions against villagers deprived of food for collaborating with Kulaks explained his motivation:[9]

It was excruciating to see and hear all this. And even worse to take part in it.... And I persuaded myself, explained to myself. I must not give in to debilitating pity. We were realizing historical necessity. We were performing our revolutionary duty. We were obtaining grain for our socialist Fatherland. For the

Five Year Plan
. Our goal was the universal triumph of the Communism, and for the sake of that goal everything was permissible - to lie, to steal, to destroy hundreds of thousands and even millions of people... everyone who stood in the way.

The violence that characterized the forced collectivization of agriculture in the Soviet Union eventually ended in the final years of the 1930s with the defeat of the Kulaks and their demise. By the 1950s, agriculture was entirely collectivized and the peasantry ceased to exist, as all agricultural workers held the same essential social relationship to their means of production as other industrial workers thus making them part of a working class.

Polarized values

While somewhat modified since the times of the détente, communist propaganda is centered around a number of polarized dichotomies: virtues of the communist world vs. vices of the capitalist world, such as:[7]

  • communists are for peace; capitalists are for war
  • communists are for mutual cooperation; capitalists are for coercive exploitation
  • communists are for democracy; capitalists are for oligarchy

Still another polarization was focused on the real and alleged essence of various terms, such as "

communist states" in the West.[10]

Self-criticism

Main article:
Self-criticism (Marxism–Leninism)

According to Jacques Ellul's book Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes complete propaganda can only be achieved when it is able to win over the adversary, or at least integrate it into the new frame of reference created by propaganda. This was achieved by Soviet propaganda in the self-criticism of its opponents so that the enemy of a regime can be made to declare, while still the enemy, that the regime was right and any opposition was criminal.[11] The enemy accepts their condemnation as just and converts to a supporter of the regime as a result of totalitarian propaganda.

Means

Communist propaganda in Cuba

Communist propaganda is circulated in a variety of ways, ranging from the traditional to the contemporary. The most common form of communist propaganda is the use of newspapers, magazines, and books.[12] These are used to spread political messages and ideologies to the public, as well as spread news and information about the state of the country. Communist leaders also often use the power of public speaking to spread their message to the masses. This can be done through rallies and speeches, as well as through television, radio, and other media. In addition to traditional methods, communist propaganda is also circulated through social media. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are all used to spread political messages and ideologies. This can be done by creating content that supports the party line, or by using the platform to spread news about the party’s successes. Additionally, social media can be used to share images and videos that support the party’s beliefs. Another common method of spreading communist propaganda is through the use of posters, banners, and artwork.[13] These can be placed in public places such as parks, squares, and universities. By doing this, communist messages and ideologies can be seen and spread to a larger audience. Finally, communist propaganda is also spread through the use of films, music, and literature. Films and music are used to create a sense of nostalgia, while literature can be used to spread political messages and ideologies. Additionally, films and music can be used to showcase the party’s successes and encourage people to join the cause.

Communist manuals

During the years 1938–1953 the History of the CPSU(B). Short Course was an obligatory explanation of Soviet ideology. The book was translated into many languages.

Communist periodicals

A number of periodicals were printed by communist states, either exclusively for distribution abroad or with versions tailored for foreign audiences. While the Soviet Union and communist China were the major contributors, other communist states contributed their share as well. The lists below are for early 1960s compiled by J. Clews. The list contains mostly English language titles, but many of these journals were edited in many languages.[7]

Soviet Union

Further information: Printed media in the Soviet Union and Censorship of images in the Soviet Union

People's Republic of China

Other

(Partial list)

Radio broadcasting

A 1952 article, "Communist broadcasts to Italy", reported that as of June 1952 the total communist radio broadcast to Italy amounted to 78 hours per week, as compared to 23 hours of the

Soviet Bloc, as well as from fake "underground resistance" radios probably located within the Soviet Bloc as well rather than in the West.[14]

Film and stage

Soviet leaders believed that film was an important tool of propaganda (see

The Battleship Potemkin, October: Ten Days That Shook the World, and The End of St. Petersburg. Roman Karmen was a war cameraman and film director and one of the most influential figures in documentary film making. Obyknovennyy fashizm (Common Fascism aka A Night of Thoughts or Triumph Over Violence) (1965) by Mikhail Romm described totalitarian propaganda on the example of Nazism
.

In 2007 a high ranking intelligence officer and defector from the Eastern Bloc,

Holocaust.[15][17][19][20]

International organizations, congresses and festivals

During the

World Festivals of Youth and Students were held, with some exceptions, in capitals of communist states and were a powerful tool of communist propaganda.[7]

Education

See also:
Education in People's Republic of Poland, Education in North Korea, and Education in East Germany

Education in the communist states included a considerable amount of

Marxism-Leninism (mostly in the form of Leninism) and communist political economy and was introduced as part of many courses, e.g., teaching Marx' or Lenin's views on topics of science or history. The Soviet format of education was imposed (with varying success) onto other satellite states.[21]

Culture and arts

Main article: Socialist realism
Statue of Mao Zedong in Shenyang

From the early days of the first communist-ruled state, Soviet Russia, arts were recognized as a powerful means of propaganda and placed under strict control and censorship in all communist states. Lenin and Joseph Stalin were the preferred subjects, although almost all of Stalin's images and monuments were removed and/or destroyed after his death in 1956.

caricaturists/cartoonists
, who attacked all enemies of the Soviet Union.

Financial means

Further information: Active measures and Soviet influence on the peace movement

J. Clews cites German, French and British estimates of the early 1960s on the amount of money spent in the world for communist propaganda and political activities in the non-communist world, estimating to about $2 billion, i.e., about $2 per person outside the communists states, with major spenders being the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.[7]

Perception in the West

The doorway of the newspaper La Clarte, a weekly communist newspaper, padlocked by the police in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1937

The basic aspects of the communist ideology, such as violent means for attaining its goals (revolution), abolition of private property and animosity towards religion were against the

traditional values of the Western world
and have met with strong opposition, including attempts to make the communist propaganda illegal in some states. For example:

  • In 1937, the Canadian province of Quebec enacted the "Padlock Law", which enabled police to prevent the use of any premises for the promotion of communism or Bolshevism. The Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Padlock Law as unconstitutional in 1957.[22]
  • In 1962, the U.S. state of Louisiana passed a law identifying communist propaganda as a subversive activity[23] and declared that "it shall be a felony for any person to knowingly, willfully and intentionally deliver, distribute, disseminate or store communist propaganda in the state of Louisiana except under the specific exemptions hereinafter provided."[24]

Specific examples

See also

Censorship:

References

  1. ISBN 0-14-040005-2), Chapter 10: Communism and Education
  2. ^ Academy of Sciences (1981). The Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Советская Энциклопедия.
  3. ^ Karl Marx, Frederich Engels (21 February 1848). Manifesto of the Communist Party.
  4. ^ Engels, Frederich (1880). Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
  5. ^ Пропаганда [Propaganda]. Большой Советской Энциклопедии [Great Soviet Encyclopedia] (in Russian).
  6. ^ In the communist and Soviet parlance the "worker class" is the class of industrial workers, while "other working people" includes other "non-exploiting" classes
  7. ^
    Praeger
    and in Great Britain
  8. ISBN 0-300-08705-5
  9. ^ "Reflections on a ravaged century", pages 93-95
  10. ^ John Connelly (2000), p. 48
  11. ISBN 978-0-394-71874-3
    .
  12. OCLC 1131871904.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  13. OCLC 1131871904.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  14. ^ "Communist broadcasts to Italy", Harold Mendelsohn and Werner J. Cahnman, The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4, Special Issue on International Communications Research (Winter, 1952-1953), pp. 671-680
  15. ^ a b Pacepa, Ion Mihai, Moscow’s Assault on the Vatican: The KGB made corrupting the Church a priority Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine National Review Online 25 Jan. 2007
  16. ^ Mindell, Cindy, Pope Pius XII: The Case For - and Against -Canonization Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Jewish Ledger, 25 November 2008
  17. ^ a b Follain, John, KGB and the plot to taint 'Nazi pope', The Times, 18 Feb. 2007
  18. ^ Poprzeczny, Joseph, THE COLD WAR: How Moscow framed Pope Pius XII as pro-Nazi Archived 16 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, News Weekly, 28 Apr. 2007
  19. ^ Crowe, David,The Holocaust: roots, history, and aftermath By [permanent dead link], p. 371, Westview Press 2008
  20. ISBN 0-8091-4476-X
    page 37
  21. ^ See John Connelly (2000)
  22. ^ "Padlock Act". Canada's Human Rights History. Dominique Clément. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  23. ^ §390.1, Louisiana Code (1962)
  24. ^ §390.2, Louisiana Code (1962)

Sources

Further reading
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