Communist propaganda
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[[Image:Tov lenin ochishchaet.jpg|170px|right|thumb|“Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth”.]]
'''Communist propaganda''' is [[propaganda]] aimed to advance the [[ideology]] of [[communism]], communist [[worldview]] and interests of the communist movement.
A communist theoretician [[Nikolai Bukharin]] in his ''The ABC of Communism'' wrote:<ref>[[Nikolai Bukharin]], [[Yevgeny Preobrazhensky]] ''The ABC of Communism'' (1969 translation: ISBN 0140400052), [http://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/works/1920/abc/10.htm Chapter 10: Communism and Education]</ref>
<blockquote>
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.
</blockquote>
==Communist propaganda as defined by communists==
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The ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' defines the communist propaganda in an opposition to what is called ''[[bourgeois propaganda]]'' described as manipulation of the masses in the interests of certain groups, in fact, in the interests of the [[ruling class]]. On the contrary, the communist propaganda is defined as a scientifically-based system of the dissemination of the communist ("Marxist-Leninist") ideology with the purpose of education, training and organizing of the masses.
==Purposes==
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The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' identifies the following functions of the Communist propaganda:<ref>''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' , [http://bse.sci-lib.com/article093385.html Propaganda] article</ref>
*The link of the Communist party with the [[worker class]] and other working people<ref>In the Communist and Soviet parlance the "worker class" is the class of industrial workers, while "other working people" includes other "non-exploiting" classes </ref>
*Incorporation of the Scientific Socialism into the worker movements and revoutioanary activities of the masses
*Unification and organization of national divisiond of the workers', communist, and democratic<ref>The term "[[democratic]]" has a specific meaning of "true democracy" in the Communist parlance <!--must be explained somewhere in wikipedia --></ref> movements
*Coordication of the activities of the abovementioned movements, exchange of informastion and experience
*Expression of the [[public opinion]] of the worker class, working people, their needs and interests
*Exposing the illusions and lies of the bourgeois and revisionist propaganda
*Dissemination of the truth about the socialist society (i.e., the one of a [[communist state]]).
==Targets==
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As a common trait of any propaganda and its analogue, [[advertising]], Communist propaganda goals and techniques are tuned according to the target audience. The most broad classification of targets is:<ref name=clews>John C. Clews (1964) ''Communist Propaganda techniques'', printed in the USA by ''[[Frederick A. Praeger|Praeger]]'' and in Great Britain </ref>
*Domestic propaganda of the Communist states
*External propaganda of the Communist states
*Propaganda of the Communist supporters outside the Communist states
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.<ref name=clews/>
==Techniques==
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===Use of Marxist ideology===
The creation of the Soviet Union was presented as the most important turning event in human history, based on the Marxist theory of [[historical materialism]]. This theory identified [[means of production]] as chief determinants of the historical process. They led to the creation of [[social class]]es, and [[class struggle]] was the 'motor' of history. The [[sociocultural evolution]] of societies had to progress inevitably from [[slavery]], through [[feudalism]] and [[capitalism]] to [[communism]]. Furthermore, the [[Communist Party]] became the protagonist of history, as a "vanguard of the working class", according to development of this theory by [[Lenin]]. Hence the unlimited powers of the Communist Party leaders were claimed to be as infallible and inevitable as the history itself.<ref name="Satter1"> [[David Satter]]. ''Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union'', [[Yale University Press]], 2001, ISBN 0-300-08705-5</ref> It also followed that a world-wide victory of [[communist countries]] is inevitable.
Marxism was widely used to justify [[political repression]]s. For example, the [[peasantry]] was represented as an incarnation of backwardness, an enemy [[social group|class]] that must be brought under control, for example in the Soviet Union, [[Vietnam]] and [[Tanzania]] <ref name="kulak"> "Reflections on a ravaged century", pages 93-95 </ref>. Millions died as a result of Soviet [[dekulakization]] policy that included execution, imprisonment, and deportation to Siberia of better off peasants called "[[kulaks]]". [[Lev Kopelev]], who was personally involved in actions against starving villagers in 1930s explained his motivation as a result of the Communist propaganda <ref name="kulak"/>:
:''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 [[Marx's theory of history|historical necessity]]. We were performing our [[Revolution|revolutionary duty]]. We were obtaining grain for our [[Socialism|socialist]] Fatherland. For the [[Five-Year Plan (USSR)|Five Year Plan]]. Our goal was the universal triumph of the [[Communism]], and for the sake of 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"''.
===Polarized values===
[[Image:Poster35.jpg|thumb|right|300px| A Soviet propaganda poster: American "Freedom"]]
While somewhat modified since the times of the [[Detente]], the Communist propaganda was centered around a number of polarized dichotomies: virtues of the Communist world vs. vices of the Capitalist world, such as:<ref name=clews/>
*communists for peace, the West for war
*communists for cooperation, the West is based on exploitation
Still another polarization was focused on the real and alleged essence of various terms, such as "[[freedom]]", "[[democracy]]", <!-- {{cn|date=April 2008}} I know I have to provide ref, but this is a rather well-known fact --> often counterpointing, e.g., "bourgeois democracy" vs. "true democracy" or "people's democracy". The latter term is seen, e.g., in the expression "countries of people's democracy" as applied to what is called "[[communist states]]" in the West.<ref>John Connelly (2000), [http://books.google.com/books?id=OyU6o8V_K90C&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22countries+of+people's+democracy%22&source=web&ots=AZp69ioI1e&sig=sEB5FDzNtnzXR3Rc0CVETXDbpLQ&hl=en p. 48]</ref>
==Means==
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Communist propaganda was delivered via:
*Printed media
**Manuals
**Newspapers and magazines
**Books
*Radio and TV broadcasting
*Congresses and conferences of various internationational organizations under various Communist umbrellas, such as [[World Peace Council]]
*Local communist parties and [[fellow-traveller]]s
===Communist manuals===
During the years 1938 - 1953 the ''History of the CPSU(B). Short Course'' was an obligatory explanation of Communist ideology. The book was translated into many languages.
===Communist periodicals===
A number of periodicals were printed by communist states, either exclusively for dustribution abroad or with versions tailored for foreign audience. While the Soviet Union and the 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 contsains mostly English language titles, many of these journals were edited in many languages. <ref name=clews/>
====USSR====
*''[[Culture and Life]]''
*''[[International Affairs (Soviet magazine)|International Affairs]]''
*''[[Moscow News]]''
*''[[The New Times (Russia)|The New Times]]''
*''[[Oeuvres et opinions]]''
*''[[Soviet Film]]''
*''[[Soviet Literature]]''
*''[[Soviet Union (magazine)|Soviet Union]]''
*''[[Soviet Woman]]'', in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish
*''[[Femmes de nous jours]]''
*''[[Sputnik (monthly)|Sputnik]]'' - not allowed in GDR and Cuba during [[glasnost]].
====PRC====
*''[[China Pictorial]]''
*''[[China Reconstructs]]''
*''[[Peking Review]]''
*''[[People's China]]''
*''[[China's Sports]]''
*''[[Women in China]]''
*''[[Evergreen (Chinese youth magazine)|Evergreen]]''
====Other====
(Partial list)
*[[People's Republic of Poland]]
**''[[Daily News (PRP magazine)|Daily News]]''
**''[[Demokratis]]''
**''[[Polish Review]]''
*[[Czechoslovakia]]
**''[[In the Heart of Europe]]''
**''[[Czechoslovak Life]]''
**''[[Czechoslovak Woman]]''
*[[Bulgaria]]
**''[[Bulgaria Tuday]]''
**''[[New Bulgaria]]'' (in English, French, Arabic)
*[[East Germany]]
**''[[Al Najallah]]'' (for Arabic-speaking countries)
**''[[GDR REview]]''
**''[[Democratic German Report]]''
**''[[Jena Review]]''
**''[[Saut- as-Sadaka]]'' (Arabic)
**''[[Voix de l'Amitie]]'' (French, for Africa)
**''[[Picture News]]'' (English, for Asia)
**''[[Echo d'Allemagne]]'' (French)
===Radio broadcasting===
A 1952 article "Communist broadcasts to Italy" reported that as of June 1952 the total communist radio broadcast to [[Italy]] amounted 78 hours per week, as compared to 23 hours of the ''[[Voice of America]]'' and [[BBC]], noting that Italy occupied a pivotal position in the East-West conflict of the time. These broadcasts originated not only from [[Moscow]], but also from the countries 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. <ref>[http://www.jstor.org/pss/2746127 "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</ref>
===Film===
Soviet leaders believed that film was an important tool of propaganda [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1213694], see [[Cinema of the Soviet Union]]. Soviet films helped to create the myths of the revolution: [[The Battleship Potemkin]], [[October: Ten Days That Shook the World]], [[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; he could be considered [[USSR]]'s answer to [[Leni Riefenstahl]]. ''[[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]].
===International organizations, congresses and festivals===
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During the [[Cold War]] the [[World Festivals of Youth and Students]] were held, with some exceptions, in capitals of [[Communist state]]s and were a powerful tool of Communist propaganda. <ref name=clews/>
===Education===
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{{seealso|Education in the Soviet Union|Education in People's Republic of Poland}}
Education in the Communist states included a considerable amount of [[indoctrination]], both in special political/philosophical courses and in properly crafted courses of general education: history, geography, world literature, etc. Soviet ideology was taught in the [[Soviet Union]] divided into three disciplines: [[Scientific Communism]], [[Marxism-Leninism]] (mostly in form of [[Leninism]]) and Communist ''Political Economy'') and was introduced as part of many courses, eg. teaching [[Karl Marx]]' or [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s views on topics of science or history. The Soviet format of education was imposed (although with varying success) onto other satellite states.<ref>See John Connelly (2000)</ref>
===Culture and arts===
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{{main|Socialist realism}}
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 [[Stalin]] were preferred subject, almost all Stalin's images and monuments removed and/or destroyed after his death, mostly in 1956.
[[Kukryniksy]] were three propaganda [[caricaturist]]s/[[cartoonist]]s, who attacked all ''enemies'' of the Soviet Union.
===Financial means===
J. Clews cites German, French and British estimates of 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 $2,000 million, i.e., about $2 per person outside the Communists states, with major spenders being the Soviet Union and [[People's Republic of China]]. <ref name=clews/>
==Perception in the West==
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The basic aspects of the communist ideology, such as violent means for attaining its goals ([[revolution]]), abolishment of the [[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, the 1962 [[Louisiana]] law identified Communist propaganda as a subversive activity <ref>[http://law.justia.com/louisiana/codes/146/78504.html §390.1], Louisiana Code (1962)</ref> 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." <ref>[http://law.justia.com/louisiana/codes/146/78505.html §390.2], Louisiana Code (1962)</ref>
==Specific examples==
* [[Propaganda in the Soviet Union]]
* [[Propaganda in the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Propaganda in the People's Republic of Poland]]
* [[Agitprop]]
* [[Agitprop theatre]]
==See also==
* [[Soviet historiography]]
==References==
*[[John Connelly (historian)|John Connelly]] (2000) "Captive University: The Sovietization of East German, Czech, and Polish Higher Education, 1945-1956", ISBN 0807848654
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Harry Hodgkinson (1955) ''Doubletalk'' (USA title: ''The language of Communism''), ''[[Pitman Publishing]]''
*Hans Koch (1959) ''Theorie Taktik Technik des Weltkommunismus'' Ilmgauverlag, [[Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm]], Germany
[[Category:Communist propaganda| ]]