Economy and Society - Socialist Realism and New Soviet Man

Give examples of the unsubtle titles of Soviet literature used as propaganda

'Cement' or 'How the Steel was Tempered.'

How many people entered higher education during the 1930s?

150,000

When was the novel 'Cement' first written, and what was it about?

1925. The hero Gleb Chunalov bringing a cement factory back into production after fighting bureaucracy

Who was Pokrovsky?

A Bolshevik since 1915, he was Deputy Commissar for Education.

What was The Great Conveyer Belt about?

A man working in a tractor production plant going to meet Stalin to explain how he overcame his economic difficulties.

What changed in university education after the cultural revolution?

A system similar to the Tsarist system was reintroduced, with entry based on academic merit, rather than class or political convictions

What evidence is there of the limitations of new Soviet man in Magnitogorsk in terms of entertainment?

After going to the cinema, the most popular entertainment was performance of French wrestling. Attempts to politicise the circus failed miserably

Why was there a change in school policy?

After the Cultural Revolution was ended, there was criticism from the Central Committee of the project method. Stalin was angered at the state of schools in 1931

How did education at Magnitogorsk promote the creation of a new Soviet man?

Almost everyone was enrolled in some kind of school, combining technical skills, basic education and compulsory learning of Marxism

If a new soviet man was to be created, where would it be?

At Magnitogorsk, as by 1939 a giant steel plant and a population of 150,000 had emerged, and an industrial centre and socialist paradise.

Why was Pokrovsky attacked after the cultural revolution?

By 1934, for simplifying history into just class struggle and removing dates, names or heroes.

How was the organisation of schools changed after the cultural revolution?

Classes were organised in a more firm timetable, with exam, homework and rote learning back in force. Discipline was reestablished, and school uniforms even reappeared in the late 1930s

Production of what type of film expanded under the First Five Year Plan?

Documentaries, showing the plan's industrial objectives and successes.

What was noticeably not painted in socialist realist paintings?

Domestic and family scenes, with people instead being on collective farms, at factories, at Party meetings and demonstrations or on the Moscow Metro.

What exemplified the view of history under the cultural revolution?

During the cultural revolution historian Professor Tarle was imprisoned for glorifying the monarchy, as he was a non Marxist patriot, teaching about Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible

How was state control over films ensured?

Elaborately detailed proposals for new scripts were censored by the State Committee for Cinematography, and ideas were often suggested by Stalin himself. This was called the 'cast iron' scenario system

What types of music were most dominant?

Folk songs and dances, in praise of the happy life of the new Soviet man

What happened to the portrayal of heroes in Soviet literature?

From 1929 - 1932, the hero was the little man, acting as part of a large group. In 1932 this was changed, with new heros being created on a scale to match Soviet greatness and construction. The hallmark of new soviet literature was 'heroisation.'

How was Brodsky honoured for his contribution to arts?

He became the first artist to be given the Order of Lenin and was made director of All Russian Academy of Arts in 1934

What did Brodsky paint?

He continued to paint Lenin, for example speaking at a workers' meeting or at the Smolny during the civil war.

What happened to Brodsky during the Cultural Revolution?

He fell out of favour, but became one of Stalin's favourite artists afterwards

What ultimately happened to Meyerhold?

He was arrested in June 1939. His wife, an actress, was stabbed to death, and he was tortured and executed in January 1940 for being a 'foreign spy' and 'Trotskyite.'

Give an example of one of Brodsky's most famous paintings

His painting of Lenin in front of the Kremlin was the basis for May Day celebrations in 1932

What subject was not taught after the revolution?

History, as it was seen as irrelevant and only taught by the Tsars to encourage patriotism.

How did housing at Magnitogorsk promote the creation of a new Soviet man?

Housing was largely communal, and in every barracks there was a Red Corner, where there were pictures of Lenin and Stalin and people could read, listen to lectures, discuss political issues

What was the most borrowed book in libraries in Magnitogorsk?

How the Steel was Tempered, by Ostrovsky, which was about a hero who was determined to save the party.

Who wrote The Great Conveyer Belt?

Ilin

When and why was 'Cement' rewritten?

In 1930 by Gladkov, because Gelb was too individualistic for the modern party.

How were agitators used to encourage the creation of a new Soviet man at Magnitogorsk?

In 1936 214 agitators were employed to discuss political issues and present domestic and international events, so people were politically educated

How was new Soviet man in Magnitogorsk still limited in terms of housing?

In 1938 18% of living space was still privately owned. In the late 1930s there was a shift back to apartments to match the pro family policies adopted

Why was Meyerhold attacked by Pravda?

In December 1937 for failing to depict the problems concerning every Soviet citizen.

How popular were books in Magnitogorsk?

In January alone, 1936 40,000 books were sold, and 10,000 people held library cards.

When was teaching history reintroduced?

In May 1934 a decree on teaching of history was issued, meaning history faculties were restored at universities in Moscow and Leningrad. Tarle was released to return to teaching in Moscow.

How did Isaak Brodsky become well known?

Isaak Brodsky won a painting competition in Petrograd for a painting of Lenin, and hence became well known throughout the 1920s

Ultimately how successful was film as a method of propaganda?

It was intended to be a very powerful tool, but was less influential and effective than Stalin had aspired for it to be.

What was socialist realism?

It was originally Lenin's idea, that art and culture should educate the workers in the spirit of communism, although the term itself was not used until 1932. Art told a simple story of life under communism, and could be used as propaganda.

What happened to the play of How the Steel was Tempered?

It was produced by Meyerhold in 1937, to celebrate 20 years since 1917, but was deemed too genuinely real, rather than optimistic Socialist Realism, and was rejected

What was Pokrovsky's Brief History of Russia about?

It was straightforwardly Marxist, with class struggle driving Russian history, and little focus on individuals as Pokrovsky thought they played little role in history.

When was Meyerhold's theatre closed?

January 1938

Who was amongst those who entered higher education in the 1930s?

Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Kosygin

Who was Meyerhold?

Meyerhold was a renowned theatre director, teaching Eisenstein and producing Mayakovsky's satirical plays. His Meyerhold Theatre in Moscow was internationally well known.

When and why did Stalin abolish the RAPP?

Mid 1932, criticising it for being too narrow

How did the curriculum change after the cultural revolution?

More emphasis was put on maths, physics and chemistry, based on strict outlines, and these would make workers more skilled.

How popular was cinema in Magnitogorsk?

More than 600,000 seats a year were sold, and it was a key mechanism for spreading socialist values. Foreign films were also shown for entertainment, but no anti communist or overly pro capitalist films were allowed.

Give an example of the Party trying to spread socialist realism to the people

Museum managers were given bonuses if they exceeded their target visitor numbers. They therefore tried to organise mass visits, exposing many people to socialist realism

What changed in the composition of music?

Music was supposed to be positive, so was composed therefore in a major key

Give an example of opposition to Stakhanovism showing new Soviet man was not perfect

One worker had to be sentenced to forced labour for saying it was an attempt to enslave the working class. Anti Stakhanovite jokes were common nationally.

Who is a good example of new Soviet man?

Pavel Korchagin, the hero of Ostrovsky's How the Steel was Tempered, as he puts the interests of the revolution before himself

What had become the standard history textbook under Lenin?

Pokrovsky's Brief History of Russia, published in 1920.

Give an example of Stalin's influence over arts

Shostakovich composed an opera called Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which Stalin did not like, publishing an article in Pravda entitled 'Muddle instead of Music,' and Shostakovich never composed another opera.

How was reading encouraged?

Simple language and cheap paperback editions were used to enable mass, newly literate readership

What impact did the tight control Stalin exercised over literature have?

Some rejected it by adopting the 'genre of silence' and not writing anything at all, such as Isaac Babel, Boris Pasternak and the poet Anna Akhmatova. As a result, little literary work of note was produced in the 1930s.

What was reintroduced into history after the cultural revolution?

Teaching about the Tsarist rulers positively, especially Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great as they expanded Russian territory.

What did Stalin declare in the middle of 1931?

That the Cultural Revolution was over

Who had responsibility for film making?

The Politburo

What did Stalin replace the RAPP with?

The Union of Soviet Writers which included those who were not from the proletariat or the party, such as Maxim Gorky, who was its first head. However, the degree of state control was just as high, and socialist realism the main principle of creation

What was a new Soviet man supposed to embody?

The achievements of socialism, the morality, characteristics and values of a soviet citizen. He would be far from the illiterate backward members of the peasantry, as a part of modern industrial society, who was proletarian with a sense of moral virtue and social responsibility.

Why had a peasant/worker elite emerged by the end of the 1930s?

The availability of technical education, and the opportunity for upward mobility created because of industrialisation and the purges

Why did the view of history change after the cultural revolution?

The cultural revolution's view of history did not match Stalin's own. He thought it was a powerful tool to present Russian power as growing from humble beginnings in the tenth century, to world leadership under Lenin

What type of films did the mass of population enjoy?

The mass of the population enjoyed Hollywood films, with Douglas Fairbanks being much more popular than Eisenstein.

How was behaviour attempted to be changed to create a new Soviet man?

There were campaigns to improve men's behaviour towards women and to discourage alcohol - very limited in success

Why could workers continue to behave poorly at work, limiting the idea of new soviet man being created?

There were such severe labour shortages so managers could not fire them as they would not meet their targets.

How were authors encouraged to write about Soviet life?

They were sent out in brigades to collective farms, factories and construction sites so they would have something to write about.

What public holidays were there in the new Soviet society?

Took place on the anniversary of the revolution and 1st May, with processions and portraits of the leaders.

How was a new Soviet man to be created?

Trofim Lysenko was a scientist who thought humans could be programmed to have certain characteristics and pass them onto their children.

What were the two famous books written first hand about the Revolution, and what were the problems with them?

Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution (obviously not popular in the 1930s) John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World (1919). Lenin liked it as it showed the proletarian pushing for revolution, not the party. Stalin was less keen on it, as he was not mentioned, so no Russian editions were published from 1930-1956

Give an example of a famous sculpture produced in the style of socialist realism

Vera Mukhina's 'Industrial Workers and Collective Farm Girl.'

What types of things did art produced under socialist realism show?

tractors, combine harvesters, tables of food. However, there were vey tight controls over the content of paintings