State Control of Mass Media and Propaganda (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes

State Control of Mass Media and Propaganda

Introduction: Lenin's vision for media control

Lenin recognised that controlling the press and media was absolutely essential for advancing the Bolshevik revolution and maintaining Communist power. Even before seizing power in 1917, he had made clear his intention to shut down what he called 'bourgeois newspapers'. However, his ambitions went far beyond this. Lenin believed that complete control of all communications across Russia was necessary for revolutionary success.

This approach marked a significant departure from traditional liberal freedoms. Lenin had little interest in what he dismissed as 'bourgeois freedoms' such as freedom of the press or freedom of religion. During the extraordinary circumstances of the revolution and subsequent Civil War, he introduced press censorship as what appeared to be a temporary emergency measure. However, these supposedly temporary controls became permanent features of Soviet rule, lasting until at least Stalin's death in 1953.

Lenin's establishment of comprehensive media control (1917-1918)

Lenin moved swiftly to establish complete state control over all forms of communication in Russia. Between November 1917 and January 1918, the new Bolshevik government implemented a series of measures that gave them total dominance over the media landscape.

The Decree on the Press (November 1917)

This decree provided the government with emergency powers to close down any newspaper that supported counter-revolutionary activities. Initially, this was used to shut down publications backing the Tsar or the Provisional Government. By mid-1918, the scope expanded dramatically to include opposition socialist papers as well. The results were stark: by 1921, the Communists had forcibly closed 2,000 newspapers and 575 printing presses across the country.

State monopoly of advertising (November 1917)

The government created a complete monopoly over all advertising, which meant that only state-approved publications could carry advertisements. This financial stranglehold made it nearly impossible for independent newspapers to survive economically, as they lost their main source of revenue.

Nationalisation of communications infrastructure

In November 1917, the Bolsheviks nationalised the Petrograd Telegraph Agency, giving them control over electronic means of communication. This was crucial for managing how information spread across the vast Russian territory. Shortly afterwards, they established the All-Russia Telegraph Agency (ROSTA), which became solely responsible for distributing all news throughout the country.

Revolutionary Tribunal of the Press (January 1918)

This tribunal was given sweeping powers to censor the press and punish those who stepped out of line. Journalists and editors who committed what the government termed 'crimes against the people' faced severe consequences. The Cheka (secret police) was empowered to impose fines, prison sentences, confiscate property, or exile writers who published unapproved material.

Economic controls under War Communism

The economic policies of War Communism further strengthened media control. The government took control of all printing presses and paper stocks, making it physically impossible for unauthorised publications to be produced.

Rise of Communist newspapers

As opposition newspapers were shut down, Communist publications flourished. Pravda (the official newspaper of the Communist Party) saw its circulation increase dramatically, becoming one of the best-selling publications in the Soviet Union by the early 1920s. The Communists also controlled Izvestia, the official newspaper of the Soviets, through their domination of Sovnarkum.

Early propaganda under Lenin

Propaganda was just as important to Lenin as censorship. The Bolsheviks recognised that controlling what people read was only half the battle—they also needed to actively promote positive messages about the revolution and the new regime.

The initial cult of Lenin

Perhaps surprisingly, a personality cult around Lenin emerged very early, even though Lenin himself disapproved of it. This cult began in January 1918 with the publication of the first photograph of Lenin. The focus on Lenin as an individual leader intensified dramatically in August 1918, following an assassination attempt on his life.

Religious imagery and language dominated early propaganda about Lenin. His survival from the assassination attempt was described as 'miraculous', and propagandists emphasised his willingness to suffer and sacrifice his life for the people—drawing explicit parallels with Christ. This deeply religious framing was intentional, despite the Communists' official rejection of religion.

From 1919 onwards, even during the resource-scarce Civil War period, the government produced busts and statues of Lenin. His photographs appeared everywhere with titles such as 'Leader of the Revolutionary Proletariat'. Between 1919 and 1920, a new style of writing about Lenin emerged. He was increasingly depicted as humane, a man of the people, someone who refused luxury, a visionary, and a person of great power.

Visual propaganda reinforced this message. From 1919, Lenin was often photographed wearing a simple cap, which implied he was approachable and down-to-earth rather than distant and elite. This carefully constructed image gave the revolution and the Communist Party a human face—someone ordinary Russian people could identify with and rally behind.

Karl Marx in Communist propaganda

Communist propagandists made extensive use of Marx and his writings. They extracted memorable phrases from Marx's works and incorporated them into posters and other visual materials. For example, the phrase 'A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of Communism' came directly from the Communist Manifesto.

Marx's face also appeared frequently in propaganda posters, often shown in a line alongside the faces of Lenin and Stalin. This visual arrangement implied that Lenin and Stalin were Marx's legitimate revolutionary heirs, continuing his work and fulfilling his vision.

Cartoons and photomontage

The government collaborated with avant-garde artists to produce innovative propaganda posters promoting the revolution. Many of these featured Lenin prominently. One notable early poster, 'A Spectre is Haunting Europe—the Spectre of Communism', showed a grim and determined Lenin standing before a red banner, pointing towards the west.

Artists like Gustav Klutsis pioneered the use of photomontage (combining multiple photographs) to create striking propaganda images. Klutsis produced posters advertising Lenin's electrification plan, which was unveiled on Lenin's fiftieth birthday. These modern artistic techniques made propaganda more visually appealing and memorable.

Media and the NEP period: the introduction of Glavlit

Lenin's press censorship regime, established during the revolution and Civil War, continued unchanged even after the Communists achieved military victory. In fact, rather than leading to increased press freedom, the end of the Civil War brought even more systematic control.

In 1922, Felix Dzerzhinsky, leader of the Soviet political police, introduced Glavlit—a new organisation that oversaw a much more systematic and professional censorship regime than had existed before.

How Glavlit operated

Glavlit's censorship system worked according to strict principles:

• The GPU (political police) was put in charge of policing every single publication available in the Soviet Union
• New professional censors were employed specifically for this purpose
• All books were systematically investigated for any hint of anti-Communist bias
• The GPU compiled a comprehensive list of banned books

Book purges and 'book Gulags'

The results of Glavlit's work were dramatic. Soviet libraries underwent thorough purges to remove politically dangerous material. To house these banned books, new special holding libraries were established—grimly nicknamed 'book Gulags'. Access to these collections was strictly restricted to senior Party members only. Ordinary Soviet citizens were completely cut off from any literature that might encourage them to question the Communist system.

Stalin's media control: tightening the grip

Under Stalin, censorship became even more severe and all-encompassing. The media transformed into a tool for rewriting history and creating an idealised version of Soviet reality.

Purging opponents from history

In the mid-1930s, during Stalin's Great Terror, the works of Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky and other leading revolutionaries from the 1920s had to be purged from Soviet libraries. These men had fallen from favour and were now considered enemies of the state.

Control of information from 1928

From 1928 onwards, Glavlit controlled access to all economic data. This meant the government could hide economic problems and failures from the public. Additionally, strict restrictions were placed on reporting any kind of 'bad news'.

The Soviet media were forbidden from publishing stories about:

• Natural disasters
• Suicides
• Industrial accidents
• Bad weather

This created a false impression that the Soviet Union was a place where only good things happened. When negative events did occur and had to be reported, they were always attributed to the deliberate sabotage of wreckers and enemies. Meanwhile, Stalin personally received credit for all achievements of the regime.

Propaganda focus: the god-like leader and perfect workers

Propaganda during the Stalin period focused heavily on the leader himself. The cult of Stalin portrayed him as a semi-divine figure whose unique vision and unique wisdom would lead the nation to socialism.

Propaganda also celebrated archetypal Soviet workers. Socialist Realist art and sculpture, such as 'The Worker and the Collective Farm Woman' (1937), depicted Soviet people as muscular, heroic, dedicated and beautiful—the perfect embodiment of the society Stalin claimed to be building. These images bore little resemblance to the reality of life for most Soviet citizens.

Growing media pluralism under Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, the media landscape changed significantly. As part of attempts to create a new consumer society, magazines proliferated, and radios and television sets became increasingly common in Soviet homes.

Consumer magazines and readers' letters

Popular magazines transformed the Soviet media in the 1950s and 1960s. As part of the drive to create a consumer society, magazines were encouraged to publish letters from readers. However, these letters did not contain the praise for socialism that the government expected.

Instead, readers' letters exposed long-term problems with Soviet society:

• Poor quality and scarcity of consumer goods
• Male alcoholism
• Inequalities in housework and childcare
• Domestic violence

Krokodil, a satirical magazine, published cartoons poking fun at men who arrived at Communist parades drunk, late, or not at all. This allowed some criticism whilst keeping it within acceptable ideological boundaries.

Soviet cinema and television under Khrushchev

Soviet cinema changed under Khrushchev as part of a broader cultural 'thaw' or liberalisation. Many films still focused on traditional themes such as Soviet victory in the Second World War or the Communist victory in the Civil War. However, there was a crucial shift in focus.

Rather than emphasising Stalin's contribution, films like The Forty-First (1956), The Cranes are Flying (1957) and Ballad of a Soldier (1959) focused on the role played by ordinary people. This represented a significant democratisation of Soviet propaganda.

Television took off in Khrushchev's final years (1960-1964). It proved broadly successful in supporting the regime:

Celebrating the space race: In 1961, millions of viewers watched a five-hour programme celebrating Yuri Gagarin's historic space flight. Similar shows in 1963 focused on Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. Television coverage emphasised her ordinariness—she was born on a collective farm and worked in a textile factory.

News programming: In 1961, Soviet television broadcast the nation's first television news show, Estafeta Novosteo (News and Mail). The programme contained regular features about model workers on farms and in factories, supporting Khrushchev's drive to increase labour productivity.

Film and television under Brezhnev

Film and television culture changed further under Brezhnev. Whilst there were still traditional elements like films celebrating Soviet victory in the Second World War, more films dealt with working people and their daily lives. Significantly, Soviet film-makers focused on fashionable citizens living in luxurious apartments. Rather than promoting socialist values, these films actually stoked public desire for consumer goods and Western fashion.

Brezhnev's loss of control

Brezhnev attempted to use television to his advantage, with mixed results. The government successfully kept tight control of footage from the war in Afghanistan, hiding the truth about the scale and horrors of the conflict from the Soviet people. Soviet officials ensured that Brezhnev's speeches were transmitted in full and that he featured prominently in domestic media coverage.

However, by the late 1970s, this tactic backfired spectacularly. Television cameras showed viewers a man who was clearly physically and mentally declining. Brezhnev struggled to make speeches, became confused mid-sentence, and had difficulty walking. Television coverage continued until the last week of his life—his final television appearance showed him struggling to walk up the steps of the Lenin Mausoleum. Whilst voice-overs praised Brezhnev, viewers could see his frailty for themselves, undermining his authority and the regime's credibility.

Under Brezhnev, Soviet leaders also lost control of the print media. The KGB continued to police political publications, particularly the work of dissidents. However, Western magazines became increasingly available in Soviet cities as part of the second economy (black market). These tended to be consumer magazines such as Vogue.

Whilst not overtly political, these magazines undermined faith in the Soviet system by showing the quality of Western consumer goods and the luxury of Western lifestyles. The gap between what Soviet propaganda promised and what Western magazines revealed became impossible to ignore.

Exam focus: understanding change and continuity

When answering exam questions about media control, consider both continuity and change:

Continuity (what stayed the same):

• State censorship remained throughout 1917-85
• The government always controlled major newspapers and news agencies
• Propaganda always aimed to support the regime
• Critical voices were always suppressed

Change (what evolved over time):

• Methods became more sophisticated (from simple decrees to Glavlit)
• Focus shifted from Lenin to Stalin to ordinary people
• Consumer magazines and television created new challenges
• By Brezhnev's era, the government was losing control

Key turning points:

• 1922: Introduction of Glavlit (systematic censorship)
• 1928: Stalin's control of economic data
• 1950s-60s: Consumer magazines and television
• Late 1970s: Western magazines and Brezhnev's visible decline

Remember!