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Chapter 14 Spiritual Life by Richard Pipes

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Chapter 14 Spiritual Life by Richard Pipes Topic 3: The Rise and Rule of Single-Party States (USSR and Lenin/Stalin) Chapter 14 Spiritual Life by Richard Pipes From A Concise History of the Russian Revolution Major Theme: Origins and Nature of Authoritarian and Single-Party States Conditions That Produced Single-Party States Emergence of Leaders: Aims, Ideology, Support • Lenin, one of the early leaders of the Communist party in Russia, believed in religious persecution to eliminate it's presence from the Russian state. At the same time, he had a rather low opinion of proletariat culture, undoing early attempts to create a communal culture • Lunacharskii, te Commissar of Enlightenment supported the Proletkult, the organization developed to further the development of the culture of the Proletariat. Totalitarianism: the Aim and the Extent to Which it was Achieved • The communist state under Lenin not only established a high degree of political control, it also exacter high degrees of social and cultural control Historiography • Richard Pipes – the strong control over the sterile cultural landscape ultimately led to a successful totalitarian state in the short run, which ultimately destroyed itself through it's overly strict policies. Which failed to “gel” with the masses Major Theme: Establishment of Authoritarian and Single-Party States Methods: Force • The very first decree of the Bolsheviks was to call for the suppression of all newspapers that did not recognize them as legitimate. An act which went against the former decrees outlawing censorship from 1906. - A decree that was suspended due to it's unpopularity. Methods: Legal • Use of a culture of propaganda to promote the socialist culture – forming a “”cultural” bureaucracy for whom culture was only a form of propaganda , and propaganda the highest form of culture..” • Form of Government, (Left & Right Wing) Ideology Nature, Extent and Treatment of Opposition • As in the time of Peter the great, the opposition was deprived a voice via government monopoly over the news outlet, and suppression of other outlets such as books and the performing arts. Historiography Major Theme: Domestic Policies and Impact Structure and Organization of Government and Administration • The Proletkult was established to celibrate the culture of the proletariat. It was eventually subjordinated and was placed under the power of the Commissar of Enlightenment, and due to political unpopularity, especially with Lenin, fell out of significance • The Glavlit was a central censorship center for the Communist party, censoring everything that wasn't from the Academy of the Sciences or the communist party. Est. June 1922 Political Policies Economic Policies Social Policies • There were a multitude of social policies under the Communists. To abolish and uproot religion. To nationalize and propagandize the centers for education. And to create a culture of communist thought and fervor. Religious Policies • Like all socialists, the Bolsheviks viewed religion as a primitive distraction from modernization. They eventually decided on a “battle” against the Orthodox Churchby despoiling the clergy, befouling the houses of worship, outlawing religious instruction, and replacing religious holidays with communist festivals. Role of Education • The communist system took advantage of “vospitanie” or shaping of the Russian character as a means of education to shape the masses to approve of the new regime. Through the Red guard trade unions etc.- This instilled Communism into “education in the broad sense of the word. • The communists also sought to control classroom education- The 1919 Party Program described school as “an instrument for the Communist transformation society” according to Lenin's desire to avoid neutral education. • Schools became mandatory – both sexes were taught together. The school were all nationalized under the system of Consolidated Labor School • The funding for education was much decreased from before the war – by 1925-26, the funds allocated for education were 1/3 lower than in 1913. • The Academy of Sciences was spared from the judgment of the Communist system, as Lenin decided that the utilization of science was important to promoting communism. • Universities did not receive the same kindness however, many tenured professors were dethroned – the universities replaced with politically promising students and professors with good reputations. They became open admission, although the unprepared students soon quit, leaving the universities to the intelligentsia and the middle class once again. Role of the Arts • The arts were transformed from their role per-revolution. Gone were the issues of individual enlightenment (a “bourgeois” concept). Instead there was an effort to create communal art (like newspapers) • The Communists attempted to “court” the writers, but were not successful. Only one group, the futurists, ever agreed with the Communists on a ideological level. Writers who would not subject themselves for this suffered greatly. • Revolutionary drama and cinema were more popular forms of cultural propaganda, and they were more accessible to the largely illiterate masses. Street theater was especially popular. • Agit-Prop (Agitational Propaganda) used characterized cardboard puppets to execute it's plot lines. • Reenactment of Communist positive historical scenes were also very popular including the largely fictitious – Storming of the Winter Place (Red Guards overthrew the Winter Palace). • Due to the expense of some venues, cinema (especially that which used montages) became popular among the Soviets. • High art was declared dead – instead instead Constructivism was triumphed. • Architecture denounced the use of wood and stone and other bourgeois materials. Instead they utilized Iron Concrete and glass the pinacle of this style being the monument to the Third International by Vladimir Tatlin. - Although it was never built • Music declined as many composers emigrated. Their music was replaced with the “noisemasters” and a strange genre of music composed of industrial sounds such as factory whistles etc. Role of Media, Propaganda • In July 1918 Lenin closed all non-Bolshevik newspapers in one fell swoop. Placing all news under the monopoly of the state. He also nationalized the book industry, forcing all books to receive approval from the State Publishing House. (although the measures taken against books were less severe because it had a smaller readership) Status of Women • Women were important to the family – Initially the communists desired to remove children from parental care and turn them over to the state. The role of women as caregivers discouraged this (it was too expensive otherwise). • Th revolution intended to revolutionize the status of women – who in their eyes struggled under domestic slavery. • In 1920, the Communists legalized abortion, which was widely practiced and dangerous. It was the first of it's kind. • Alexandra KollontI was a crusaer for free love, a concept popular during and after World War One and the only woman ever to reach the high council. Treatment of Religious Groups and Minorities • Religion was viewed to be a way of suppressing the proletariat and was frowned upon by Lenin and the other Bolsheviks. In return to this they prosecuted and attacked many religious establishments. They dissolved the Orthodox Church through the seizure of holy trinkets and prosecution of the clergy. The Catholics and the Jews received similarly harsh treatment, though not Islam which they spared due to it's connections with the Middle East. • The Jews were persecuted by the Bund – which desired persecution of the Zionists and destruction of Hebrew as a “bourgeois language” • The Communists destroyed the Living Church in the Kremlin – ultimately arresting and prosecuting many of it's religious leaders, and severing all ties for support. Historiography • Aleksei Gastev postulated that the Russian society would become a “society of automatons who could be identified by ciphers”. No longer would people be capable of individual thought, instead they would all espouse beliefs of the collective hive mind that connects all societies and workers . - He was a metalworker who became a poet and theorist for the Proletkult movement. • Richard Pipes – Street Theater and Constuctivist were popular because it eliminated the barrier between the actors and the audience, enabling the Soviets to eliminate the barrier between reality and propaganda. “agit prop” plays often used their archetypal characters to fan the flames of xenophobia and envy into expressions and support for the “class consciousness” • Richard Pipes - Many of the artistic revolutions were at odds with what the masses desired. Their interests were in religious texts, in the secular world – escapist novels, The experimentation of the early Communists appealed more to the elite, a fact that Stalin remedied when he came to power. • Richard Pipes- The early action that seemed to favor the development of women – through the creation of easy divorce and abortion laws, and the short-term support for free sexual license and true love was revoked in 1936 due to the New Family Code. Such ideas did not create a stable state, and it was better to breed sturdy army lads than dissatisfied socialists, many of the young people also did not support these ideas.. • Richard Pipes – Lenin oddly supported the culture of Russia, by dismissing the Proletkult. His assurrity that propaganda was a true form of culture, created a highly sterile environment, which in light of the spiritual vacuum, began to eat away at the masses, producing a sort of self-cannibalization of communism. • Richard Pipes – The communists were successful in dissolving the Orthodox Church, but not in dispelling religious fervor. .
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