3.2.2
Media & the Cult of Stalin
Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
The Media and the New Constitution
The media - newspapers, novels, poetry, plays - was heavily censored. In 1936, the new constitution was enacted.
Censorship
- The media needed to be supportive of Stalin and the Party.
- Works written by those who had been purged were banned, including those of Trotsky. Trotsky was even removed from photographs.
- ‘Glavlit’ (Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Affairs) controlled publication of statistics.
- This included economic data, which meant that no one could check the claims of the government about the economy.
The 'official truth'
- Given government control of information, people did not know what to believe.
- Most people tended to believe the government’s message because there was no alternative.
- Many had only a limited education, and were not confident in questioning the ‘official truth’.
The new constitution of 1936
- After waves of mass arrests, this constitution had very little value. People's rights were theoretically enshrined, but Stalin had no intention of honouring them in practice.
- The new constitution seems to have been introduced as a way to show that the Soviet Union had changed since the 1924 constitution.
- A secret ballot for party elections made the country ‘seem’ democratic, especially to those living in dictatorships abroad.
1The Leadership Struggle, 1924-1929
1.1Struggle for Power 1924-28
2Five Year Plans & Collectivisation
2.1Changes in Industry
2.2Agriculture & Collectivisation
3Purges, Show Trials & The Cult of Stalin
3.1The Use of Terror in the 1930s
3.2Propaganda & Censorship
4Life in the Soviet Union, 1924-1941
4.1Life in the Soviet Union
5The Second World War, 1941-1953
5.1USSR in the War
5.2Stalin & WW2
5.3Post-War Recovery
Jump to other topics
1The Leadership Struggle, 1924-1929
1.1Struggle for Power 1924-28
2Five Year Plans & Collectivisation
2.1Changes in Industry
2.2Agriculture & Collectivisation
3Purges, Show Trials & The Cult of Stalin
3.1The Use of Terror in the 1930s
3.2Propaganda & Censorship
4Life in the Soviet Union, 1924-1941
4.1Life in the Soviet Union
5The Second World War, 1941-1953
5.1USSR in the War
5.2Stalin & WW2
5.3Post-War Recovery
Practice questions on Media & the Cult of Stalin
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1List some art forms that were heavily censored under Stalin:Fill in the list
- 2
- 3When was the new constitution enacted?Multiple choice
- 4The Russian constitution under Stalin:Fill in the list
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