Media & the Cult of Stalin
History: Edexcel IGCSE USSR, 1924-1953, topic 3.2.2
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.
Test yourself on Media & the Cult of Stalin
Who was a key figure that was removed from Soviet photographs?
When was the new constitution enacted?