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Modern History

Home > Modern History > National Studies > G Russia and the Soviet Union 1917-1941 > Changes in society

Outcomes

• Analyses and evaluates the role of key features, issues, individuals, groups and events of selected twentieth-century studies (H1.2)

From this tutorial you will learn how Stalin and the Communist Party used various artists in Russian and Soviet societies as agents of social, cultural and economic change and how life for those involved in The Arts changed under totalitarian regime.

Contents

• Introduction
• The Civil War and Bolshevik consolidation of power
• The Civil War and aims, nature and impact of War Communism AND the New Economic Policy (NEP)
• The nature and impact of Stalinism on society and culture

Introduction

Stalin and the Communist Party came to attach great importance to formal culture as a way of 'engineering men's souls', that is to make people think and feel in ways that suited Russian politics of the time. Where possible, Stalin used 'cultural workers' - including writers, poets, painters, sculptors, architects, actors, directors, composers and musicians as agents of social and cultural change.

The Civil War and Bolshevik consolidation of power

The Civil War from 1918 - 21 was a time of great upheaval and uncertainty. The demands and shortages of the revolution and civil war curtailed cultural activities. Writers and poets spoke of the need to preserve Russia's cultural heritage and artists launched grand projects, but little of substance was achieved in the hectic early days.

Poetry was most prominent during this time as it suited turbulent times and required little paper. Alexander Blok and Vladimir Mayakovsky were the most celebrated poets of the period. Blok wrote history and Mayakovsky extolled and promoted the virtues of the revolution in verse.

Maxim Gorky, the most radical of Russian writers, feared that the revolution would not last, but he did start a newspaper to which he invited literary contributions.

The Civil War and aims, nature and impact of War Communism AND the New Economic Policy (NEP)

The Civil War was a time of fear and destruction. The paranoia of War and Communism affected the cultural workers as it did every other sector of the society. The poet, Gumilev, was shot for being a romantic monarchist. Another poet, Lev Chorny, was shot for being an anarchist. Alexander Blok died in 1921, a sad and disillusioned man. The Free Philosophical Society was dissolved by the police. Many cultural workers fled into exile, including Maxim Gorky and artists Chagall, Kandinsky and Lissitsky.

The introduction of the NEP heralded a time of hope and optimism. The government wanted to sweep away the old and promote the new. The revolutionary spirit of freedom encouraged writers, painters and sculptors to experiment, as long as they were not blatantly anti-revolution. The spread of education meant the people were increasingly literate and the government encouraged literature. Some émigré writers reconciled themselves with the new regime and returned, including Aleksei Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky. The experimental artist, Kandinsky, was appointed director of the new Department of Fine Arts.

Lenin thought the cinema was the most important of the arts, but by the end of the civil war most of the early directors and actors had disappeared. The cinema industry was reborn under the Commissariat of Education. Pudovkin (Mother), Dovzhenko (Earth) and Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin) were among the leading innovators.

In a concrete rejection of the past, architects were also encouraged to innovate, with Moscow becoming a centre of the world's most progressive designs.

The nature and impact of Stalinism on society and culture

Stalin reintroduced authoritarianism to Russian life. In the late 1920s for example, Russian cultural workers were brought under authoritarian control. Proletarian writers dictated policy to authors through their Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP). The poet and playwright Mayakovsky found this control of his art 'intolerable' and this was a major factor in his suicide in April 1930.

Conditions were further tightened in 1932 when the RAPP was replaced by the Writers' Union, which ensured writers conformed to the wishes of the Party. The aim was for the writers to promote correct behaviour through their fictional portrayals of the New Soviet Man.

The film industry was brought under the control of the Council of People's Commissars in 1929. A number of experimental producers and directors were removed, although their influence continued under their disciples.

Soviet composers also had to conform. Shostakovitch was condemned in 1936 and the composer remained in disgrace until the Second World War.

Stalin wanted to promote a great and grand image for himself and his country. Socialist Realism became the policy. Its goal was realistic portrayal of revolutionary life in such a way as to promote socialism. Stalin used writers and other artists as agents of change. The new heroes of fiction were now peasants and workers who overcame obstacles to achieve socialist goals. Abstract painting was rejected and heroic portraits or detailed depictions of economic events were encouraged. Similarly, sculptors produced busts of Soviet heroes. In architecture grandiose neoclassical forms were revived. Soviet music had to be stirring and inspirational.