What role did propaganda play in Bolshevik success?

Answer 1

As a young man, Joseph Stalin had been a student at an Orthodox Seminary. Although he quickly disavowed Orthodox teaching as well as any form of religion in favor of Atheism, he skillfully relied on the religious nature of the Russian (and other Soviet) people to create an image of himself closely akin to an Orthodox Saint. He did this by having images of himself displayed in many public places, often as statues. He created a false image of his childhood to make himself appear as a Christlike figure, born to lead his people. Operas and movies were made to show him in a heroic atmosphere. (One such creation, Ivan the Terrible by Sergei Eisenstein created a problem as the image was a little to close to Ivan's barbarity for Stalin's comfort.) Additionally, his name was kept constantly in the presence of the Soviet people.

Answer 2

Communist propaganda in the Soviet Union was extensively based on the Marxism-Leninismideology to promote the Communist Party line. In societies with pervasive censorship, the Propaganda was omnipresent and very efficient. It penetrated even social and natural sciences giving rise to various pseudo-scientific theories like Lysenkoism, whereas fields of real knowledge, as genetics, cybernetics, and comparative linguisticswere condemned and forbidden as "bourgeois pseudoscience". With "truths repressed, falsehoods in every field were incessantly rubbed in print, at endless meetings, in school, in mass demonstrations, on the radio". The main Soviet censorship body, Glavlit, was employed not only to eliminate any undesirable printed materials, but also "to ensure that the correct ideological spin was put on every published item". Telling anything against the "Party line" was punished by imprisonment or throughpunitive psychiatry. "Today a man only talks freely to his wife - at night, with the blankets pulled over his head", said writer Isaac Babel privately to a trusted friend.

Answer 3

Propaganda played a crucial role in the Bolshevik success by helping to shape public opinion, mobilize support for the party, and demonize their political opponents. Through newspapers, posters, rallies, and speeches, the Bolsheviks were able to spread their message effectively and frame themselves as the party that could bring about change and address the grievances of the working class. This contributed to their rise to power during the October Revolution in 1917.