Ideological repression in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
targeted various
worldview
A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and Perspective (cognitive), point of view. However, whe ...
s and the corresponding categories of people.
Ideological repression in arts
Until the late 1920s, various forms of artistic expression were tolerated. However, an increase in the scope of
Soviet political repression, marked by the first
show trial
A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...
, the
Shakhty Trial, brought into the focus of
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
the question whether "
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
", including workers of culture and arts, can be loyal and trustworthy. As an early step was an instruction to the
Russian Association of Proletarian Writers
The Russian Association of Proletarian Writers, also known under its transliterated abbreviation RAPP () was an official creative union in the Soviet Union established in January 1925. and both pro and anti-Bolshevik writers were targeted, notab ...
"to scourge and chastise
iterature in the name of the Party", i.e., effectively encouraging
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
of
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
on ideological grounds. Among the first targets were
Yevgeny Zamiatin and
Boris Pilnyak.
Soon the concept of
socialist realism was established, as the officially approved form of art, an instrument of
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
, and the main
touchstone of ideological
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
.
Repression of religion
Ideological repression in science
Certain scientific fields in the Soviet Union were suppressed after being labeled as ideologically suspect.
[Loren R. Graham (2004) Science in Russia and the Soviet Union. A Short History. Series: Cambridge Studies in the History of Science. Cambridge University Press. ][Mark Walker (2002) Science and Ideology. A Comparative History. Series: Routledge Studies in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Routledge. ] In some cases the consequences of ideological influences were dramatic. The suppression of research began during the
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
era and continued, in softened forms, after his regime.
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
had defended
Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
’s
theory of relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical ph ...
in Soviet intellectual circles but this became an anathema during the Stalin era and was only rehabilitated following the latter’s death.
See also
*
Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War
*
Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union
*
Bibliography of the post-Stalinist Soviet Union
References
{{Soviet Union topics
Politics of the Soviet Union