Propaganda Takes Control
As the teenage boy walked down the streets of Russia, he remembered the magnificent building which once stood where what now looked like a pile of rummage lay. The boy stopped and began smelling the smoke and feeling the cold snow slowly fall down from the sky onto his dirty face. As he closed his eyes, he remembered his father used to work in a factory about a block away from where he now stood. His father never made very much money working in the factories, but it was enough to get by. The boy opened his eyes and saw a small building just a few feet away from him. He began to run towards the building as if it was his last hope to survive from the cold. Suddenly he abruptly stopped and saw what was on the building, it was a wall filled with an immensely large amount of posters hung up promoting the war in Russia. Before his father went off to war, he was teaching him to read. He would ask him to read the propaganda signs promoting the war. The only words he knew how to read were war, fight, hate, blood and freedom. The war was said to be over now and the new leader, Lenin, was in charge; but the boy always wondered, “If the war is over, where is the freedom?” In the book Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, propaganda played a large role in convincing the people of Russia to over throw the king, also known as the Tsar, and have Russia’s government go from an Autocracy to a Communist State ran by a man name Lenin.
The character, Dr. Zhivago as a wealthy man living in Russia in 1905, when the Tsar was in power. The other main character, Lara, lived as a poor girl who was in dire need of love and tried to get it through a wealthy man named Victor Komarovsky. As the two characters develop in the story, they find that the government is the cause of their struggles in society. The government’s Autocracy with the Tsar in power was very controlling to the people and tried to make the people happy, but only made them more furious at the Tsar and the government. Once the Tsar had pushed his people to the limit doing hard labor for almost no money, “communist leader Vladimir Lenin urges action as the Russian Revolution gets under way in 1917”. (Whiting 1) Once the Tsar was dead, propaganda was maintained in the new system and the people were beginning to scramble for power.
The upper class never knew what life was like for those in poverty, and when World War I was going on, the government felt it was best to keep cutting the lower class wages and leave the upper class wages the way they were; but it 1917, life changed for the wealthy. In the story, Doctor Zhivago goes off to war with the Red Army against the Tsar and he is forced to use his skills as a doctor on the front line. When he gets back home to his wife and child, his home was turned into a shelter and he finds himself with no money and poor like everyone else. “Poverty and oppression was growing in Russia”. (Matthews 13) It was not only Doctor Zhivago’s family in this dire situation; all of upper class was brought down to the lower class level and they stayed there.
The Shock
The first shocks of the Revolution of 1917 were felt in Petrograd around February. By this time, World War I had really shortened the food supply and people began to riot in the streets. These bread riots inspired other protests, including major strikes by factory workers and ex-soldiers that were physically and emotionally scarred. “March 1917, demonstrations in St. Petersburg reached its highest points in the neglected duties of Tsar, Nicholas II and the appointment of a weak Provisional Government, which shared power with the Petrograd Soviet socialists.” (Edward 12) This arrangement led to confusion and chaos both at the front and at home. The government’s Autocracy with the Tsar in power was controlling to the people and made most of the people be lower class even though they were working the hardest and the upper class consumed of the government, popes, or doctors.
Autocracy is government in which one person has unlimited authority over others. For Russia, the ruler was Nicholas II and he was ignoring the riots in the streets and was focusing on the troops on the front in World War I. They ignored the riots because in the past similar riots took place during wars and they were set aside when the war was over. But this time was different. “The Tsar made reforms but the people didn’t want reforms, they wanted the Tsar out of power.” (Matthews 13) The saying “Down with the Monarchy” (20) appeared on signs around Russia. A group of people against the government came together and called themselves the Bolsheviks. A man name Lenin came to Russia and he made a speech to a group of Bolshevik leaders telling them of his plan for winning the revolution. The Bolshevik leaders liked his plan to win the war and in February the Revolution began.
The people didn’t like the Tsar and propaganda played a large role in telling the people the “Tsar was wrong for Russia” (Clemots 267), which led to the overthrow of the king. Propaganda is a way to convince people to believe in what they believe in whether it is true or not. Most propaganda promotions were either posters or speeches. Many times during the Russian revolution propaganda was used to make people be on their side. However there were so many posters that some people might not understand or some that people do not believe in. Many lower class families never had an education and they could not read, so the posters had pictures and word. Some propaganda posters had pictures of a Russian working man holding the flag behind the city. The flag was red and represents the revolution and in almost every poster shown, there was Hammer and Sickle symbol which represents the man and all workers. These posters showed that the Russian people were willing to join the revolution and will do everything for the revolution.
The Tsar is Dead and There’s More to Come
The Tsar was dead, the stages of communism begins. The first stage Lenin attempted to take power in Petrograd by means of street demonstrations backed by arm forces. The Bolshevik’s then have a discussion to take over the government. In order to do that, they would need to hit the center of the government. “On October 24th, the command to overthrow the Provisional government was given.” (Matthews 25) The Bolshevik’s took control of bridges, railways, and the telephone exchange. The government was failing and preparations were made to flee, not only the place, but the country. Those who did not flee were arrested and the Bolshevik’s were in charge.
Propaganda was maintained in the new system to keep the people motivated in having a communist state. Propaganda posters of Lenin were throughout Russia. In the posters, Lenin still looked strong and standing up as a powerful man. In his left hand there was almost always a “red rose which represented the revolution, blood and an apology from him.” (Edward 6) Behind Lenin, there was most of the time, a red flag and on it was a Sickle and hammer sign representing the workers who supported Lenin and his government. Lenin was the hope of all Russian’s that were suffering in poverty. “Although victory had not brought the relief and freedom that were expected at the end of the war, nevertheless the portents of freedom filled the air throughout the postwar period, and they alone defined its historical significance.” (Pasternak 519) When the war was over, everyone was in a depression and in the new government system everyone was poor, but they did know that they were free from their old government and the Tsar.
Lenin convinced the people that they are all equal and he brainwashed the people through the media. His successful tactics included making false promises and simply outlasting his opponents. “He promised democracy and delivered totalitarianism and representation.” (Matthews 26) He also promised land redistribution for peasants and delivered state-run collective farms. He promised independence for non-Russian regions conquered by the Russian empire and delivered so-called Soviet republics. When time came for Lenin to put his words into actions, he never did what he said he would do for Russia. He acted just like the Tsar and he would get most of the money wail the people were suffering in poverty and struggling to survive. He set the tone for all future Communist rule. “Russia was in shambles” (Matthews 27).
In conclusion, propaganda played a large role in convincing the people of Russia to over throw the king and have Russia’s government go from an Autocracy to a Communist State. Life dramatically changed for the wealthy class and made them the same as the poor, but when people live in a communist state, everyone is equal. The lower class over ruled the upper class and they were convinced through propaganda. There were many forms of propaganda used to convince the people of Russia that the Tsar was wrong for them, but if the war didn’t happen, would Russia still have the same problems they had then, but in today’s time? As the teenage boy looks at this building, he knows that because of this war his family died and he was poor, but he is now free from the Tsar and the people now have equality.
Work Cited
Clemots, Joe. “Communism in Russia.” Encyclopedia of Russia History, 2nd ed. Vol 1. 2004.
Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. New York: John Bayley, 1958.
“The 1905 Russian Revolution.” Ask.com. 17 February 2009
