Libmonster ID: KG-1318
Author(s) of the publication: B. P. UTKIN

The victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War was the greatest event of the modern era. The defeat of Nazi Germany meant not just a military defeat of the Nazis. The greatness of our Victory lies in the fact that it convincingly demonstrated the invincible strength of the socialist social and state system.

Our socialist ideology was a powerful spiritual weapon during the war years. "The victory in the Great Patriotic War," says the CPSU Central Committee resolution on the 40th anniversary of the Victory, "confirmed the powerful vitality of the Marxist-Leninist ideology." 1 This determines the great importance of the experience of the ideological work of the CPSU during the Great Patriotic War, the need for its in-depth research, drawing lessons and conclusions from it.

Soviet social scientists have done a great deal of research on the rich experience of the party's ideological activities at the front and in the rear during the war. These issues are covered in chapters of multi-volume generalizing works 2 , in special monographs 3, as well as in articles in scientific journals. Special attention is paid to the party's activities in the ideological education of Soviet people, army and navy soldiers during the Great Patriotic War, the analysis of the main directions of ideological work, its content, forms and methods in the fifth volume of the multi-volume History of the CPSU and the fundamental multi-volume work on the history of the Second World War. In nine of the twelve volumes, questions of the CPSU's struggle on the ideological front are divided into special chapters and paragraphs.

An important place in the study of this topic is occupied by collective works devoted to party and political work in the Soviet Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War4 . A distinctive feature of these works is the display of party-political, ideological, and social values.-

1 Pravda, 17. VI. 1984.

2 History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945. Vol. 1-6. Moscow 1960-1965; History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Vol. 5, book 1. Moscow 1970; History of the Second World War 1939-1945. Vol. 1-12. Moscow 1973-1982; History of the USSR with Moscow, 1973; Velikaya Pobeda sovetskogo naroda, 1941-1945 (The Great Victory of the Soviet People). Proceedings of the scientific conference dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, 1976; Brief History of the USSR. Ch. 1-2. M. 1983; The Second World War. Brief History, Moscow, 1984; Velikaya Otechestvennaya voina Sovetskogo Soyuza 1941-1945. Brief History, Moscow, 1984.

3 Kondakova N. I. Ideological victory over fascism, 1941-1945, Moscow, 1982; Komkov G. D. Na ideologicheskom fronte Velikoi Otechestvennoi ... Moscow, 1983.

4 Ideological work of the CPSU at the front (1941-1945). Moscow, 1960; Party-political work in the Soviet Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945. Moscow, 1963; Party-political work in the Armed Forces of the USSR. Historical Essay, Moscow, 1974; Party and Army, Moscow, 1980.

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The main objective of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of military work in the Active Army in an indissoluble connection with the combat tasks solved by the troops, and to reveal the specifics and features of this work at various stages of the war. A comprehensive analysis of the role of the military press during the war as one of the means of ideological work is contained in the book by N. P. Popov and N. A. Gorokhov5 . The collective work on the history of political organizations of the Soviet Armed Forces 6 covers the issues of ideological work of political organizations in a combat situation, ways to increase the effectiveness of agitation and propaganda in combat conditions, and reveals the specifics of political education of non-Russian soldiers.

Among the major works on this issue is the collective monograph "Ideological work in the Armed Forces of the USSR: A Historical and Theoretical Essay" (Moscow, 1983). Based on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, decisions of the CPSU, and documentary material, the authors analyze the theory, content, forms, and methods of ideological work in the army and navy at all stages of their development. A special chapter is devoted to ideological work in the Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War. It thoroughly reveals the content, means, forms and methods of ideological work at various stages of the war, shows its impact on the morale of personnel, the solution of combat tasks.

The ideological work of the party at the front and its individual aspects are covered in books and magazine articles devoted to major operations of the Great Patriotic War, 7 as well as in the memoirs of prominent military leaders and political workers .8
Evaluating the research work done by Soviet social scientists in general, we can conclude that the development of problems of ideological work of the party in the Active Army during the Great Patriotic War has noticeably intensified, especially in connection with the preparation for the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory. At the same time, there are still many important aspects of the party's multifaceted ideological activity that need further in-depth research.

The proposed article attempts, first, to analyze the ideological work of the party to mobilize the forces of the Soviet people and its soldiers to defeat the enemy as a system with its inherent laws and principles of functioning in war conditions; secondly, to reveal the content, means and methods of ideological activity of military councils, commanders, political organizations, party organizations,etc. its specifics in different periods of the war.

*

The Great Patriotic War was characterized by a sharp ideological confrontation. If the fascist ideology expressed the interests of the most reactionary, militaristic forces of monopoly capital, then the communist ideology is the ideology of the proletariat, of the revolutionary class itself. In a fierce ideological confrontation-

5 Popov N. P., Gorokhov N. A. Soviet military Press during the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945. Moscow, 1981.

6 Political organizations of the Soviet Armed Forces. Istoriko-teoreticheskiy ocherk [Historical and theoretical essay]. Moscow, 1984.

7 See: Battle of Moscow, Moscow 1966; Battle of Kursk, Moscow 1970; Liberation of Belarus, Moscow 1970; Nepokorenny Leningrad, Moscow 1974; Samsonov A.M. Stalingrad Battle, Moscow 1983; et al.

8 Rokossovsky K. K. Soldatskiy dolg [Soldier's duty], Moscow, 1968; Baghramyan I. Kh. Tak nachalas voina, Moscow, 1971; Vasilevsky A.M. Delo vse zhizni, Moscow, 1973;Moskalenko I. S. Na Yugo-Zapadnogo napravleniya. Book 1-2. Moscow, 1973; Zhukov G. K. Memoirs and reflections. Tt. 1-2. M. 1975; Kraynyukov I. V. Weapons of a special kind. M. 1977; et al.

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in the struggle, the fascist ideology was in service with the forces waging an unjust, aggressive war. Communist ideology called the Soviet people and soldiers to a just, holy Patriotic War, to defend the world's first socialist state, and mobilized them to fight the aggressor. The Great Patriotic War convincingly confirmed the correctness of Lenin's idea that " the conviction of the justice of war, the consciousness of the need to sacrifice one's life for the good of one's brothers raises the spirit of soldiers and forces them to endure unheard-of hardships."9
The Communist Party assumed full responsibility for the fate of socialism and led the heroic struggle of the people against the fascist invasion. This was reflected in all her multifaceted activities.

First, the terrible danger that loomed over the Motherland demanded that the party mobilize all its forces to repel the enemy, and quickly rebuild the entire life of the country in a military way. The program of this work was defined in the directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) of June 29, 1941, the main content of which was set out in a speech by I. V. Stalin on the radio on July 3, 1941. The Party clearly defined the nature and goals of the Great Patriotic War, the tasks of Soviet soldiers, partisans, and home front workers.

Secondly, since the beginning of the war, the party has concentrated its main efforts on military mobilization work. Thanks to the comprehensive assistance of local party organizations, the military leadership managed to form more than 400 new Red Army formations by the end of 1941.

Third, the system of political leadership, State and military administration was rebuilt in accordance with the needs of the war. The concentration of all power in the country in the hands of the State Defense Committee (GKO) made it possible to centrally manage combat operations, solve issues of organizing a strong rear, and preparing reserves for the Active Army.

Fourthly, the Central Committee reorganized the forms and methods of the party's work. The party forces were reallocated to take into account the priority of providing crucial areas at the front and in the rear. About half of the members and candidates for members of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), 270 responsible employees of the Central Committee apparatus, 500 secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics, regional, regional, city and district party committees, and 1,265 employees of the regional and district level who were part of the nomenclature of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) were sent to the Active Army. In total, during the war years, about 14 thousand leading party workers were mobilized into the Armed Forces .10 A large number of Communists were sent to the front as political fighters. Only in the first six months of the war, 60 thousand party members became them. During the same six months, 1.1 million Communists joined the army and Navy organizations from the territorial ones - a third of the party's membership .11
Fifth, the economy was put on a war footing as soon as possible. The evacuation of industrial enterprises to the eastern regions was important in creating a powerful military economy. Thanks to the titanic work of the party and the labor heroism of the people, the reconstruction of the economy in a military way was completed by mid-1942.

One of the decisive areas of the Soviet people's struggle against the Nazi invaders was the ideological front. The history is not

9 Lenin V. I. PSS Vol. 41, p. 121.

10 Party and Army, p. 179.

11 Ibid.

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there is no other example when a war would so closely unite the entire nation to achieve victory over the enemy. The alliance of the working class, the collective-farm peasantry, and the working intelligentsia, moral, political, and ideological unity, the friendship of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., Soviet patriotism, and proletarian internationalism were powerful factors of victory.

The Central Committee of the CPSU(b), carrying out the restructuring of all ideological work, completely subordinated it to a single goal - the defeat of the enemy. With the outbreak of war, the fate of socialism had to be decided on the battlefields. That is why the ideological support of the armed struggle has become of paramount importance. The Party took into account that the war imposed on us by Fascist Germany had a pronounced class character and was an uncompromising duel between two opposing social systems.

In this war, the Nazis sought not only to seize the territory of the Soviet Union, but also to liquidate the socialist system, to destroy all its institutions, and above all the Communist Party, the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. A week before the attack on the USSR, Hitler, speaking to his generals, said:: "The war against Russia is a struggle between two ideologies. Communism is fraught with great danger for the future. In the war with Russia, we are talking about a struggle for annihilation. If we don't look at it this way, even though we will defeat the enemy, in 30 years the communist danger will arise again."12
From the first days of the war, the Communist Party launched a militant, offensive ideological work in the rear and at the front. It was based on Marxism-Leninism, Lenin's doctrine of the defense of the socialist Fatherland. "Whether we want it or not," Lenin noted during the Civil War, " the question is posed in this way: we are at war, and the fate of the revolution will be decided by the outcome of this war. This should be the first and last word of our agitation, of all our political, revolutionary and transformative activities. " 13
Ideological and educational work played a huge role in instilling in the minds of Soviet people, soldiers of the army and navy the need to rebuild in a military way. The Party was strictly guided by Lenin's instruction that in the period of armed defense of the socialist Fatherland, "the first duty is to defend the Socialist Fatherland... propagandists and agitators, and the comrades who are now engaged in peaceful labor in any way, must first of all remember and implement the slogan at every meeting, meeting, and business meeting, in any group of any party institution, or in any Soviet collegium.: "Everything for war" 14 .

The task of ideological work in the initial period of the war was to bring to the consciousness of the soldiers at the front, the Soviet people in the rear, the program developed by the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) to mobilize all the forces of the people to fight the enemy. Ideological work was aimed at realizing the full depth of the danger hanging over the country, at providing comprehensive assistance to the front. The entire arsenal of ideological tools was actively used to explain that the war imposed on us is deciding the question of the life and death of the Soviet state, whether the peoples of the USSR should be free or fall into enslavement.

The task of ideological work was to explain to the people and soldiers the just nature of the Great Patriotic War, the sacred duty of every Soviet person to defend the Motherland, defend the gains of socialism, the need to show courage and heroism at the front, and work selflessly in the rear. Widely promoted-

12 Cit. By: Zhilin P. A. Efforts of the peoples of the USSR to achieve victory in the Second World War. Moscow, 1970, p. 19.

13 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 37, p. 15.

14 Ibid., vol. 41, p. 145.

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The party's appeal to the Soviet people, " Everything for the front! Everything for victory!"

In terms of its content and scope, the ideological work corresponded to the level of those complex tasks that the Soviet state and its Armed Forces were solving. The party had everything it needed for effective ideological work. These are the real achievements of socialism, the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, the information and propaganda apparatus, and qualified cadres of ideological workers. Ideological work was built on a solid foundation of the party's policy, it was inextricably linked with the armed and ideological struggle against fascism.

The system of ideological work is characterized by certain regularities and principles. They were manifested taking into account the new situation that developed in the conditions of war. The principle of partisanship during the war years meant that the ideological work was based on the lofty ideas of defending the socialist Fatherland in the war imposed on us, the appeals of the party that mobilized the Soviet people and their army to defeat the Nazi invaders. In contrast to peacetime, the principle of ideological work, as its connection with life, also manifested itself in a peculiar way: ideological and political education was subordinated to the task of mobilizing people for selfless and decisive actions against the Nazis.

During the war years, the development of Marxist-Leninist theory and its introduction into the consciousness of the masses played an important role in ideological work. The Party gave a scientific definition of the essence of the Patriotic War as a continuation of the policy of the socialist state in new conditions, the policy of defending the gains of October. In the party's theoretical activities, much attention was paid to the scientific analysis of the social nature of fascism, as the most reactionary and aggressive manifestation of imperialism. A deep justification was given for the regularities and inevitability of the victory of the USSR over nazi Germany. Lenin's position on the factors that determine the course and outcome of war, on the dependence of the morale of the people and army on the nature and goals of the war, on the sources of the spiritual forces of the Soviet state and its Armed Forces, and on ways to further strengthen them was further developed.

The party constantly explained that the success of the national struggle against the enemy largely depends on exposing its true intentions in this war. Debunking the theory and practice of fascism and its pronounced anti-communist, chauvinist, and racist orientation was an important part of the party's ideological work. It was necessary to instill in all the peoples of the USSR, in every Soviet person, a feeling of hatred for the fascists, because one cannot defeat the enemy without learning to hate him.

During the war, the leading role of the party in all spheres of society increased. In the spiritual sphere, this was due to the need to strengthen the ideological struggle against fascism. The content, new tasks, directions and forms of ideological activity were summarized and formulated in a number of documents of the Central Committee of the Party adopted during the war.

The entire party was engaged in the political education of the people and the army. Systematic, deep and comprehensive work was carried out by the Central Committee of the CPSU(b). During the war, the Organizing Bureau and the Central Committee Secretariat considered about 90 issues related to ideological and political work among the masses. 15 The measures taken by the Organizing Bureau and the Secretariat have yielded positive results.

The ideological section of work was headed by the candidate for the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) A. S. Shcherbakov. In the organization and about-

15 Istoriya Kommunisticheskoi partii Sovetskogo Soyuza [History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union], vol. 5, book 1, p. 405.

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Prominent party figures M. I. Kalinin, A. A. Zhdanov, A. A. Andreev, old Bolsheviks, propagandists of the Leninist school E. M. Yaroslavsky, V. A. Karpinsky, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, N. A. Semashko, E. D. Stasova and others actively participated in the ideological work. During the first three years of the war, the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee got acquainted with the formulation of ideological work and provided appropriate assistance to 82 krais and oblasts. 16
At the direction of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), inter-republican and inter-regional meetings on agitation and propaganda began to be held in the autumn of 1942. In just one year (March 1943 - March 1944), the Central Committee heard reports from more than 30 secretaries of regional and regional propaganda committees .17 Issues of propaganda work were systematically discussed at bureau meetings, plenums of party committees, and party activists. Great care was taken in selecting and cultivating ideological cadres. During the redistribution of party forces due to the departure of a significant part of them to the front, almost a third of propagandists had less than a year of work experience. Therefore, since 1942, the system of training ideological cadres began to be established: republican and inter-regional two-month courses of propagandists; courses at the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics, regional and regional committees; one-year party schools; HPS courses at the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), etc. Thanks to the efforts of the party committees, by the beginning of 1943 the number of agitators in the Soviet rear had reached almost pre-war levels (on the eve of the war, there were about 90,000 agitators in the whole country) .18
When organizing ideological work, the party turned first of all to Lenin's ideological and theoretical heritage, to his vast experience in leading the defense of the Country of Soviets. In this regard, attention to Lenin's works has increased. In 1943, the fourth edition of Lenin's selected works in two volumes, which included his works from the period of the civil War and the imperialist intervention, was published in 100,000 copies. Thematic collections of Lenin's works "Military Correspondence, 1917-1920" (Moscow, 1943) and "On the Defense of the Socialist Fatherland" (Moscow, 1943) were published.

One of the main directions in all the ideological, ideological and educational work of the party during this period was occupied by the patriotic education of the people. It was actively conducted on the basis of promoting the advantages of the socialist system over the capitalist one, explaining the leading and guiding role of the party in Soviet society, popularizing the achievements of the USSR in building socialism, promoting revolutionary, labor and military traditions, the contribution of the Russian and other peoples of our country to the development of world civilization, and the victories of Soviet troops

The education of love for the Soviet Motherland was inextricably linked with the exposure of the misanthropic nature of the ideology and policy of fascism, its bloody crimes, and the education of burning class hatred for the fascist fiends. In connection with the facts of the atrocities committed by the German - Fascist invaders on Soviet soil, which became known as a result of the liberation of a number of cities and regions by the Soviet troops, agitation became widespread and more specific.

In building up the economic and defense power of the Country of Soviets, in training combat and labor reserves, in developing science, technology, culture, education and health, in mobilizing the spiritual forces of the people and their soldiers to defeat the enemy, the Soviet army played a major role.

16 See ibid., p. 406.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid., p. 408.

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the intelligentsia. Its representatives fought in the ranks of the Active Army at the front, in partisan detachments, selflessly worked in responsible areas in the rear. Soviet scientists, designers, engineers and technicians worked hard to create and produce weapons and military equipment for the front.

Social scientists solved complex and responsible tasks 19 . Philosophers made a significant contribution to the study of the laws of social development in the conditions of the Second World War. They worked out the actual problems of Marxist-Leninist philosophy on the basis of generalizing the experience of war, exposed the reactionary ideology of fascism, propagated the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of war and the army, and the Leninist doctrine of defending the socialist Fatherland.

Historians made a worthy contribution to the patriotic education of the people and their soldiers during the war. Based on the generalization of the experience of past wars, they showed the selfless struggle of the Russian and other peoples of the USSR against foreign invaders, collected materials on the history of the Great Patriotic War, and actively participated in military-patriotic education.

In ideological and educational work with the soldiers, the party relied on the help of a large detachment of artistic intellectuals. Soviet cinematographers made a great contribution to the mobilization of the spiritual forces of soldiers to defeat the enemy. During the war, 400 issues of Soyuzkino-Zhurnal, 65 issues of Novosti Dnya magazine, 24 issues of front-line film releases, 67 short films and 34 full-length pictures were released .20 They enjoyed wide popularity among the soldiers, caused an upsurge of patriotic feelings, which strengthened the will to win.

Organizational and party work, agitation and propaganda, cultural and educational work was subordinated to the main thing - the rallying of the entire people, the soldiers of the Armed Forces around the Communist Party and the Soviet Government for a selfless struggle against the enemy. Ideological and political work at the front further strengthened and expanded the ties between the party and the people, the party and the army, helped to strengthen the spiritual forces of the Soviet people, increase their political consciousness and responsibility for the fate of the world's first socialist state.

*

The Communist Party and the Soviet Government were constantly focused on improving party-political work in the army and navy, and strengthening party influence in the military. Political organizations were restructured. The Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army and the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Navy were transformed into the Main Political Departments of the Red Army and the Red Army, and the departments and departments of political propaganda of fronts, fleets, armies and formations - into political departments and departments. As a result, their role in solving the tasks facing the troops has increased, and the leadership of party and Komsomol organizations has improved.

In view of the perestroika and the need to further strengthen the party's political work, the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) appointed A. S. Shcherbakov, a prominent party figure and secretary of the Central Committee, as head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army. Under the Main Political Directorate, a Council of military-political propaganda was created, which included members of the Central Committee A. A. Zhdanov, D. Z. Manuilsky, E. M. Yaroslavsky and others.

19 For more information, see: Levshin B. V. Sovetskaya nauka v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voiny [Soviet Science during the Great Patriotic War], Moscow, 1983.

20 The Soviet intelligentsia. A brief outline of history (1917-1945). Moscow, 1977, p. 187.

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The Council's tasks included summarizing the experience of ideological work in the army, developing recommendations for its improvement, and providing assistance to political organizations.

The organizational structure of the ideological apparatus of the army and navy was constantly improved. At the political organizations of fronts and armies, along with lecture groups, groups of agitators were created; in divisions and regiments, positions of agitators were introduced. The agitator became one of the central figures of ideological and political activity in the army.

By strengthening the propaganda and propaganda apparatus of the Armed Forces, the party put work with the ideological assets of the units first, and attracted its best forces to it. Mikhail Kalinin repeatedly spoke to agitators. "The task of the agitators at the front," he said, " is this... it consists in educating and teaching people by personal example of valor and bravery, by passionate Bolshevik words, by bold and direct posing of questions, and above all by exemplary combat work. " 21
The most important components of the ideological work were the formation of a Marxist-Leninist worldview, the education of personnel in the spirit of loyalty to the party and the people, Soviet patriotism, friendship of peoples, proletarian internationalism, responsibility for preserving military and state secrets, the education of ideological conviction, high revolutionary vigilance and political consciousness, moral fortitude, discipline, courage, hatred of the enemy, love and respect for the commander, pride and unshakeable faith in the power of Soviet weapons.

The effectiveness of ideological work was largely determined by the fact that its content was closely linked to the current international situation, the course of hostilities, the situation on the fronts, and the specific tasks solved by the Armed Forces during a particular period of the war, taking into account its features.

At the beginning of the war, the content of mass propaganda work in the Active Army focused on increasing the moral fortitude of the troops, on bringing to the consciousness of every soldier a deep understanding of the need to defend every inch of land, to fight with the invaders to the last drop of blood. With all its content, forms, methods and means, ideological work was focused on turning the country into a single combat camp, on fulfilling the task set by the Central Committee of the Party and the State Defense Committee for the Red Army - "Stop the enemy!".

In connection with the defeat of the German-fascist troops near Moscow - their first major defeat in World War II - new provisions were included in the content of the ideological, political and mass work: propaganda of the successful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter of 1941/42, explaining its huge military-political and international significance. To raise the morale of our troops, ideological work aimed at showing the collapse of Hitler's plan for a lightning war, the failure of Hitler's calculations on the fragility of the Soviet system, and the debunking of the myth of the invincibility of the German army was of great importance.

Ideological work had its own specifics at all subsequent stages of the war. So, in 1944, a new moment in the content and direction of mass - political work was a broad explanation to the soldiers of the task set by the party for the Red Army - to completely clear the entire Soviet land from the enemy, to help the peoples of Europe in liberation from fascism, and to end the war with a decisive defeat of Hitler's troops.

21 Kalinin M. I. Izbrannye sozdaniya [Selected works], Moscow, 1975, p. 340.

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In 1944, the Red Army's liberation campaign began with the aim of providing assistance and support to the peoples of Central and South-Eastern Europe in their liberation from the fascist invaders. This, of course, could not be ignored in the content and orientation of the ideological work. Attention has increased to the education of soldiers in the spirit of proletarian internationalism and friendship between peoples.

Specific tasks of propaganda, including lecturing, work in unity with political agitation were defined in the directives of the GlavPU of the Red Army and the GlavPU of the RKKF. Of particular importance was the directive of the GlavPU of the Red Army "On the elimination of neglect in oral propaganda and agitation" (December 1941) 22 . It gave an in-depth analysis of the state of propaganda and propaganda work in that period, identified specific measures to strengthen and improve it.

Due to the growing role of ideological work at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, the Central Committee of the Party set the task of raising the ideological training of army Communists to a new level. GlavPU of the Red Army, based on the instructions of the Central Committee, recommended that party organizations widely expand the work of studying the history and theory of the Bolshevik Party by members and candidates of the CPSU(b). Political organizations of units and formations began to more actively implement measures aimed at raising the ideological and political level of communists.

Throughout the war, the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the Main Political Departments of the Red Army and Navy paid unremitting attention to improving the ideological level and efficiency of the press, and its timely delivery to the Active Army. On August 9, 1941, the Central Committee adopted a special resolution "On the work of special correspondents at the front" .23 It obliged political organizations to fully assist military journalists in their work. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), a significant number of prominent writers and journalists were sent to the Active Army to strengthen the editorial offices of front-line newspapers. Military councils, political directorates of fronts and political departments of armies and formations directed the work of editorial offices to strengthen the ideological, political and military education of personnel. To improve the management of newspapers in the summer of 1943, a press instructor was introduced to the staff of the political departments of the armies. On July 26, 1943, based on the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) on front-line, army and divisional newspapers, the GlavPU of the Red Army issued a special directive "On improving the management of the military press"24 .

Political organizations have significantly expanded the network of newspapers, strengthened them with experienced journalists, and improved their content. At the final stage of the war, the Red Army published 18 front-line, as many district, 90 army, 160 corps and more than 700 divisional newspapers, 143 newspapers were published in the Navy. Their total one-time circulation was over 3.5 million copies .25
Through the central newspapers, and above all through Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda, the Central Committee of the party appealed to the people and the army and mobilized them to fight. Talented writers worked at Krasnaya Zvezda: A. Tolstoy, M. Sholokhov, N. Tikhonov, V. Kataev, K. Simonov, A. Surkov, A. Tvardovsky and others. A great contribution to the strengthening of political propaganda and agitation was made by the magazines "Bolshevik", "Propagandist", "Sputnik Agitator", "Agitator and Propagandist of the Red Army" and others.

Radio broadcasting was given great importance in ideological and educational work. It was conducted not only in Russian, but also in the languages of other peoples of the USSR. Central Radio worked for more than 18 hours. per day by 70

22 Ideological work in the Armed Forces of the USSR. Istoriko - teoreticheskiy ocherk [Historical and theoretical essay], Moscow, 1983, p. 170.

23 Ibid., p. 172.

24 Ibid.

25 Party and Army, p. 198.

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languages of the peoples of the USSR and 28 foreign languages 26 . On the instructions of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) All-Union Radio introduced a number of new programs, expanded the subject matter and increased the broadcast time of central programs for soldiers. In addition to the "Latest News", which was broadcast 14 times a day after the beginning of the war, since June 23, 1941, a regular program "Listen, front!" was broadcast, introducing soldiers to the life and activities of the rear. All-Union Radio introduced the programs "Letters to the Front" and"Letters from the Front".

The editorial offices of frontline radio broadcasting were actively working. Their programs included reports on the military and political situation, speeches by representatives of the command, stories about combat episodes, musical and literary concerts.

The Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, having studied the experience of using radio in mass propaganda work with personnel, issued a directive in May 1942, in which political organizations were tasked with improving the operation of radio nodes, broadcasting stations, radio installations, and it was proposed to organize collective listening to central broadcasting programs in advanced positions. This instruction was confirmed in the directive of September 9, 1943 "On improving the use of radio for political information and propaganda work among Red Army personnel".27 . In all units and on ships, where the situation allowed, it was introduced into the practice of collective listening to the radio twice a day.

Cultural and educational work was an integral part of the ideological and educational activities of military councils, commanders, political organizations and party organizations. Its reconstruction and improvement had their own characteristics. First, a wide network of cultural and educational institutions was deployed in the Active Army. Their activities were built with maximum consideration of combat conditions. The importance of operational forms in their work has increased. With the beginning of the war, the role of mobile cultural lighting equipment, especially agit machines, rose. Secondly, the scale of cultural and educational work has increased, and the staff involved in it has been replenished by sending literature and art workers to the front. Its material and technical base was strengthened.

During the war, there were more than a thousand members of the Union of Writers of the USSR in the Active Army. The works "Science of Hate"," They Fought for the Motherland "by M. Sholokhov," Vasily Terkin " by A. Tvardovsky," Days and Nights "by K. Simonov," Russian Character "by A. Tolstoy," Front " by A. Korneychuk and others enjoyed wide popularity among soldiers and commanders. The works of Soviet composers, artists and other cultural figures were widely used in the education of personnel in the spirit of patriotism.

Cultural patronage of the army and navy, which originated in the early years of Soviet power, became widespread during the war. During the war years, about 500 thousand concerts and performances were given in the troops. More than 6 million screenings were held at the front 28 .

Anti-fascist rallies, political reports and lectures, and correspondence between the home front and the front played an important role in the ideological, political and educational work carried out by military councils, commanders, political organizations, and party organizations.

The main result of the restructuring of agitation and propaganda work in the Active Army was that the role of political agitation was increased, it was significantly brought closer to the broad masses of the Red Army. Senior political workers have become

26 Ibid., p. 222.

27 Ideological work in the Armed Forces of the USSR, p. 174.

28 Partiynaya zhizn, 1984, No. 9.

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personally engage in campaigning, more often speak to soldiers and commanders with reports and lectures. Campaigning has become more rapid, purposeful, and effective. Along with covering the internal political situation in the country, the agitators introduced the fighters to the situation on their sector of the front, the system of enemy fortifications, told them how to destroy and block bunkers, attack firing points, and resistance centers.

Propaganda of the revolutionary, labor and military traditions of our people occupied an important place in the ideological and political education of soldiers. Special attention was paid to promoting the combat traditions of the Red Army. The exploits of the red fighters-heroes of Narva and Pskov, Petrograd and Tsaritsyn, Kakhovka and Perekop, Volochaevka and Spassk served as examples of indomitable revolutionary spirit, courage and loyalty to duty for the front-line soldiers.

Necessary measures were taken to strengthen international education and strengthen the ties between the workers of the Union republics and the Active Army. In August 1943, the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) demanded that the leading party bodies of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Bashkiria implement a number of practical measures aimed at strengthening ties with Red Army soldiers. It was proposed to regularly publish materials about the life of the republics in frontline newspapers, publish special issues of republican newspapers, small pamphlets, song books in the languages of peoples, send fiction in national languages, national musical instruments to the front, etc. Local party bodies took great care to prepare recruits for the front, sent communists to the Active Army to conduct political and military exercises.- educational work with fellow soldiers, provided political organizations with the necessary propaganda materials.

The victory over fascism was forged by the entire multinational Soviet people. Success at the front and in the rear depended on international unity and the strong, unbreakable friendship of the peoples of the USSR. An example of the party's concern for strengthening friendship among fighters representing various nations and nationalities of our country was the directive of the GlavPU of the Red Army of September 17, 1942 "On educational work with Red Army soldiers and junior commanders of non-Russian nationality"29 . It pointed out that among the personnel of most Red Army formations there is a significant layer of Red Army soldiers and junior commanders of non-Russian nationality. Therefore, educational work among them, and first of all the nationalities of Transcaucasia and Central Asia, is of great political importance. The directive defined specific measures to improve ideological and educational work with non-Russian military personnel. Among them is the introduction to the states of political departments of fronts and political departments of armies of the position of an instructor for work among soldiers of non-Russian nationality.

The commanders and political organizations also faced such a problem as the poor knowledge of the Russian language by many fighters from the replenishment that came from the national republics. It was necessary to teach them the Russian language, prepare personnel to work with them. In 1942, the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army sent 2,303 political workers of Caucasian and Central Asian nationalities to the front to conduct party and political work among the soldiers of these nationalities .30 July-August 1943 it held meetings of agitators of various nationalities from political organizations of the fronts and military districts. In the troops everywhere there was or-

29 Ideological work in the Armed Forces of the USSR, pp. 194-195.

30 Political Organizations of the Soviet Armed Forces, pp. 240-241.

page 43

the study of the Russian language with those who did not speak it was organized. This contributed to the rapid development of military affairs by the personnel, increasing the effectiveness of mass political work, and strengthening fraternal friendship between soldiers of various nationalities.

Newspapers, books, pamphlets, and leaflets were widely used in ideological work. In addition to the newspapers received by the troops from the republics and regions, since 1943, the Active Army published 50 newspapers in national languages, including Uzbek-11, Kazakh-10, Tatar-8, Azerbaijani-6, Georgian-5, Armenian-4, Tajik-2, Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Bashkir-1 31 apiece. Only from the autumn of 1942 to June 21, 1943, GlavPU of the Red Army and departments of the Military Publishing House on the fronts issued 318 titles of pamphlets in 13 languages of the peoples of the USSR with a circulation of 5,753 thousand copies and 364 titles of leaflets with a total circulation of 11,764 thousand copies. 562 copies of films of 22 titles reflecting the life and everyday life of the peoples of the USSR were sent to the fronts and districts. More than 35 thousand records in national languages were sent to the Active army.

The Communist Party, its Central Committee, commanders, political organizations, and party organizations worked with increasing efforts to promote international education and strengthen the friendship of peoples. There were many forms, methods, and means of this work. One of them was letters to and from the front. Even now, you can't read them without great emotional excitement.

Military councils of armies, commanders, political workers, party and Komsomol organizations showed constant concern for carrying out active party-political work in the troops, aimed at maintaining a high offensive impulse among the soldiers. The most important component of this work was the promotion of examples of heroism and selflessness in battles with the enemy.

Ideological, political and educational work directly in the combat units of the Active Army was distinguished by a variety of forms and methods. The emphasis was placed on small divisions and individual work with people. As the party demanded, the main attention was paid to the education of Soviet soldiers ' patriotism, hatred of the enemy, and the formation of high moral and combat qualities - courage, perseverance, discipline, and efficiency.

Ideological work during the war was carried out by all categories of commanders, political workers, propagandists, agitators, numerous party and Komsomol activists, and all communists. Truly, it was the work of the entire party.

Purposeful ideological, political and educational work gave its results. The life-giving Soviet patriotism, the martial brotherhood of peoples were embodied in concrete deeds, became a source of unprecedented fortitude, heroism and courage of the soldiers of the army and navy. Boundless love for the Soviet Motherland, sacred hatred for the fascist invaders raised the soldiers during the Patriotic War to the highest peaks of the human spirit, led them to self-sacrifice in the interests of defeating the enemy, rallied around the party and eventually became one of the decisive factors of victory.

The ideological and political work of the party to ensure victory was primarily aimed at strengthening the moral forces of the Soviet people, the personnel of the army and navy. At the same time, political work was carried out to weaken the moral and political potential of the enemy's army and population. This work was an integral part of the entire ideological activity of the party during the war. Attention to this area of ideological work was explained first of all-

31 Party and political work in the Armed Forces of the USSR, p. 230.

page 44

This is due to the fact that Nazi propaganda launched an unbridled campaign during the war years to discredit the socialist way of life. The sophisticated system of false propaganda and social demagoguery, the isolation of Germans from sources of truthful information, the extensive apparatus of violence and terror - all this allowed the Nazis to turn the masses of the German people, the soldiers of the Wehrmacht, into thoughtless executors of Hitler's orders during the war against the Soviet Union. Inspired by the victories in the West and temporary military successes in our land, the fascist troops were convinced of a "lightning-fast" victory over the Red Army.

In order to concentrate the leadership of military-political propaganda among the enemy's troops and population in a single center, the Soviet Bureau of Military-Political Propaganda was established by the decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of June 25, 1941 .32 Its working body was one of the departments of the GlavPU of the Red Army. It was important for the widespread deployment of the special propaganda that, on the instructions of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), such ideological institutions as the All-Union Radio Committee and the Soviet Information Bureau were involved in its implementation.

Of great importance in the fight against the fabrications of Hitlerite propaganda were the statements of the Soviet government in connection with the entry of our troops into the territory of a particular state. They set out the principles of Soviet foreign policy, emphasized that the USSR does not pursue the goal of acquiring anyone's territories, and that the entry of our troops into these countries is dictated solely by military necessity. In May 1944, the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) held a special meeting of members of the military councils of the fronts, at which specific tasks of party-political work with personnel were determined in connection with the entry of our troops into the territory of foreign states .33
During the war, our counter-propaganda successfully exposed the machinations of subversive fascist propaganda, thwarted its insidious plans. Special propaganda agencies prepared and provided translations into 20 foreign languages, published and distributed 20 thousand names of leaflets and brochures with a total circulation of almost 3 billion rubles among the enemy's troops and population. instances. More than 2.7 million propaganda broadcasts addressed to the troops of the enemy armies were conducted directly from the front lines .34
Thus, the Great Patriotic War was characterized by a fierce ideological confrontation. The victory in this confrontation was won by our Marxist-Leninist ideology. This victory did not come by itself. It was achieved thanks to the multi-faceted, scientifically based ideological, political and educational activities of the Communist Party, the purposeful work of military councils, commanders, political organizations, and party organizations.

The CPSU constantly teaches us to observe Lenin's principle of combining the continuity of the revolutionary experience of the past with the creative formulation and solution of new problems. The rich experience of the party's ideological work during the Great Patriotic War is an invaluable treasure that remains of lasting importance even in modern conditions.

The results and lessons of the war irrefutably show that an important means of further strengthening the moral and political unity of Soviet society and its Armed Forces is to increase the ideological conviction of all Soviet people, to strengthen the education of the Soviet people.-

32 Istoriya Kommunisticheskoi partii Sovetskogo Soyuza [History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]. Vol. 5, book 1, p. 323.

33 See. History of the Second World War 1939-1945. Vol. 9, p. 372.

34 See Burtsev M. I. Prozrenie [Insight], Moscow, 1981, p. 317.

page 45

They should be taught in the spirit of patriotism and socialist internationalism. In modern conditions, when American imperialism has unleashed an unprecedented arms race and is persistently preparing a war against the Soviet Union and the countries of the socialist community, strengthening the moral potential of the Soviet people and its army is one of the primary tasks of our ideological front.

The historical experience of the Communist Party's ideological work during the war years teaches us how important it is to promptly and reasonably expose the ideology of imperialism and bourgeois propaganda, to tell people the truth about socialist society, about the fundamental advantages of socialism over capitalism, about the peace - loving policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet State, and about the historical purpose of the Soviet Armed Forces-an important bulwark of peace and security of peoples. This is precisely what the decisions of the XXVI Party Congress and the June (1983) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee suggest. "A psychological war unprecedented in its scale and ferocity is being waged against the Soviet Union and the countries of socialism," the resolution of the Plenum notes. Not disdaining lies and slander, bourgeois propaganda seeks to denigrate the socialist system and undermine the socio-political and ideological unity of our society. Therefore, the class hardening of the working people and the uncompromising struggle against bourgeois ideology are of particular importance today. " 35
The last war exposed imperialism, the real culprit of aggression, to all the peoples and raised the question of preserving peace and preventing a new world war with all its urgency.

The Soviet Armed Forces are a reliable bulwark of security for the U.S.S.R. and other countries of the socialist community. Thanks to the care of the party and the people, they have the most modern weapons and military equipment, ideologically hardened, highly qualified personnel. Together with the soldiers of the armies of the Warsaw Pact member countries, they are reliably guarding the gains of socialism.

35th Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU June 14-15, 1983. Stenogr. otch. M. 1983, p. 189.

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