Propaganda in the World and Local Conflicts

Number 8 (2), 2021

59-69
Elements of Propaganda in “Essays on the Geography of the Almighty Don Host” by V.V. Bogachev (1919)

Authors: Artem Yu. Peretyatko

Abstract

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The paper highlights “Essays on the geography of the Almighty Don Host” (Ocherki geografii Vsevelikogo Voyska Donskogo), a textbook on the geography of the Don region, which came to print amid the Civil War thanks to the initiative of a Don Ataman, P.N. Krasnov. The paper shows that the textbook, in combination with the “Don chrestomathy” (Donskaya khrestomatiya), created in the same period, was supposed, as the authors devised it, to imbue students at Don schools with devotion to their homeland, to shape them as “useful servants of the Almighty Don Host”. The book, among other things, contained the propaganda of the military devotion of Don Cossacks. Analyzing the text of “Essays on the geography of the Almighty Don Host” and looking at it through the lens of the Don social ideas, which existed at the turn of the 20th century, the author concludes that the majority of the ideological constructs, which V.V. Bogachev promulgated, were not novel. V.V. Bogachev, like several earlier authors, championed the importance of the Cossacks’ military devotion and argued that future generations of Cossacks should be prepared to defend their land. However, as he formulated the positive values that Cossacks stood guard of, V.V. Bogachev attached particularly great virtue to irrational love for the Motherland, regardless of whether it was justified or not. Moreover, V.V. Bogachev insisted that Cossacks were superior in their moral qualities to Great Russians whom his text styled in the obvious image of “strangers”. Although similar views could be found among hard-right Don authors before 1917, V.V. Bogachev was the first to include them into a textbook and substantiate them with a unique Cossack heritage, on top of that. The author comes to the conclusion that V.V. Bogachev’s book clearly demonstrates how, in times of war, the declared propaganda of “love for the Cossackdom” transforms into the propaganda of xenophobia with only a thin line separating it from radical nationalism.

70-80
An Article by B.G. Plyushchevskii and Reminiscences by A.D. Sergeeva of the Trip Made by the Krasnaya Zvezda Agitation Steamer in Udmurtia during the Russian Civil War

Authors: Nikolay W. Mityukov

Abstract

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Number of views: 76

The paper publishes previously unprinted materials from the archival collection of the Center for Documentation of Contemporary History of the Udmurt Republic, which are dedicated to the Krasnaya Zvezda agitation steamer. The materials’ chronological frame of reference is limited to July and August 1919, i.e. to the period when the ship was on the territory of modern Udmurtia. The first work is a scholarly article by Professor B.G. Plyushchevskii, written in the 1950s. The second one is comprised of two versions of A.D. Sergeeva’s reminiscences of her meeting with N.K. Krupskaya on board the steamer, recorded apparently by V.Ya. Barinova in 1977 and stored in her archive. As historical sources, both materials have limited value. B.G. Plyushchevskii’s article delivers no conclusions but only cites truisms. For this reason, his work is more a synopsis rather than a comprehensive study. Similarly, A.D. Sergeeva’s both versions predominantly use the published memoirs of N.K. Krupskaya as a basis. The work offers almost no original information. Nevertheless, both materials can be instrumental in providing personal opinions of people, who lived in the 1950s and 1970s, to uncover what they put their focus on in the first place. As they act within the confines of the existing ideology, they are impelled to repeat “the only correct viewpoint”. For example, B.G. Plyushchevskii’s phrase that Kolchakites dug a mass grave of Red Guards soldiers in Votkinsk and burned the bodies, is given without any comments and communicates a noticeable negative shade of meaning. The Whites had to take this step out of necessity for sanitary reasons because the coffins were buried at such a shallow depth that spring melt waters completely washed out the burial. Similar ideological overtones, which had fully taken shape in the USSR by the time, can be perceived in assessments of other events mentioned. This explains quite logically why both materials have not been published so far.

81-86
The Use of High-Powered Loudhailer Units by the Red Army on the Front during World War II

Authors: Vadim A. Nesterenko

Abstract

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Number of views: 88

This work draws upon archival materials and materials of private origin to examine the use of the MGU-39, a high-powered loudhailer unit, by the Red Army during World War II. It describes certain technical means and methods employed by propagandists to conduct agitation, including via the use of misleading sounds. A key source used was the reminiscences of announcer and translator L.G. Nagler (married name Gerulaitis), who during the war was a member of a team operating a high-powered loudhailer unit while serving in the 11th Army of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA). Use was also made of archival materials, namely reports recording the use of an MGU-39 by the 5th (“to misinform the enemy”), 48th, and 65th Armies of the RKKA. The documents were obtained from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Podolsk, Russian Federation). The author’s conclusion is that the MGU-39, created in 1941, was employed throughout World War II. In a period of defensive action, the unit was employed to subvert enemy troops through agitation. For these purposes, special propaganda materials were designed and use was made of prisoners. Broadcasting of this kind was normally conducted in the nighttime. At a time of the Soviets advancing, the unit was employed to create noises designed to mislead the enemy (e.g., by means of artificially reproducing or, on the contrary, drowning out the sound of tanks moving). In the areas of operation of the 5th, 48th, and 65th Armies, this kind of work was a great help to the advancing Soviet units. In addition, the MGU-39 was employed at the time to help provide agitation support for the Red Army’s own units.

87-92
The Arsenal of Psychological Tools and Methods Employed by the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in the Area of Operation of the Red Army’s 128th Rifle Division (May–July 1944)

Authors: Sergey N. Nikitin

Abstract

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Number of views: 92

This paper examines the arsenal of psychological tools and methods employed by the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in the period from May through July 1944 based on materials from the operational and intelligence reports of the headquarters of the Red Army’s 128th Rifle Division. Principal use was made of materials from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense (Podolsk, Russian Federation). This was the first time the documents had been introduced into general circulation. Methodologically, in reliance on the principles of objectivity and historicism, the author sifted through every archive material on the subject available. Importantly, use was also made of a systems approach, with all the relevant propaganda influence facts being arranged and systematized based on the chronological principle. The author’s conclusion is that the Germans’ extensive use of means of psychological influence in respect of the 128th Rifle Division between May and July 1944 suggests that the Germans were undertaking a full-scale psychological operation in the area. In that period, the Germans employed a whole range of propaganda methods and tools from leaflets and audio broadcasting to collaborationist units of the Russian Liberation Army on the front line. Neither before nor after that period had the 128th Division been subjected to a psychological impact that extensive.

93-98
The Newspaper “Vestnik Leib-Gvardii” (1992–1997) as a Historical Source

Authors: Goran Rajović

Abstract

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Number of views: 88

This article examines the monthly newspaper “Vestnik Leib-Gvardii” as a historical source for the period 1992–1997 in the south of Russia. Issues of the monthly newspaper “Vestnik Leib-Gvardii,” which was published in Sochi, Russian Federation, in the years 1992–1993 and again after a hiatus in 1996–1997, were this study’s sources. A total of fourteen issues were published (five issues in 1992, from August to December; four in 1993, from January to April; one in 1996, in December; and four in 1997, the first three from January to March, and the fourth a double issue for April-May). The complete run of the newspaper is held in the electronic library of the Cherkas Global University (Washington, DC, USA) and in the Library of Congress (Washington, DC, USA). The present author applied the content analysis method, which is usually employed in academic research of this genre. Content analysis serves as a standard research method in the social sciences in cases that require quantitative analysis of texts with subsequent interpretation of their textual content. The author finds that the newspaper “Vestnik Leib-Gvardii” serves as a valuable source of information on the creation of volunteer units in the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The materials presented convey the atmosphere of the situation in the early 1990s in the south of Russia. During its existence, the newspaper greatly increased the quality of the publication, and regular columns appeared. In addition, the newspaper published exclusive information about local conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Union and the former Warsaw Pact countries.

99-114
Military Propaganda at the Second Stage of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War (October 12 – November 10): Official Materials of Armenia and AzerbaijanDefense Ministries

Authors: Anvar M. Mamadaliev

Abstract

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Number of views: 81

The series of research papers spotlights the high-profile issue of propaganda around the next and very fierce development in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict with far-reaching political and territorial implications; it focuses on the war between forces of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (although Armenia was not legally a party to the conflict, its official military media often ignored the fact, considering their forces a side in the conflict. We will provide details on the situation below) and the Azerbaijan military from September 27 to November 10, 2020, which was won by Azerbaijan. The scope of our interest extends beyond fighting to the sides’ propaganda campaigns or the so-called “ideological warfare”. The paper, which completes the cycle of the works dedicated to the propaganda efforts mounted by Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s official military departments during the Nagorno-Karabakh war in autumn 2020, looks into the sources of the countries’ defense ministries, which were released in the final, second stage of the war, namely from October 12 to November 10, 2020. The study delivers analysis of information messages, front-line status reports and statements by the warring sides and draws conclusions on how effectively they used specific propaganda and agitation methods. The scope of the research work does not include the analysis of communications in the mass media. Findings of the study suggest that both sides extensively used a range of propaganda techniques throughout the stage, such as enemy demonization, praise for own armies and their successes, and encouragement of patriotic sentiments. Messages by the Armenian Defense Ministry were uninformative (relied on generalized phrases and clichés) and more reserved in expressions. The latter, perhaps, was connected to the situation at the front. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry issued a much greater number of messages and confirmed them by respective photo and video materials; addresses by President Ilham Aliyev were very emotional.

115-123
The Agit-Steamer Krasnaya Zvezda in Later Photographs

Authors: Nicholas W. Mitiukov

Abstract

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Number of views: 95

The period 2019–2021 marks 100 years since the launch of the storied agit-steamer sailings along the Kama and Volga rivers, which had a significant cultural effect on life in the regions. During the Soviet era, the topic of these sailings was highly popular, as they were taken part in by top Soviet government officials. Yet at the same time, the fate of the actual steamers remains largely obscure. To date there are no integrated works on the biography of those ships. This paper reviews a set of existing photographic sources dealing with the later period of the life of the steamer Krasnaya Zvezda [Red Star]. Use was made of materials from the city of Sarapul’s municipal and private archives, as well as materials from the Center for Documenting Contemporary History of the Udmurt Republic. The photographic testimonies provided offer an unequivocal indication that in the late 1960s the steamer Krasnaya Zvezda was no longer a self-propelled vessel. Its paddle wheels appear to have been removed, while the space within the housings appears to have been put to use. Its boilers and engines clearly appear to have been removed too. Despite some sources indicating that the steamer was transferred from the Kama River Shipping Company to the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, within the timeframe under examination the vessel appears to have been on the books of the Sarapul Ordzhonikidze Radio Factory, which is indicated by the captions accompanying the photographs. In 1973, while being beached on the shore, the vessel sustained a severe deformation to its hull, which would eventually make impossible both its further use and restoration. Despite certain elements of the ship’s hull being still in existence as of the early 2000s, it appears to be highly unlikely that one will be able to reconstruct the steamer just based on those remains.