Propaganda in the World and Local Conflicts

70-80

Authors: Nikolay W. Mityukov

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.

87-92

Authors: Sergey N. Nikitin

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.

99-114

Authors: Anvar M. Mamadaliev

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.

16-22

Authors: Vasily S. Kamensky

This work examines the activity of litterateurs during World War I. It provides an insight into military propaganda in literature at the time, as well as the patriotic zeal of litterateurs in different countries who went to the front as volunteers. Relevant materials employed in this paper include newspapers and magazines published in the participating countries during the World War I period. In putting this work together, the author was guided by the historicism and systemicity principles. The historicism principle enabled the author to make as full use as possible of the materials available and depart from existing viewpoints on the subject. At the same time, the use of the systemicity principle helped the author gain an insight into the activity of littérateurs not only from the Entente nations, but those a party to the Triple Alliance as well. The author’s conclusion is that 1914 was a time of tremendous patriotic fervor in all the countries participating in World War I. Patriotism ran rampant across wide swathes of society, with writers being no exception. Literature in the participating countries was virtually in an instant placed on a war footing, with many magazines for home reading becoming patriotic, military publications. In addition, members of the literary intelligentsia took an active part as volunteers in warfare on the front lines of World War I. A substantial number of writers, as was the case in France, lost their lives during the confrontation period, with the death of the writers being presented to the public subsequently as a sacrificial exploit for the good of the country.

32-41

Authors: Olga V. Fedorova

This paper looks into the coverage of the Algerian crisis of 1958–1962 in the Soviet periodical press. It analyzes various newspaper and magazine articles to assess the actions of the French government during the Algerian War. The author examines the key stages in the conflict and the reaction of the USSR’s major periodicals to the events, i.e. the way the events were actually being presented to the reader by the Soviet press. The work’s scholarly novelty lies in that it ventures into a previously unexplored topic – the analysis of the judgment and coverage of events associated with France’s foreign policy in the Soviet periodical press during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle. The author’s conclusion is that the Soviet periodical press was functioning at the time as a critical medium for shaping public opinion and a mechanism for manipulating political consciousness, with virtually all events presented in the media interpreted through the prism of Soviet ideology. The Algerian War, one of France’s last colonial wars, was judged in major Soviet newspaper publications in a negative manner, with a primary emphasis on wrongful acts by the French government and the desire of Charles de Gaulle to keep the territories in a state of dependency.

52-56

Authors: Aleksandr А. Cherkasov

This paper examines the use of leaflets as a propagandist’s weapon in 20th century military conflicts. Consideration is given to both the external (paper and special paints) and internal (text) characteristics of leaflets. In conducting the research reported in this paper, use was made of specialized works on the history of military propaganda, as well as the history of collaborationism. The study employed the principles of objectivity and historicism, which made it possible to examine the events in question in an unbiased manner and explore various related phenomena in the context of the historical situation. For instance, an analysis of several related historical facts helped come up with a new assessment of the underlying causes behind the low effectiveness of Soviet propaganda in 1941. The author’s conclusion is that careful consideration was given by 20th century specialists in the area of psychological warfare to both the external and internal characteristics of the leaflet. The design of leaflets was to be thought out down to the last detail, both in terms of text and physical appearance, while, in terms of the ideological message, each set of leaflets was to be targeted to an audience that largely represented the opposing army. In addition, of special significance was the timing of agitation activities, for it was understood that work of this kind must not be spontaneous and detached from the real situation in the combat zone.