The establishment of Bolshevik power in Russia predetermined the establishment of a one-party system in the country. Its most important ideological and organizational institution was Soviet journalism, which inherited the basic principles, functions and traditions of the Bolshevik press. In the 20s the press was formed as a multinational differentiated system of media, created according to a single unified ideological and organizational scheme. Fulfilling the ideological and social order of the RCP(b), it took an active part in the construction of the Soviet state and in the establishment of the authoritarian principles of its leadership.

In the first Soviet decade, journalism went through several different stages. Russian journalism entered the October Revolution as a multi-party system (November 1917 - July 1918). During the October days, all bourgeois parties continued publishing. All newspapers and magazines of socialist parties were published - 52 Mensheviks, 31 Socialist Revolutionaries, 6 anarchists. In addition to Pravda and Izvestia, on November 10, the first official government organ, “Newspaper of the Provisional Workers’ and Peasants’ Government,” was published. The next publication of this kind was the newspaper “Army and Navy of Workers' and Peasants' Russia.”

The reaction of the entire bourgeois, petty-bourgeois, Menshevik press was unkind. The very next day after the coup, the revolutionary committee closed 10 of the largest bourgeois newspapers - “Rech”, “Russkoe Slovo”, “Russian Will”, “Novoe Vremya”, “Birzhevye Vedomosti”, “Kopeyka”, etc.

The printing base of “Russkaya Volya” was transferred to the Bolshevik “Pravda”, whose printing house was destroyed by cadets the day before the uprising. For the newspapers “Soldatskaya Pravda” and “Derevenskaya Pednota” the printing houses of the newspapers “Rech” and “Den” were used. The publication of Izvestia was organized at the Kopeika printing house.

November 10, 1917 - Decree on the press. Violation of the idea of ​​freedom of the press. Repressive measures followed public discontent. January 1918 - Decree “On the Revolutionary Tribunal of the Press.” While fighting against opposition journalism, the RCP(b) simultaneously took measures to create and strengthen the press of the Soviet state. In mid-December 1917, a new composition of the editorial board of Pravda was approved: Bukharin, Sokolnikov, Stalin. On March 10, 1918, the publication of the “Newspaper of the Provisional Workers’ and Peasants’ Government” ceased publication. Izvestia is the central organ of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and its executive body, the Council of People's Commissars. The editor of Izvestia is Yu. Steklov.

In the first half of 1918, a number of central newspapers appeared: “Bednota” (for rural readers and Red Army soldiers), “Izvestia of the People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs”, “Izvestia of the People’s Commissariat for Health Care”, “Evening Red Newspaper” and other newspapers for various categories of readers.

At the end of 1917, the local press developed intensively. At the beginning of 1918, 84 newspapers and 753 magazines were published, published by RCP committees and organs state power in places. All new publications appear in the national regions of the country (in more than 20 languages ​​of the peoples of Russia). The total number of publications has reached almost 2000, and the one-time circulation is 2 million copies.

A system of publishing houses is taking shape: in addition to the publishing houses “Priboy” (Pg) and “Volna” (Moscow), created even before the revolution, in November - December 1917 the publishing departments of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Moscow and Petrograd Soviets, and the People's Commissariat for Nationalities began to function. January 1918: Decree “On the State Publishing House”, which was given two main tasks: the production of cheap popular editions of Russian classics and the mass publication of textbooks.

Radio played a significant role in the dissemination of political information. Decrees and government messages were transmitted by radiotelegraph, which were published by all Bolshevik newspapers in large cities and regions. From February to July 1918, 103 new radiotelegraph stations were installed.

At the beginning of 1918, new Menshevik, Socialist Revolutionary, and anarchist publications appeared, since in the first months of Soviet power the government included representatives of various socialist parties. But not all of their newspapers took a loyal position, and decisive measures were still taken against them.

The Soviet press defended the positions of the new system, propagated the decrees of Soviet power, and organized the masses to implement them. The topic of peace is one of the main places in the press at the time of its multi-party system. March 3, 1918 - peace treaty with Germany.

The peaceful respite achieved as a result of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty did not last long. By mid-1918, the combined forces of internal and external counter-revolution unleashed a civil war. During the years of the civil war and foreign military intervention (July 1918 - 1920), one-party Soviet journalism was established.

In 1918, there were up to 10 types of press: party, Soviet, trade union, military, peasant, youth and other publications, and a process of differentiation was underway. The development of local and national press continued. A special place was occupied by military newspapers and the mass Red Army press: front-line, army and navy. By the beginning of 1919, army newspapers were published in all active armies (21 army, 2 naval, 2 newspapers of special army groups). By the end of 1919 there were about 90 newspapers of various types.

1918 - “World Literature”, release of Russian classics in the mass series “ People's Library”, the first steps in publishing children's literature.

During the Civil War, radio acquired particular importance. On July 19, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the “Decree on the centralization of radio engineering in the RSFSR”, on the creation of a state radio engineering network. On March 1, 1920, a powerful radio station with a range of about 2 thousand kilometers was built on Shabolovskaya Street.

September 7, 1918 - decree on the creation of the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA). The agency had 10 departments: literary and propaganda, instructional, artistic and photographic, and others. By the end of 1919 there were 42 agency branches.

The functions of distributing the press were performed by the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs, whose system included “Tsentropechat”. After the end of the civil war, it was reorganized into the Central Postal Expedition, and with the formation of the USSR - into Soyuzpechat.

“Izvestia”: Furmanov’s journalism, essays by L. Reisner.

White Guard press: in Kolchak’s troops “Voice of the Siberian Army” was published, on the Don - “Bulletin of the Don Army”, in Melitopol - “Voice of the Front”. Official press - “Free Don” published in Novocherkassk, the bulletin of the military government, “Free Kuban” (Ekaterinodar), the organ of the Kuban regional government, “Bulletin of the Supreme Circle” and others. Newspapers of general political direction: “Great Russia”, editor Vl. Shulgin. Published in 1919 in Rostov-on-Don. “Voice of Life”, 1919, Kerch, “Voice of the South”, 1919, Poltava.

With the end of the civil war, the policy of “war communism” reached a dead end. The result of this policy was a crisis in the country at the end of 1920. With the liquidation of opposition parties, the RCP (b) asserted its monopoly on power. Lenin proposed abandoning the policy of “war communism”, transferring National economy on the rails of the new economic policy, replacing surplus appropriation with tax in kind. Transition to NEP - 10th Party Congress in early March 1921. The period of liberalization of the Soviet regime (1921 - 1927).

The transition to NEP aggravated the already difficult financial situation of the press. After the adoption of the decree “On the introduction of payment for newspapers” at the end of 1921, the number of newspapers began to decline catastrophically. By August 1922, the total circulation had been reduced by half.

1922 - show trial of the Social Revolutionaries. An attempt to correct the position of the Soviet press by covering the trial did not bring the desired results.

During the NEP, various political movements and philosophical views revived both in the country and abroad (Smenovekhovism).

After the civil war, two Russias were formed: Soviet and foreign. Three main directions of the foreign press: conservative (monarchists, “Double-Headed Eagle”, “Coming Russia”, P. Struve - “Russian Thought”, newspaper “Vozrozhdenie”), moderate (P. Milyukov - newspaper “Last News”, weekly magazine “Days” ”), loyal direction (N. Ustryalov - Smenovekhovskaya journalism). Democratic publications: the daily newspaper of I. Gessen and Vl. Nabokov “Rul”, the magazine of Vl. Burtsev “Common Cause”.

The press crisis required measures to overcome it. The main thing is financial assistance. Since 1923, funding for the local press begins to come from the republican, regional, and provincial budgets. The central press was financed from the state budget.

The 13th Party Congress adopted a directive on compulsory subscription of communists to the party newspaper. One mass newspaper should be subscribed to for every 10 peasant households. The second measure is to provide printing personnel. Admission to the state institute of journalism has almost doubled. By April 1923, the position of the press had somewhat stabilized. Its further growth was indicated. By mid-1924, the circulation of the entire Soviet press reached 3 million copies. New central publications: “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Pionerskaya Pravda”, “Red Star”. 1921-25 - years of massive development of magazine periodicals. “Proletarian Revolution”, “Red New Year”, “Under the Banner of Marxism”, “Peasant Woman”, “Young Guard”, “Crocodile”, “October”, “Star”. By the beginning of the first five-year plan, over 1,700 magazines and magazine-type publications were published in the country with a total circulation of about 150 million copies.

In 1923, press departments were created in all party committees.

1924 - Tsentroizdat was formed.

Radio played an increasingly prominent role in cultural, educational and political educational work with the masses in the early 20s. The radio newspaper “Peasant Radio Newspaper” has been on the air since April 1926. Until May 1926, “Radio Newspaper ROSTA” was published. “Working Radio Newspaper”, “Komsomolskaya Pravda” - radio release. Since 1927 - “Krasnoarmeyskaya radio newspaper”. By the end of 1926, five radio newspapers were regularly broadcast from Moscow.

Development of GROWTH. July 10, 1925 - Telegraph Agency Soviet Union(TASS). ROSTA - telegraph agency of the Russian Federation.

1922 - Glavlit was created.

At the 10th Congress, the issue of party unity was also resolved. During the days of the congress there was an uprising in Kronstadt. “Power to the Soviets, not to the parties.”

As a rule, almost every new registered ideological and political group of emigrants founded its own press organ, so there were newspapers of all stripes and shades. There are newspapers of Russian monarchists - “Nabat” (1921), “Znamya Rossii” (1923), “The Right Path” (1929), the “Mladorossy” circle, which advocated the almost impossible combination of Bolshevism with monarchism - (newspaper “Molodoye” word" - 1931-37), and supporters of Russian fascism - the newspaper "Rus" (1935-36) and others.

On the pages of some newspapers, a fierce struggle is unfolding between the pro-Soviet organization Sovnarod (Union of Return to the Homeland), which worked for the return of Russian refugees to Soviet Russia in 1922–23. and opponents of this political repatriation, which conceals many dangers for those who wanted to return home. Verbal skirmishes erupted between the organ of the Council of People, the newspaper “To the Motherland” (1922) and the newspaper close to its positions “ New Russia"(1922–23) on the one hand, and with the newspaper “Rus” (1922–28) on the other.
As a result of heated controversy, in 1923, the first contracted political murder of a Russian journalist in Bulgaria was committed - the editor of the newspaper “New Russia” and an employee of the representative office of the Russian (Soviet) Red Cross in Bulgaria A.M. Ageev, carried out, in all likelihood, by opponents of repatriation. A series of political murders of journalists continued in 1924, when the editor-in-chief and publisher of the newspapers “Nedelya” and “Rus” Ivan M. Kalinnikov was killed in his home on July 25.

Until the establishment of Bulgarian-Soviet relations in July 1934, the official Bulgarian authorities did not establish any political control over the Russian emigrant press. Then, at the insistence of the Soviet embassy, ​​in order to prevent the publication of bright anti-Bolshevik materials on the pages of newspapers, specialists from the Police Directorate conduct a review of the entire Russian emigrant press and, in some cases, even impose penalties on those publications that, in the opinion of representatives of the USSR, go beyond the permissible limits and call for an armed overthrow of Soviet power. So, for example, at the beginning of 1935, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs received a protest from the Soviet embassy regarding the line of the newspaper “For Russia,” which “incites the murders of prominent Soviet people.” On February 17 of the same year, the Police Directorate stopped publishing the newspaper.

Gradually from independent Russians periodicals and publishing houses, mainly reflecting the problems of emigration and intended only for it, Russian emigrants moved on to participate in the Bulgarian periodical press, to publishing books in Bulgarian publishing houses, and ultimately to organizing a common Russian-Bulgarian book publishing house. The Union of Russian Writers and Journalists, created in Sofia, worked in constant close communication with its Bulgarian colleagues. Translations were made from Bulgarian into Russian to familiarize emigrants with the literature of the country in which they live. Along with the traditional publication of classics of Russian literature in Bulgarian, new authors who remained in Russia or emigrated to Bulgaria, Germany, France and other countries are also presented. Joint literary evenings of Russian and Bulgarian writers were organized, close personal contacts and close friendships arose, and common aesthetic, philosophical and moral positions were identified. It was then that Eurasianism was born in Bulgaria, which subsequently spread in Central and Western Europe. The essence of this theory was formulated by Prince N.S. Trubetskoy in his book “Europe and Humanity,” published in 1926 by the Russian-Bulgarian publishing house in Sofia. The same publishing house published such books as “The History of the Second Russian Revolution” by P.N. Milyukova, “At the Feast of the Gods” by S.N. Bulgakov, two-volume “Russian collections” edited by E.D. Grimm and K.N. Sokolov, the “Library of World Literature” series and others.

After political changes in Russia at the end of the First World War
the intellectual elite was forced to leave the country. Publishing activities Russian emigration completely moved abroad. A separate part of the Russian creative emigration was engaged in journalism: E.F. Krasnopolskaya, V.N. Lensky, A.A. Eigler. Among the emigrants were editors of literary publications, journalists who reflected in their materials the life of the Russian diaspora in Bulgaria: Modest Saevsky, Nikolai I. Mazurkevich, Count Nikolai Zubov.
Russian emigrant publishers who organized book publishing in Bulgaria remained in the country until the end of Civil War, but after the dissolution of Baron Wrangel’s armies they moved to Belgrade and Paris. For example, the creators of the largest Russian book publishing house in Bulgaria, “Russian-Bulgarian Book Publishing House” - N.S. Zhekulin ( former director Kyiv publishing house "Letopis") and P.P. Suvchinsky (former editor of the magazine “Musical Contemporary”) remained in Bulgaria only until 1921. Later, as activists of the Eurasian movement, they developed large-scale book publishing activities of branches of the Eurasian Book Publishing House in Paris and Brussels.

A special place in the Russian emigrant press is occupied by publications edited by political emigrants who fled the USSR in the 30s. In 1936–38 former Bolshevik journalists - brothers Ivan and Boris Solonevich - begin to publish the newspaper "Voice of Russia", in which they publish numerous evidence of political repression and terror in the USSR in the late 20s and 30s. On its pages are published excerpts from I. Solonevich’s books “Russia in a concentration camp,” reflecting the author’s stay in the camp, and “Youth and the GPU,” which caused unprecedented excitement among the emigrant masses in Bulgaria. Naturally, this “freedom” was not in vain and was very soon punished by supporters of the USSR in Bulgaria. On February 3, 1938, a bomb exploded in the newspaper's editorial office, as a result of which the wife of editor-in-chief Ivan Solonevich, Tamara Solonevich, and a Russian youth, Nikolai Petrovich Mikhailov, who happened to be there, died.
Russian periodicals of the white emigration chronologically existed within the framework of 1920–45. Accordingly, the initial period coincided with the end of the Civil War in Russia, with the arrival of the last large waves of refugees and the actual settlement of emigrants in Bulgaria.

Sources: Kyoseva Ts., Daskalov D., Goryainov A.N., "Russian newspaper".

Russian periodicals of the 18th century.

Handwritten newspaper of the 17th century “Courants”, or “Columns”. The first Russian printed newspaper “Vedomosti” (1702-1727). Its character and distinctive features from Western European newspapers. Propaganda of Peter's reforms, information messages. The role of newspapers in the development of national culture.

Russian journalism 1730-1760s. Activities of M.V. Lomonosov in the field of journalism. On his initiative, the creation of the journal of the Academy of Sciences “Monthly essays for the benefit and amusement of employees.” Purpose of the publication.

Magazines N.I. Novikova. Satirical magazines “Drone”, “Pustomelya”, “Painter”, “Wallet”. Educational magazines N.I. Novikov 1780s: “Morning Light”, “Moskovskie Vedomosti”, “Economy Store”. Specialized publications N.I. Novikova. Publications by I.A. Krylova and N.M. Karamzin. The appearance of the first provincial publications. Industry publications. Results of the development of domestic journalism in the 18th century.

Russian journalism of the first half of the 19th century.

Journalism early XIX centuries and eras Patriotic War 1812. Journal "Bulletin of Europe" (1802-1830). Journal N.I. Grech "Son of the Fatherland".

Periodicals of the Decembrist era. “Polar Star” by A.A. Bestuzhev and K.F. Ryleeva.

“Northern Bee”: type and character of the newspaper, news section, political position of N.I. Grech and F.V. Bulgarin.

"Moscow Telegraph" N.A. Polevoy. The magazine's program, the significance of the Moscow Telegraph as a popular universal encyclopedic magazine in the history of the Russian press.

"Literary newspaper" (1830-1831). Features of the publication. The role of A.S. Pushkin in the formation of the newspaper. Political and aesthetic significance of the Literary Newspaper.

Magazine "Contemporary". The circle of his employees. Nature and content of the magazine. A.S. Pushkin as an editor. A.S. Pushkin is a journalist, the significance of his journalistic activities in the development of Russian journalism.

The main ideological trends of this period of the 1840s. Social and philosophical meaning of Slavophilism and Westernism. Their reflection in journalism of various socio-philosophical and literary-aesthetic trends.

“Domestic Notes” by A.A. Kraevsky. Purpose and nature of the publication. Circle of employees. Cooperation V.G. Belinsky in the magazine, his role in the department of criticism and bibliography.

“Physiology of St. Petersburg” and “Petersburg collection” N.A. Nekrasova. The role of these publications in the development of Russian journalism and literature.

Sovremennik magazine under N.A. Nekrasov and I.I. Panaev. Magazine staff. Socio-political and literary-aesthetic program of Sovremennik. The role of V.G. Belinsky and A.I. Herzen in the magazine.

Russian journalism of the 1850-1880s.

general characteristics period. Magazine "Contemporary". A new balance of power in journalism. G.E. Blagosvetlov is the editor and author of the Russian Word magazine. Circle of employees. The role of D.I. Pisarev in the formation of the literary-critical and journalistic departments of the magazine.

Magazines M.M. and F.M. Dostoevsky "Time" and "Epoch". The place of publications of the Dostoevsky brothers in Russian journalism of the 1860s. Main departments of the magazine. Judicial and criminal theme. Literary criticism and fiction. The origins of “mass” domestic journalism.

Publications by M.N. Katkova. Monthly magazine "Russian Herald". Newspaper "Moskovskie Vedomosti". The department of fiction and its significance for the history of Russian literature. Topical journalism. The socio-political role of articles by M.N. Katkova in Moskovskie Vedomosti.

Journal "Domestic Notes" N.A. Nekrasov and M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1868-1884). Circle of employees. Main departments of the publication. Literary and aesthetic orientation.

Newspapers and magazines of the 1880-1890s. Periodicals about the heritage of the classics of Russian literature (A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov, N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov, N.S. Leskov). The interest of publicists in various moral and philosophical movements (the theory of “world will”, the Tolstoyan movement, experiments in religious and metaphysical quests, increased attention to mystical and occult knowledge). The role of journalism in changing the literary and aesthetic consciousness of a wide range of readers.

Journalistic and literary critical speeches by K.K. Sluchevsky, D.S. Merezhkovsky, N.M. Minsky, K.D. Balmont.

Sources of spiritual change associated with the Russian “renaissance”. Marxism and new literary movements. The Awakening of the Theosophical Approach to Culture. The heyday of Russian poetry, the first literary experiments of I.A. Bunina, A.I. Kuprin, M. Gorky, L.N. Andreev and their reflection in newspaper and magazine periodicals.

Journalism of the early twentieth century.

Increasing the role of newspapers and their quantitative growth. New types of newspaper periodicals. Development of mass newspapers. Information and tabloid publications.

The evolution of magazines at the beginning of the twentieth century. Weekly illustrated magazines (“ New world", "Spark", "Awakening", etc.). Magazines for family reading. Popular science publications. Magazines for self-education. Theater periodicals. Satirical magazines. Publications of modernist movements. Main topics covered by the press. The main ways of development of provincial journalism.

Journalism of the first years of Soviet power and the 1920s. Magazine periodicals of the 1920s.

Methods of transmitting information in the first months of Soviet power: radiotelegraph, rumor, rumors, announcements. Soviet newspapers with a pre-revolutionary past: Pravda, Izvestia. The first government publications. Opposition press. Closing of large “bourgeois” newspapers. “Decree on the Press” (November 1917). Russian Telegraph Agency (September 1918).

New forms of communication with readers in the Soviet press: letters from readers, newspaper discussions, sociological surveys. The role of slogans and appeals on the newspaper page. The first congress of Russian journalists (November 1918) on the typology of the press. The Second Congress of Journalists of Russia (May 1919) on party influence in the field of journalism. Journalism during the Civil War. Subjects of publications in the Red Army press. Wall printing, large circulations and ROSTA publications. Activities of V. Mayakovsky in the “Windows” of ROSTA.

Opening of private publishing houses during the NEP period. Free press market, self-sufficiency of newspapers. Political processes in the country and newspaper business. Contradictions in the newspaper business: the crisis of journalistic personnel and the emergence of new publications (Peasant Newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rabochaya Gazeta, Soviet Sport, Krokodil, Rabotnitsa, Murzilka magazines). Newspaper as the main means of influencing public consciousness. Feuilleton practice of the newspaper "Gudok". Feuilletons by I. Ilf and E. Petrov, V. Kataev, M. Bulgakov.

Class sense how qualification requirement to a journalist. Censorship in the Soviet press. Establishment of Glavlit (June 1922) as a body “guarding the political, ideological, military-economic and cultural interests of the Soviet country.”

Proletcult publications “Gorn”, “Coming”, “Proletarian Culture”. The first Soviet thick literary and artistic magazine "Krasnaya Nov" The role of A. Voronsky in the development of Soviet magazine periodicals. Napostov magazines “October” and “Young Guard”. V. Polonsky is the editor of Novy Mir. A. Lunacharsky – publicist.

Socio-political magazines: “Spotlight”, “Print and Revolution”, “Ogonyok”.

DOI 10.58627JHSS.215.11 UDC 94(47).084.3

K.V. Levshin

organization of the military press in Soviet Russia during the civil war

(based on materials from the newspaper “Boevaya Pravda”, 1919-1920)

LEVSHIN Konstantin Viktorovich - candidate of historical sciences, leading engineer of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Russia, 195251, St. Petersburg, st. Politekhnicheskaya, 29 e-mail: [email protected]

The article examines a little-studied aspect of the history of the Civil War in Russia - the features of the organization of the military press and the propaganda policy of Soviet Russia using the example of the publication of the 7th Army and the Petrograd Military District - the newspaper "Boevaya Pravda". The specific refraction of the events of the war on its pages makes “Combat Truth” important source on military, political and social history North-West Russia in 1919-1920. Attention is paid to the amateur creativity of the Red Army masses in this publication.

MILITARY PRINT; "BATTLE TRUTH"; AGITATION; RED ARMY; CIVIL WAR; PETROGRAD.

Despite the extensive, almost century-long historiography of the Civil War (1918-1920), many of its aspects continue to remain poorly understood. One of them is a military seal of 1918-1921. As rightly noted by D.L. Chernenko, by the beginning of the Civil War in Russia, experience had been accumulated in using military press to influence military personnel. In 1918, about 90 military newspapers and magazines were published, the next year - 38 only front-line, army, naval and district newspapers, and there were also divisional, regimental and even battalion newspapers. Soviet researchers paid insufficient attention to one of the most prominent army newspapers - “Boevaya Pravda,” the organ of the political department of the 7th Army. It began publication in September 1919, on the eve of the decisive battles in the North-West of the country, and is still being published (its name has changed). In the same “unforgettable 1919”, newspapers of the “neighboring” armies were created - the 6th (“Our War”) and the 15th (“Red Star”), at the same time the first issue of the newspaper “Red Baltic Fleet” was published.

The press of the period under review in general and the Red Army press in particular represents

unique historical source, which, according to one of the first historiographers of the Civil War, A. Anishev, bears not only the imprint of bias, but also a huge share of “completely excessive, although understandable, militant optimism.” The Soviet Military Encyclopedia (1976), among other things, defined army newspapers as a powerful political and ideological weapon. Their study allows us to study agitation and propaganda techniques of influencing the Red Army reader, the dynamics of changes in methods, tone, themes, depending on the situation at the front; they partially reflect mass sentiments, carry traces feedback, characterize the state and level of combat and theoretical training of the Red Army in general and a specific military unit in particular. In relation to our topic, we note that in the “Soviet Military Encyclopedia” (1933), in a brief article “Battle Truth”, the publication is described as “a valuable source for studying the fight against Yudenich.”

Newspapers, undoubtedly, were the most important propaganda tool of the Soviet government,

Both the rear and the advanced parts of the army were inundated with them. Trying to use all possible printing forces and means, the authorities literally bombarded the Red Army soldiers with the press - the total circulation of military publications exceeded 300 thousand copies per day. From March 1919 to March 1920, a significant number of copies of Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (11.5 million), Pravda (21.9 million), and Bednota (109.2 million) were distributed among the Red Army soldiers. In Petrograd alone in 1919, the press department distributed free of charge 1,692,745 copies of Izvestia of Petrosov, 2,544,643 copies of the Village Commune and 3,272,158 copies of the Red Newspaper. Circulation of "Combat Truth" in 1919-1920. was inconsistent (from 25 to 50 thousand copies). The importance of newspapers and magazines for the Red Army is confirmed by the fact that by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of May 16, 1919, they were classified as urgent military cargo that had to be transported first.

In conditions of poorly organized political work, the impossibility of sending agitators to the village and a number of army units due to their remoteness, conversations “around the newspapers they read” were almost the only form of political work. One of the orders of the political department of the Petrograd Military District in 1919 contained a requirement for Red Army units to send reports on daily reading of newspapers and recommended literature. In particular, it was necessary to indicate which articles were read, which places were covered and analyzed in more detail, which places and topics caused heated debate among the Red Army soldiers. “Boevaya Pravda” also engaged in counter-propaganda: thousands of copies of the newspaper were distributed among White Guard soldiers in North-West Russia.

“Boevaya Pravda” began to be published as a newspaper of the political department of the 7th Army, and from the 20th issue, published on September 30, 1919, as an organ of the political and educational administration of the Petrograd Military District. There was a long tradition of military printing in Petrograd. the main military newspaper of the Russian Empire, “Russian Invalid”, was published here, which was replaced in the revolutionary year of 1917 by “Army and Navy of Free Russia”, and then by “Workers’ Red Army and

Fleet". The first issue was published on May 1, 1918 military newspaper Petrograd labor commune “Red Army”, which three months later was replaced by the weekly of the military section of the Petrograd Soviet “Armed People”. The authors of the article on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation combined the listed newspapers, unnecessarily exaggerating the issue of continuity, tracing the roots of the current newspaper of the western military district “On Guard of the Motherland” almost to “Russian Invalid”, and the actual beginning of publication of the newspaper - to 1918. “Boevaya Pravda” was noticeably different from its predecessors in style, it was published daily, and had different founders. The newspaper's editorial office was located in the children's village on Stesselevskaya street; There, in the former royal residence, the headquarters of the 7th Army was located. In addition, it is unlikely that we will look for the origins of the main Bolshevik newspapers among the officialdom of tsarist Russia, and the mentioned “Russian Invalid” would be more appropriate to compare with “Izvestia of the People’s Commissar of Military Affairs”.

The editor (head of the editorial office) of “Boevaya Pravda” was the 26-year-old member of the RCP (b) V.N. Vasilyevsky, who previously held the post of executive editor of the Armed People. At the same time, he worked in the editorial office of Petrogradskaya Pravda, and in 1920 he headed the press department in the political department of the 7th Army. He was already an established journalist, who back in 1914 was a member of the editorial board of Pravda. He also had some military experience: he was drafted into the army during the First World War, took short-term military courses and received the rank of ensign, and actively participated in the revolutionary events of 1917 in Moscow and Petrograd.

“Battle Truth” was able to accumulate significant literary forces. Thus, the famous poet Vasily Knyazev ran a poetry section in the newspaper “The Red Drummer”; in 1920, the young writer Konstantin Fedin received his own prose column. This is where the work of the future writer A.G. began. Lebedenko, who after demobilization from the Red Army due to illness became the editorial secretary. Many Soviet writers and poets were published in the military press, for example, Isaac Babel actively published in the newspaper of the First Cavalry Army “Red Cavalryman” under the pseudonym Kirill Lyutov.

“The columns of “Combat Truth” are open to articles, poems, notes, thoughts, questions of a Red Army soldier... Share your thoughts with your comrades. Tell them about your life. Write as best you can. If it is written incorrectly, we will correct it,” such an appeal to the soldier-readers was contained in one of the first issues of the newspaper. A separate appeal was also published there to all cells of the RCP(b) of the 7th Army, which, in essence, obliged the Bolshevik party members to cooperate with the newspaper, as well as to organize the sending of “permanent correspondence” from non-party Red Army soldiers. Literary collegiums were to be created in the reserve regiments; the remaining units were to assign a “responsible correspondent” to “collect Red Army material” [Boevaya Pravda. 1919. September 11]. Somewhat later, a leaflet “To all communists of the 7th Army” was issued, calling for all possible assistance from the editors, for Red Army soldiers to send their works to the newspaper, and for the creation of close ties with the Red Army masses, especially those from peasant backgrounds.

only from December 20, 1919 to January 20, 1920, 97 articles, messages, resolutions sent by Red Army soldiers were published in “Battle Pravda”. It is also very significant that the small collection “Front-line Poetry during the Civil War” (1938) included 6 Red Army poems from “Battle Truth” only for 1919, and we recall that it began to appear only in September. Nevertheless, “Boevaya Pravda” should not be considered a semi-amateur newspaper of the soldiers of the Petrograd Front; it was built by professionals. Let us also note that the lion's share of the materials was not at all related to the life of the soldiers of the 7th Army; they were universal and could be posted in any army newspaper in Soviet Russia.

Of greatest interest from the point of view of the amateur creativity of the Red Army masses in “Combat Truth” is the poetic column “The Red Drummer,” led by V. Knyazev. It also contained his own works, signed with his real name or the pseudonym Glavbar (Chief Drummer). Knyazev’s main task was editing the submitted poems, which

sometimes they changed quite radically. In the second issue of the newspaper, Knyazev called: Poets,

Write couplets;

storytellers,

There were samples of skits.

If anyone draws -

And this interests me.

The main thing is to have fun

So that, reading us, the army does not weigh its nose.

Don't be sorry for the red words

About the white man [Combat truth. 1919.

In the next issue, additionally motivating “pour into the drum” of works and eliminating the understandable shyness of potential authors, Knyazev wrote: “We will shake them, sharpen them, polish them and pour them on the heads of the bourgeoisie” [Ibid. 1919. September 10].

The overwhelming number of Red Army poems in the newspaper were signed with initials or nicknames (D.D., Kr. Sh., Cadet A.Sh., Frontovik, L. M-ev, V. Kn.). Some of them appear to have been written by professional poets and are deliberately passed off as amateur.

The newspaper welcomed a variety of amateur creativity, in particular the activities of those Red Army theaters that began staging “their repertoire.” They not only acted and staged, but also composed dramatic works themselves: for example, there was a play with the characteristic title “Roach and White Rolls.”

The goal was achieved in different ways - to introduce the Red Army soldiers to reading “Combat Truth”. it was necessary to make sure that they saw in her not material for “roll-your-own cigarettes,” but a kind of comrade, a mentor. The obvious way to attract attention is to make the newspaper interesting and visual. This is precisely what the editors worked on in the first place. Almost every issue (regularly in the fall of 1919) on the front page contained caricatures on topics of the “current moment,” often executed with talent and wit. In the drawing “Woe to the traitors to our cause,” the Red Army is stylized as a dashing Red Army soldier on horseback, who, on the way to victory, jumped over the “fence” of “selfers,” knocking their heads off with his hooves. In the cartoon “How many times is it?” endlessly broadcast by the Petrograd press, Western newspaper reports about the next plans to capture the “city of three revolutions” were played out: a tall paper stack of “plans” hung over Petrograd: “Hold on, Peter. Again... the whites’ plans are collapsing!!!”

A number of rooms were decorated with photographs, usually chosen at random (for example, a model of the monument to the fallen soldiers of the 1st Turkestan Army), anonymous (“Battery in position”), and everyday ones (“Morning toilet of a Red Army soldier”). A rare exception was a photograph showing a Red Army soldier with a boy on his lap, reading “Combat Truth” in a moment of rest. The issue of the newspaper dated September 28, 1919 had an illustrated supplement with a portrait of L.D. Trotsky and a photograph of the project for the monument to M.S. Uritsky.

literate Red Army soldiers and listening newspapers were to be used as conductors of the official policy of the Bolshevik authorities in the “backward” and “gray” village. Trustingly, “in our own way,” agreeing with the existence of numerous injustices in the countryside, “Battle Truth” explained them as accidents, the machinations of enemies, and the costs of harsh wartime. The publication addressed the Red Army soldiers as understanding and loyal people, calling on them to take the initiative: write complaints, advise through letters to your relatives how to legally rid yourself of oppression, how the families of the Red Army soldiers can receive this or that allowance. In the special section “What every Red Army soldier needs to know”

questions were posed: “Why is there no salt, no kerosene, or textiles in the village now? Where did all this go?” [Combat truth. 1919. September 18]. The notes often contained appeals: “Red Army soldier! Explain to every peasant..” This was followed by arguments in favor of the official point of view on any issue. In one of the issues there was even a kind of instruction under the heading “What to write home to the village about?” [Ibid. 1919. October 9]. The newspaper published direct calls to distribute “Fighting Truth” in the village. Increasing the prestige of the Red Army, understanding the importance of military service, the goals of the war and the sacrifices that the peasantry must endure for this - all these tasks were set for the newspaper. Their decision was supposed to lead to a reduction in the number of draft evaders, make it more difficult for deserters to live in villages, reduce the likelihood of uprisings, and generally strengthen the rear.

“Boevaya Pravda” gave one of the first places to the civil war in the South of Russia, especially in September 1919, when the situation near Petrograd did not look critical, and the mobilization of all the forces of the republic to fight Denikin became one of the urgent tasks of the press. The newspaper issues contained military reviews, which in terms of content and information content did not differ from similar reviews of “civilian” newspapers. Little was reported about the progress of the fighting in the 7th Army area (which should have been most interesting to readers). Firstly, with the exception of the period from late October to November 1919, there were no special reasons for resounding victory reports on the Petrograd Front. Secondly, the information presented in the newspaper should not harm the interests of defense. censorship strictly monitored press reports and issued orders for violations. In particular, this applied to the disclosure of the numbers of military units and their locations. One of the censorship reports noted the following violations in the Petrograd press: “the 7th Army has been named,” “the political department of the 7th Army has been named.” “Battle Truth,” based on its title, was, strictly speaking, an organ of the political department of the “N Army,” although it is clear that it was not news to the enemy that it was the 7th Army that was stationed near Petrograd.

The saturation of “Boevaya Pravda” with bright materials in the first month of publication is also explained by the fact that “Party Week” and “Week of Soviet Agitation” occurred at this time. Appeals to the Red Army soldiers to join the RCP(b) were contained in every issue. Their style varied - these were confidential “conversations” with patient explanations, and programmatic summaries (for example, “what do the communists want”), and visually attracting attention with large columns of slogans: “Who is against the power of kings of kings, manufacturers, rich people. WHO is for the power of workers, peasants, working people,” etc. In another newspaper, not oriented towards the army, it would hardly have appeared the uncompromising slogan: “A communist is one who fights in the front line against the enemies of the working people” [Boevaya Pravda. 1919. October 15].

Of interest to researchers are publications of a statistical nature concerning the 7th Army. This is, in particular, the article “Registration and distribution of political workers”, in which the author processed data on 112 commissars, distributing the latter by party experience (for example, 33 joined the RCP (b) after September 1918) and by social origin (66% - workers, 15% - peasants, 19% - “intellectuals”) [Ibid. 1919. September 12]. It is clear that this material was ideologically “charged” in its own way.

In the fall of 1919, in the battles near Petrograd, tanks were used against it for the first time on the front of the 7th Army. The glory of the “white tank” went ahead of him, terrifying the Red Army soldier - yesterday’s peasant. It was important to debunk rumors about the invincibility of the “iron monster”, to shame the cowards, and strengthen the timid. The combat qualities of tanks on the pages of the publication in question were rated very low. Tanks were presented as a strong psychological weapon, which was easy to resist: you just had to overcome fear. It was believed that the main obstacle to effective use tanks on the front of the 7th Army - these are difficult roads in the swampy and wooded areas of the western districts of the Petrograd province, near Pskov. At the same time, the newspaper conveyed the image of a tank that had been firmly established in the mass consciousness: “...Something all-destroying, fire-breathing, thunder-spewing, some kind of moving earth-

noah hell" [Ibid. 1919. September 12]. The army newspaper took a serious approach to the purely practical side of the fight against tanks. The importance of training Red Army soldiers in methods of their destruction was emphasized in the poems: “The book told them: stomach and back - weakest point steel elephant" [Ibid. 1919. November 2]. The newspaper contributed as much as possible to this process. The authors of the notes did not delve particularly deeply into military theory, which is explained both by the level of training of the readers and the quality of their own knowledge. Almost the entire issue of Battle Truth dated November 2, 1919 is devoted to tanks. The device, vulnerable spots, and the use of artillery, grenades, machine guns, and small arms against them were described in relatively detail.

On November 4, 1919, “From the special department of the N army” a list of defectors to the whites was posted, along with a list of relatives of the defectors arrested as hostages. Such a measure, rarely used in the northwestern provinces of Soviet Russia, seemed appropriate for influencing the Red Army soldiers in the midst of decisive battles with the army of General Yudenich. At the same time, the practice of self-injury (“crossbow”) developed—a Red Army soldier inflicting a wound or mutilation on himself (usually the left arm or leg) in order to avoid participating in battle. “Boevaya Pravda” promptly responded to the current situation: in November 1919, a peak in materials about the shamefulness of the “crossbow” was recorded. The newspaper put forward the slogan: “A self-shooting malingerer is worse than a deserter.” The reasons for this were serious: the deserter will sooner or later be returned to duty, and the self-shooter “saves the white cartridge - and does his despicable deed with our red cartridge.” The cartoon “Woe to the Crossbowman” depicts a Red Army soldier pressing his toe on the trigger of a rifle to hit his palm. The drawing is supplemented with the words: “In any environment there is a freak!” But. the power of the people will not tolerate such a monster” [Ibid. 1919. November 20]. The self-shooters were accused of exposing their comrades to greater danger, since they distracted the medical personnel, the last bandages and medicines were spent on them, and they took places in the infirmary. The consequences of this crime were described by V. Knyazev in a poem with a telling title

“Crossbows are leading the people to be shot”: “I ruined my hand - I let my children suffer” [Battle Truth. 1919. November 5]. To complicate the determination of the fact of self-injury, the Red Army soldiers conspired to shoot at each other. The newspaper admitted that some weak-willed people succumbed to bad influences. They tried to influence them, urging them to immediately report to their superiors, “otherwise you yourself will get caught and be responsible for them. They know how to get out” [Ibid. 1919. November 22].

“Boevaya Pravda” not only contained reports on the activities of the 7th Army Revolutionary Military Tribunal, but also carried out its general popularization as a court of “the most genuine, fair.” The impressions of the Red Army soldiers about the progress of the trials and words of support for the decisions made were published. This was especially common in trials of deserters and suicide bombers, because it was necessary not only to punish them, but also to present the verdict (for example, execution) as a unanimous decision of the entire army, of every Red Army soldier. in November and December 1919, according to the verdicts of the Revolutionary Military Tribunal of the 7th Army, 17 people were sentenced to death, including 8 malicious deserters and 3 self-shooters [Ibid. 1920. February 1].

The theme of the fight against desertion did not leave the pages of “Battle Truth” throughout the war. This problem reached enormous proportions in the Red Army, and the 7th Army was no exception. Among the main reasons that prompted a Red Army soldier to leave his unit and become a “runner” were difficult material and living conditions of service, the desire to help his family, which increased during periods of field work, and the fear of ending up in battle. The intensity of “anti-deserter” publications increased during periods of “Weeks of Voluntary Appearance of Deserters” and amnesties for those who surrendered. “Boevaya Pravda” published resolutions on the forgiveness of those who “came to their senses,” appeals from the Petrograd Provincial Commission to Combat Desertion, and information about punishments for desertion. Caricatures were actively used to debunk the “glory of a deserter.” On one of them, called “ bad grass get out of the field,” a deserter, stylized as a weed, was pulled out from the rows of “normal” plants [Ibid. 1919. September 17]. The likelihood that an army newspaper would fall into the hands of a deserter was small, although they still reached the village.

whether. These materials were addressed to the soldiers of the 7th Army, i.e., “potential” deserters, to form a general opinion in the army about the inadmissibility and harmfulness of desertion. All the power of the printed word was directed to prevent this war crime, as well as to encourage relatives and fellow villagers to hand over deserters. Let us note that materials about benefits for the families of Red Army soldiers, the issuance of benefits, and assistance in cultivating their fields can also be considered as aimed at preventing desertion. After all, if everything is in order with relatives, the Red Army soldier has no reason to think about escape and the possibility of justifying it - the soldier has something to protect, for which he risks his life.

To understand the practice of propaganda work with the Red Army with the help of “Combat Truth,” it is useful to consider “Theses for lectures and conversations on combating desertion.” Let us note that by the time they were published (autumn 1920), all approaches and methods of “branding” this crime had been fully developed. “Theses” were a detailed plan for a polemical conversation between the lecturer-agitator and the fighters. They included more than two dozen points: “The legitimate hatred of workers and peasants for the old army”, “The Red Army soldier as a member of the great family of workers”, “Prolongation of the war due to desertion”, “The deserter as rejected and despised by everyone” (this thesis was revealed in six subparagraphs, indicating specific examples), etc. Such conversations should have come down to the realization of the inevitability of punishment for deserters, the moral right of the state to severely punish these traitors to all working people [Ibid. 1920. October 10]. With the help of such an “educational educational program,” the political worker had to give a worthy answer to all possible sharp questions and attacks from listeners.

There was a certain system in the publication of letters from Red Army soldiers, specially selected and edited, if not “framed” at all (this practice was used in newspapers during the Civil War). A certain problem was taken up that worried every soldier of the 7th Army (everyday issues, bad job field mail, etc.), and was cautiously criticized. Thus, when reading the newspaper, the Red Army soldiers somewhat “let off steam” and felt hope that after the publication

cation the situation will change. The newspaper's editors received complaints, often anonymous. Responses to some of them were published in the “Red Army Soldier’s Mail” section, for example: “Machine gunners of the *** regiment, your complaint about rude treatment has been forwarded to the political department of the *** division for the strictest investigation” [Combat Truth. 1919. September 26]. Responses to essays sent for publication in the newspaper were also posted here: “Poems will not be suitable. Their content is cheerful and good, but you have not yet managed to cope with the form. We need to work” [Ibid. 1919. September 24].

The cornerstone on which political articles in “Boevaya Pravda” were “built” were questions about the war: “How long will the war last?”, “Why are we fighting, why are we risking our lives?”, “Why are they taking us to the Red Army?” An army of peasant children? After such a “ starting point“It was convenient and appropriate to highlight the foundations of the new Soviet system, the horrors of life in “Kolchakovia” and “Deni-kiya”, the suffering of ordinary soldiers in the White Army. These notes were written in simple style, often in the form of a conversation. Numerous letters to the newspaper were cited as the reason for including such material in “Boevaya Pravda.”

Propaganda closely coexisted with the educational part. Revolutionary dates, anniversaries of critics, social-democratic writers, Russian and foreign revolutionaries found a response in the form of extensive biographical articles, sometimes with reference to the “current moment.” Great article about A.I. Herzen in one of the issues ended with the words: “A lot of dynamite was laid in the powder magazine of the revolution by Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, so his name will not die, but will live forever in the memory of workers and peasants” [Ibid. 1920. January 21]. Monumental propaganda was noted in the newspaper with several notes under the heading “To whom the proletariat erects monuments” with meaningful stories about N.A. Dobrolyubov, T.G. Shevchenko, N.G. Chernyshevsky and others.

To increase the political savvy of the Red Army soldiers, the newspaper published chapters from the “ABC of Communism” by N.I. Bukharin. Such materials were accompanied by footnotes explaining unfamiliar words, for example: “An egoist is a selfish person who talks about himself, about

He only thinks about his own benefit” [Ibid. 1919. October 2]. A section “Dictionary of Incomprehensible Words” was started, but after publication in several issues it did not receive further development, where a definition of one or another term related to the events of the socio-political life of the country and Petrograd was given. The first word in this section was the word “blockade”. The editors appealed to readers with a proposal to report to the editor what words they do not understand need to be clarified on the pages of the newspaper. In general, the language and style of “Combat Truth” was adapted to the level of perception of the reader (listener), and this was a great merit of the publication. It is appropriate to quote a frank remark from the Pskov newspaper Izvestia, published in August 1920: “All our newspapers are written in a language that is not only not peasant, but generally incomprehensible.”

An important topic was coverage of the progress of peace negotiations with the Baltic countries and Finland. the successful outcome of such negotiations in “Combat Truth” is marked not so much by joy as by calls for even greater vigilance and combat readiness, since “a truce is not peace,” and peace will come only after the final victory [Combat Truth. 1920. January 4]. The reformatting of the 7th Army, associated with its transformation into the Petrograd Revolutionary Army of Labor in accordance with the resolution of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense of February 10, 1920, also affected its newspaper. The entire issue of “Battle Truth” (now the organ of the political department of the Army of Labor) dated February 11, 1920 was devoted to the new position of the army. Subsequently, the number of “militaristic” materials fell sharply. The most important topic from now on, successes and victories on the labor front became the main slogan - “For the ax, for the shovel, for the saw, for the machine!” [Ibid. 1920. February 11].

After the outbreak of the Soviet-Polish War (1919-1921), by order of the RVSR dated April 10, 1920, the 7th Army was restored, and from April 16, “Boevaya Pravda” from the Labor Army newspaper again became the Red Army newspaper. A certain half-asleep state from the protracted “peaceful” situation in the North-West of Russia henceforth became unacceptable, and “Boevaya Pravda” began active work to discredit “selfish sentiments”, cowardice, and agitation for the rise of militant

of the spirit. Let's give an example of a poem that is very typical in its causticity and directness, which says that even women are ready to fight, since those who are directly concerned are not doing so, and let the “men” give birth: The Polish gentleman scared the gentleman! Put on a woman's sundress, wash the pots, knead the dough for the bread - This is the right place for you! [Combat truth. 1920. May 28]

The newspaper “Boevaya Pravda” was a vivid example of intensive work with Red Army soldiers, the goals of which were not only to cover the current moment and promote communist ideas, but also to support morale, entertainment, introducing the general public to creativity, assistance in solving everyday issues, active correspondence and analysis incoming letters and complaints, indirect influence on the families of Red Army peasants, conveying the basics of military affairs to inexperienced soldiers. In general, “Boevaya Pravda” stood out against the background of army newspapers. Its pages, according to A.A. Geronimus, “breathed authentic combat truth, class intransigence and a rare sense of purpose. Juicy, beautiful

rich language, entertaining, concrete and strict consistency of all newspaper material made “Boevaya Pravda” the favorite newspaper of the Red Army masses.” According to the researcher, this is especially noticeable when comparing it with the “colorless” “Red Star” of the neighboring 15th Army.

Petrograd, although weakened by numerous mobilizations, including party ones, was able to give main newspaper military district editorial of decent quality. The array of artistic correspondence of the Red Army soldiers, which was actively published on the pages of the newspaper, became one of the brightest manifestations of the amateur creativity of the masses in the first years of the Russian revolution. The contribution of “Battle Truth” to the victory of the Red Army in the North-West of the country was uniquely reflected in the guide to Leningrad in 1940. Among memorable places, associated with the defense of Petrograd in 1919, “house number 22 on Krasnaya Zvezda Street, in which the editorial office of the newspaper “Boevaya Pravda” was located,” is highlighted along with the Pulkovo Heights and the mass grave of those killed in battles with Yudenich, located in the Alexander Park of the city of Pushkin .

bibliography

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3. Anishev A. Essays on the history of the Civil War of 1917-1920. L., 1925.

4. Soviet military encyclopedia. In 2 volumes. T. 2. M., 1933.

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7. Statistical yearbook. 1918-1920 Vol. 2. M., 1922.

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lytical and cultural-educational work in the Red Army. Pg., 1920.

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12. guarding the Motherland // Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. URL: http://sc.mil.ru/social/media/periodic/more.htm? id=11201@morf0rglnfo (date of access: 10/08/2014).

13. Leaflets of the Petrograd Bolsheviks 1917-1920. T. 3. L., 1957.

14. “The Serapion Brothers” and K. Fedin: bibliographer. feature article. Irkutsk 1976.

15. Menshutin A., Sinyavsky A. Poetry of the first years of the revolution. M., 1964.

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18. Leningrad. Guide. L., 1940.

ORGANIZATION OF THE MILITARY PRESS IN THE SOVIET RUSSIA DURING THE CIVIL WAR (based on the materials of the newspaper "Boevaya pravda" in 1919-1920)

LEvsHIN Konstantin v. - Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

Politekhnicheskaya ul., 29, St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia

e-mail: [email protected]

This article discusses a scantily explored problem of the history of the Civil War in Russia: the features of organization of military press; the Soviet Russia agitation and propaganda policy is also examined. The author uses the example of the 7th Army and the Petrograd Military District newspaper "Boevaya pravda" ("The Fighting Truth"). A specific interpretation of the Civil War events on the pages of this edition makes "Boevaya pravda" an important source for researching the military, political and social history of the NorthWest of Russia in 1919-1920. Special attention is focused on the amateur creative work of the Red Army men masses on the pages of this newspaper.

MILITARY PRESS; "BOEVAYA PRAVDA"; AGITATION; THE RED ARMY; THE CIVIL WAR; PETROGRAD.

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© Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 2015

In the 1920s The leadership of the USSR paid close attention to the education of the younger generation, future Soviet citizens. To convey the new communist ideals to children, a modern ideological mechanism was needed. Since neither the main pedagogical tools of education nor book publishing houses were ready to take on this task, the party began to look for a “worthy partner” in the field of journalistic propaganda.

During the years of the revolution and the Civil War, the pre-revolutionary press lost its ideological basis and the majority of its readers. Some publications also ceased to exist for economic reasons. Children's journalism fell into crisis; publishing houses of children's magazines were closed due to changes in the material and technical base and budget deficit 1. After the closure of private publishing houses, the first state, centralized publishing houses (Young Guard; Pravda; Detgiz) began printing new Soviet magazines for children.

Old regime experience

At the beginning of the 20th century. V Russian Empire There were two children's magazines that were published twice a month: "Firefly" (1902-1918) and "Guiding Light" (1904-1918).

"Firefly" has become the most popular magazine for children aged 4-8 years. According to the pedagogical views of the 19th century. it was believed that children were not interested in any special topics, they could be entertained by all the things around them. The authors sought to entertain the child, teach him life lessons, and introduce him to natural phenomena, without touching on politics. Much attention was paid to religious education - editor A.A. Fedorov-Davydov did not miss the opportunity to congratulate his “fireflies” on religious holidays.

For older children, an artistic scientific and literary magazine “Guiding Light” was created. Its content included three sections: “From Current Life”, “From the Past” and “In Foreign Lands” and was of a cultural and educational nature. Children and teenagers loved this magazine very much for its cheerful and friendly attitude. The editor was the same A.A. Fedorov-Davydov, who introduced teenagers to the history of Russia. Since 1914, materials about the First World War began to appear in the magazine. The magazine not only enlightened, but also fostered love for the homeland.

For middle-aged and older children, a children's illustrated magazine "Mayak" was published (1909-1918). Was in it and special section for the youngest readers. Its content differed sharply from "Firefly" and "Guiding Light". Editor I.I. Gorbunov-Posadov "Mayaka" sought to entertain children with useful and interesting reading and "to promote the development in children of initiative, creativity, equal love for the mental and physical labor and active sympathy for all living things." 2 The magazine sought to educate and entertain its readers by publishing a significant number of puzzles, charades, puzzles and tricks.

"When I'm big, I'll also be a Bolshevik"

The Soviet government faced difficulties in raising children. A lot had to start from scratch. Use of pre-revolutionary literature N.K. Krupskaya generally considered it dangerous: “Every historical book, every literary history reflects the worldview of the one who wrote this book. A historical book written by a bourgeois writer contains the thoughts of this bourgeois writer, and they influence the one who reads this book” 3 . According to the 1922 decree “On the Revolutionary Tribunal of the Press,” the State Publishing House of the People's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR was created, which included the publishing houses of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the People's Commissariat for Education, the Moscow and Petrograd Soviets. In 1922, the cooperative publishing house "Young Guard" was founded under the Komsomol Central Committee. Magazines such as “Murzilka”, “Rural Youth”, “Technology for Youth”, “Young Naturalist”, “Young Guard”, “Around the World”, and the newspaper “Pionerskaya Pravda” arose here.

The monthly children's magazine "Murzilka" (1924) was one of the first Soviet children's magazines. It was published as a supplement to Rabochaya Gazeta, the organ of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, for younger children school age- from 4 to 7 years. A.A. was involved in collaboration in the magazine. Fedorov-Davydov, A.L. Barto, S.Ya. Marshak. Soviet children's journalism absorbed the accumulated experience of pre-revolutionary journalism. The journalistic genres of pre-revolutionary children's journalism were nourished by folklore and literary tradition, just like Soviet children's journalism. Literary groups that existed around periodicals provided great assistance in this direction. However, they faced a significant problem when the party gave them specific tasks - to teach young readers about communist ideals and not to lead them away from the real world.

To the editor of the magazine "Murzilka" N.I. Smirnov managed to find the correct form of organizing the material, simultaneously reflecting the communist concept and satisfying the requirements of children. The ideological orientation is reflected in the design of the magazine cover. On the cover of No. 2, 1924, a boy with glasses is depicted, next to him is a board on which is written: “When I am big, I will also be a Bolshevik.” The cover of the fifth issue features a new symbol for the first time - a child with a drum. In the same issue, notes about the life of pioneers are published under the slogans: “A pioneer, even a small one in a working family, takes a step like a gallant young warrior”; “Pioneers, fan your fires and burn the gods on them, you are free and strong!” 4 These slogans reflected the ideology of the anti-religious struggle of that time. To arouse the interest of children, children's drawings were printed on the last page of each issue under the heading “Murzilkina's exhibition of paintings.”

Despite the ever-growing popularity of the magazine (circulation in the first years increased to 20,000 copies), the magazine was not free from shortcomings. Most publications seemed dry and boring to young readers. This problem was reflected in letters from children to the editor. It was necessary to find an effective combination of the tasks of ideological education and the interests of children. In the 1920s "Enough has been done a large number of sociological research that clarified ideology, life and vocational guidance, the needs and interests of children, adolescents and young people, the influence on them of living conditions, class affiliation, labor activity, literature, art, pioneer organization" 5. Famous scientists in the field of pedagogy tried to combine party ideology and education with the child’s interest in understanding the world.

In 1925, “Murzilka” was released with new themes born of Soviet reality: stories about the life of Soviet children, about a new village, about detachments of young Leninists, about nature. The design of the magazine has improved - it has become more in line with the interests of children. In 1926, its circulation increased to 150,000 copies, and the magazine became the most popular among Soviet children's periodicals.

1928 brought great changes to the life of the editorial office. Poets and writers who had collaborated with the magazine since its inception quit, and editors-in-chief quickly replaced each other. When private publishing houses were closed, the party tried to centralize the publication of children's periodicals. Thus, the publication of Soviet children's magazines came under the supervision of the Central Bureau of Young Pioneers.

One of the main features of the Murzilka magazine was the revival of the journalistic format. "Murzilka" survived the collapse of the Soviet regime and is still published to this day.

Marshak and his team

In 1922, the magazine "Sparrow" began publishing (in Last year publication, 1924, called "New Robinson"). It was addressed to children from 8 to 12 years old. His editorial board included members of Marshak’s literary circle: O.I. Kapitsa, B.S. Zhitkov, V.V. Bianchi, E.P. Privalova. The magazine was aimed at close cooperation with teachers. The publisher of the magazine "Petrogradskaya Pravda" assumed the financial costs associated with publishing. The objectives of the journal are outlined in more detail in the address of the editor-in-chief Z.I. Lilina, published in the first issue. Addressing teachers and parents, she wrote: “After all, our 8-12 year olds are children of war and revolution. Even in their cradle, they experienced the consequences of great world upheavals. The traumas inflicted on them during these difficult years lie deep within them and make themselves felt know in the unique psychology of the modern child, in his extreme impressionability and nervousness, in his premature maturity, in the specificity of the questions and requests put forward by the current 8-12 year old child" 6 . In the same issue, questions were published for parents about topics of interest to children. Thus, from the beginning of the 1920s. children's magazines have become a platform for pedagogical discussion.

In 1924, the editorial board of "Sparrow" and then "New Robinson" became the basis for the newly created children's editorial office of Gosizdat (later Detizdat). S.Ya. Marshak was the first employee of M. Gorky, who created the publishing house of children's literature (Detgiz). Due to the lack of professionally trained children's journalists, Marshak invited poets and writers to collaborate with the editors. A censorship apparatus also emerged. Every department of Gosizdat, including Detizdat, exercised total ideological control.

Let's take as an example the magazine "Sparrow" for 1924. The letter from Z. Lilina said that children " a fairy tale, fairies, elves and kings will not interest you..." 7 She believed that the child needed other literature - realistic, relating to the world around children. In practice, most of the magazine's publications did not meet this attitude. In the same issue, a humorous story by V.V. .Bianchi about a sparrow and his friends, V. Ermolaev's story about animals that became people.At the end of the magazine there were charades, riddles, and jokes.

By appearance the magazine resembled the pre-revolutionary "Firefly". Its first issues were published as an almanac and included three sections: “Literary Department”, “Scientific Sparrow” and “Diary of a Sparrow”. From the fourth issue new sections appeared: “Forest Newspaper”, “Smart Photographer”. They discussed topics of school subjects.

In 1924, many new magazines for children were published. Perhaps because of this, the circulation of "Sparrow" decreased sharply - from 150,000 to 3,000. The Leningrad regional committee and city committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which published the magazine, and the editor-in-chief were at a crossroads: either complete the printing of the magazine, or look for ways to attract readers.

In April 1924, Marshak introduced new ideas for the design and content of the magazine. From the fourth issue it began to be called "New Robinson". The content reflected the editors' desire to connect communist ideology with the interests of young people. The interests of the child were met by new sections of the magazine, for example, “Wandering Photographer,” where the child became acquainted with the events of the surrounding world not only in his native country, but also abroad. By reading the section "New Robinson's Laboratory", the child learned useful everyday skills. The magazine has acquired not only an entertaining, but also an educational character.

In the May issue of "New Robinson" for the first time, articles about the life of the Octobrists were published. From the eleventh issue, "New Robinson" received a new cover, which depicted a boy with a drum and the slogan "Be ready!"

From mid-1924, the process of downsizing private publishing houses began. The Leningrad regional committee and city committee handed over the magazine "New Robinson" to the North-Western Bureau of the Children's Communist Organization of Young Pioneers named after V.I. Lenin and the Leningrad Provincial Committee of the Komsomol. At the same time, the number of editorial staff has been reduced. Most of the poets and writers were fired, including Marshak, with their special humor, thanks to which the magazine attracted young readers. However, the December issue achieved a record circulation of 100,000 copies. However, from mid-1925, “New Robinson” ceased to be published. The magazine was closed as a result of sharp criticism from pedologists and Komsomol leaders for being too entertaining and lacking directive materials 8 .

The years 1927 and 1928 were turning points for Soviet children's magazines. On Krupskaya’s initiative, when private publishing houses were closed, the publication of Soviet children’s magazines was concentrated in the hands of the central bureau of young pioneers. By the end of the 1920s. Children's magazines "New Robinson", "Drum" and all satirical magazines were closed.

In 1927, the leadership of the children's department of Lengiz decided to publish a new children's magazine"Ezh" (Monthly magazine), designed for readers 10-14 years old. Officially, the magazine was an organ of the central bureau of young pioneers. A. Lebedenko, a member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, was appointed executive editor, but Marshak formed the creative team.

Talented authors of "Sparrow" and young members of the literary group OBERIU (association of real art) collaborated in the magazine. The content of the magazine was formed on the basis of pre-revolutionary tradition, combined with innovations. The editors received and published letters from children. Articles relating to everyday life appeared frequently. For example, "How old are you?" 9, "Holiday" 10. Articles were published on controversial topics: “Who needs religion?” 11 or “Is our teacher a comrade?” 12 At the end of each issue, Marshak placed his poems for children, and poets, writers and artists came up with stories to develop imagination, activate children’s perception and encourage them to be creative. In 1930, circulation reached 125,000 copies.

After the displacement in 1929 A.V. Lunacharsky from the post of People's Commissar of Education, Marshak could no longer play an important role in the life of the magazine. The editor was the communist Nikolai Oleinikov. The content of the magazine changed noticeably: its pages were filled with articles about the tasks of the first five-year plan (“A Thousand and One Tasks”, “Figures-Pictures” 13). At Oleinikov’s initiative, new sections related to the everyday side of children’s lives appeared: “Learn to write poetry” 14, “ Ambulance"15. Judging by the circulation (125,000 copies), the magazine has maintained its position.

Pavlikov Morozov School

At the turn of the 1920-1930s. The creation of the Soviet education system was completed. All activities of schools, including the content of education, were unified. There were unified compulsory programs and curricula, unified textbooks. Any experiments and creative exploration related to raising children were strictly prohibited. Ideological and administrative pressure on children's magazines increased. Glavlit censors closely monitored the so-called “undesirable context.”

In 1930, the monthly magazine "Chizh" began to be published for young children aged 5-8 years (organized by the Central Bureau of Young Pioneers, Glavsotsvos and the Leningrad Regional Bureau of Children's Communist Organizations). The content of the magazine was harmoniously combined with the requirements and goals of educating the younger generation. Chief Editor, the organizer of the first pioneer detachments, Georgy Dietrich (1906-1943), set the goal of instilling in children the spirit of collectivism, instilling discipline, love of work, and healthy living skills. The magazine taught children to solve basic everyday problems that a child faced in life: “How to wipe the floor under a cabinet” 16, “How to pour milk, how to pour from a large bottle into a small one” 17 or “How to learn to tell what time it is by the clock” 18 .

The magazine "Chizh" was rich in interesting articles and artistic illustrations. More clearly than other children's magazines, it was oriented towards Soviet reality in accordance with the line of official propaganda. The editor addressed the children: “Read this issue yourself and read it aloud to other children. Let them also know how we continue the October Revolution, what enemies we are fighting, what we are building, how we spend the holiday, how our little foreign comrades spend it abroad.” 19 . In accordance with Stalin's thesis about strengthening the class struggle in the conditions of building socialism, propaganda incited discord in society. At the same time, the school and family did not stand aside. The magazine “For Communist Education” wrote about the split between school and family in matters of education: “It is bad when parents are cut off from school, when the upbringing of a student in the family differs sharply from the principles of communist education and morality that the school teaches” 20 . Using children's letters published in the magazine "Chizh", one can study the process of changing children's attitudes towards their parents. Petya Sergeev wrote to the editor: “And my mother didn’t like it about the studies either. You,” he says, “wouldn’t play around, but would rather help with the housework. And my father laughs that she fusses with me like a girl. My father always gives me vodka.” treats: here! Drink. He drinks every day himself" 21. On the pages of the children's magazine, letters were increasingly published in which children complained about their parents, who did not let them go to school and kept icons at home. By the mid-1930s. Children's magazines finally turned into a means of party propaganda. Their pages published calls to fight against enemies, who should also be identified within the family.

In the 1920-30s. was created in the USSR new network magazines for children. They were faced with the task of shaping the worldview of the new Soviet type and influencing the personality development of the future builders of the new society. Children's magazines, like the first Soviet textbooks, gave young readers encyclopedic knowledge about the world, cultivated work skills, and developed creative abilities. However, the formation of Soviet children's magazines took place under vigilant party control. The new children's journalism needed support from the state and received it on a full scale. In the 1920s Soviet children's magazines were criticized for being out of touch with the real world. The authorities demanded to publish not fairy tales and poems, but articles about the lives of children. By the mid-1930s. The revolution in children's journalism was completed, the publications were filled with propaganda articles calling for fighting enemies and identifying them wherever possible.

1. Okorokov N. October and the collapse of the Russian bourgeois press. M., 1970. P. 313.
2. Announcement from the Mayak editorial office (Moscow). 1914. N 1. P. 30.
3. Krupskaya N.K. Seventeenth year. M., 1925. P. 23.
4. Murzilka. 1924. N5. S. 2, 4.
5. Sokolova E.S., Fedorova N.I. Children and children's organizations of Russia in the 20th century. History and modernity through the eyes of sociologists. M., 2007. P. 47.
6. Letter from the editor // Sparrow. 1922. N 1. P. 1.
7. Letter from the editor // Sparrow. 1924. N 1. P. 1.
8. Kolesova L.N. Children's magazines of Soviet Russia 1917-1977. Petrozavodsk, 1993. pp. 34-35, 84-87.
9. Hedgehog. 1928. N 2.
10. Hedgehog. 1928. N 3.
11. Hedgehog. 1930. N 7.
12. Hedgehog. 1930. N 9.
13. Hedgehog. 1929. N 10.
14. Hedgehog. 1929. N 4.
15. Hedgehog. 1929. N 6.
16. Siskin. 1930. N 1.
17. Siskin. 1930. N 4.
18. Siskin. 1930. N 2.
19. Siskin. 1931. N 10. P. 1.
20. Aleksandrov S. Experience of working with parents // For Communist education. 1930. N 5. P. 59-60.
21. Siskin. 1931. N 8.