Transcript Socialist Realism and the Soviet State

Socialist
Realism
and the
Soviet State
• Socialist Realism: Artistic style that
praised Soviet life and Communist
ideals.
•Vladimir Lenin, was known as the
“Father of the Revolution.”
• How does this painting depict
Lenin?
• What does this painting evoke in you?
Painting titled: “Pick up the banner of socialism!”
The Soviet flag:
Hammer and Sickle
What does the hammer symbolize?
What does the sickle symbolize?
What “communist ideal” does
this Socialist Realism sculpture
depict?
•Most Socialist Realism depicted
the peasants and the industrial
workers as the key to Soviet
success.
•Women were given equality in
Soviet society:
•Women joined the labor force and
worked in factories and on
collective farms.
•Women were given opportunities in
education as engineers and
scientists.
•Women made up 75% of Soviet
doctors by 1950.
What is being glorified in this Socialist Realism painting?
As discussed, many Socialist Realism
artists glorified peasants and farmers.
What other key details about
communism can you locate in this
Soviet poster?
Describe what is depicted
in this painting?
What aspect of Soviet life
is this painting glorifying?
What is going on in the Socialist Realism painting below?
Based on our prior knowledge about Russia’s industrialization,
what could be the purpose of a painting such as this?
All of the paintings of
Lenin in this PowerPoint
were painted after his
death.
Look at the following 4
slides.
What words would your
group use to describe how
Lenin is depicted?
In summary,
what are each
of these four
Socialist
Realism artists
trying to
convey about
Lenin?
Propaganda:
Information spread to try to convince
someone to do or believe something.
All of these paintings
were painted after
Lenin had died from
his stroke in 1922 and
during Stalin’s 29 year
rule of the Soviet
Union (1924 – 1953).
Look at the next two
slides.
What are they trying to
convince the viewer
to believe?
Cult of Personality: when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods,
to create a heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.
Through the violence of the Great Purge, the use of propaganda as well as other
methods, Joseph Stalin created a Cult of Personality.
He accepted such titles as: “Brilliant Genius of Humanity”
and . . .
“Great Architect of Communism”
as well as . . .
“Gardener of Human Happiness”
Totalitarian:
Governments who have total control over
every aspect of their people’s lives
Indoctrination:
Molding the mind’s
of people in order
for them to have
unquestioning
loyalty to a
country’s set of
beliefs.
The results of all of this violence,
persecution, censorship, and
propaganda?:
Unquestioned loyalty to their leader.
Estimates vary, but some historians believe
that :
Stalin’s Great Purge killed around 1,000,000
people.
Famines caused by communist
collectivization killed are estimated to have
killed around 20,000,000 people.
Forced relocation of the Kulak community
killed approximately 5,000,000 people.
Deaths from prison sentences in the Gulag:
15,000,000
Total deaths: Approximately 40-50 million