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<\/a>A Soviet propaganda train. [6]<\/p><\/div>While the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution were made up highly educated revolutionaries who trained body and mind to overcome the constraints of the the capitalist bourgeois, most of the population (around ninety percent) was of the peasant class. Most of the peasants in Tsarist Russia were illiterate, uneducated, and knew little of the world outside the villages that dotted the countryside. These villages were scattered over the 6 million square miles of Russia making contact with all of them a challenge. For the Bolsheviks, an organization that placed great value on the power of the grassroots peasants, this was unacceptable. They needed the peasants to be aware of the changes taking place over the revolutions in the early 20th<\/sup> century, as well as a work force who would be educated in the doctrine of the new communist government. When the population of a country is educated, the value of its human capital increases. This makes the work force more efficient and worth more to the state. With the bureaucracy of the Bolsheviks beginning to follow the philosophy of scientism, the view towards the peasant population changed from indifference, to a need to directly control and educate in order to get the highest production possible out of its workers.[1]<\/a> The population needed to be in agreement with the actions of the state as well to make the machine of communism run smoothly. Obedience to the state was necessary, and by using propaganda to educate the unlearned peasants they could be made loyal to the Soviet cause. The Bolshevik\u2019s needed a way to reach these people and spread the word of the revolution to the masses. But struggling with the sheer size of the newly formed Soviet Russia was a herculean task.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the early twentieth century the most effective means of traveling the country was by rail systems. Because of the rails already set in place throughout Russia the logical way to reach the people was to use the trains. The first of the trains to reach the isolated peasantry was know as \u201cLenin\u2019s train.\u201d[2]<\/a> This train was made up of 15 cars and \u201cdecorated with paintings in bright colors, with forceful and unmistakably revolutionary inscriptions.\u201d[3]<\/a> It is important to note, that the officials onboard the train were members of branches of the \u201cpeople\u2019s Commissariat.\u201d[4]<\/a> These men would distribute masses of pamphlets and readings free of charge to the people, as well as answer questions and advise on issues concerning the population. This was a powerful tool for the Soviet government to use, as the population will feel heard, and important to the government. This in turn will promote less resistance to newer ideas and obedience. The feeling of solidarity between the government and the workers was to be fostered in this way.<\/p>\n The success of such trains in spreading soviet propaganda prompted the creation of three further trains, with different routs that would bring the word of the \u201cRevolution\u201d to the \u201cmost hidden nooks of Soviet Russia.\u201d[5]<\/a> These propaganda trains would be responsible for returning the wishes of the people to the government and create an environment where capitalist imperialism would be unable to return to the minds of the population.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Hoffmann, \u201cEuropean Modernity and Soviet Socialism\u201d in Hoffmann and Kotsonis, eds., Russian Modernity: Politics, Knowledge, Practices<\/em> (NY: St. Martin\u2019s, 2000), 245-260.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Iakov Okunev, A New Way for Culture Propaganda. 1919<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [6]\u00a0Agit-train October Revolution<\/em> \/ Vertov-Collection, Austrian Film Museum<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution were made up highly educated revolutionaries who trained body and mind to overcome the constraints of the the capitalist bourgeois, most of the population (around ninety percent) was of the peasant class. Most … Continue reading