Ep 17. Lenin and the Soviet Cultural Invasion

In the seventeenth episode of season one of Understanding Russia: A Cultural History, viewers dive into the controversial cultural policies of Lenin and the Soviet Union. This episode titled "Lenin and the Soviet Cultural Invasion" explores how Lenin's Bolsheviks utilized culture as a tool for propaganda and nation-building.

The episode delves into the origins of the Soviet Union's cultural policies and how Lenin himself viewed the role of culture in society. It highlights how the Bolsheviks utilized culture to promote their ideology and shape the minds of the Soviet people. The episode provides an in-depth look into how the Communist Party utilized propaganda to enforce Soviet cultural norms and spread propaganda throughout the country.

Viewers will get to witness the impact of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the Civil War of 1918-1922 on the Soviet Union's cultural policies. They will see how Lenin, with the help of Commissar of Enlightenment Anatoly Lunacharsky, established the principle of "proletarian culture" which was aimed at creating a cultural identity that would unite the working class and laborers.

The episode depicts the Soviet's attempt to create a new culture, an expression that would be consistent with Communist values. It goes on to explore the state's attempts to suppress traditional aspects of Russian culture, such as religious and folk traditions, in favor of new values. This cultural revolution aimed to create a new society shaped by communist ideology and was an essential part of the Soviet state's identity.

The episode further explores how the Communist Party approached art, literature, and education. It highlights the establishment of new institutions, such as the Soviet Academy of Sciences. It details how avant-garde artists sought to overthrow traditional culture and create something new, and how the party ultimately supported this movement.

The episode also delves into how Soviet cinema was used to propagate Communist ideology and follows Lenin's efforts to create a state-funded film industry. The impact of such films, like Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, is analyzed, as are elements of the propaganda created within them.

Throughout the episode, viewers will get to see how artists, writers, and intellectuals were caught up in these cultural reforms. Some fought against it, seeing it as the stifling of their creative endeavors, while some embraced it, seeing it as an opportunity for radical new forms of expression. The show presents a balanced overview of the impact of the cultural revolution on Soviet society, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of these policies.

Overall, the "Lenin and the Soviet Cultural Invasion" episode is an exploration of the role of culture in the early Soviet Union. Through a mix of interviews with experts, historians, and footage of Soviet propaganda materials, the episode provides a nuanced understanding of Soviet cultural policy under Lenin's leadership. It is a well-researched and informative installment in the Understanding Russia: A Cultural History series, which provides a unique window into the complex cultural history of the country.