Monuments erected as part of the monumental propaganda program. Lenin's plan for monumental propaganda in action
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Nov. 24th, 2010 | 10:37 pm
Yesterday we were in one old post by Alexey Mikhailovich a_dedushkin we again remembered the monument to liberated labor, which should have been erected on the site of the monument Alexander III at HHS. They even argued a little about whether it was installed or not in the end... In general, the result of all these discussions yesterday was this post.
Here I decided to collect images of all the monuments installed according to this plan in Moscow in 1918-1923 and give some interesting facts (well-known and not so well known) about these buildings. It is clear that I am not the first to be puzzled by this question; a year ago there was a good post on this topic dinya_ss , Alexey Mikhailovich posted some images on his LiveJournal, but I wanted to collect everything in one place and I’ll say right away that I managed to find a couple of very rare shots, and some monuments remained “without photographs” - therefore, if you have I will be very grateful for their images
Let's start with the map that I found in the magazine "Science and Life" No. 11 for 1987,
Attached to the map was a list according to which I will base this post.
The post turned out to be huge, but I hope you won’t be offended by me: someone will just look at the pictures, and someone (if they have free time) will read it.
1. K. Marx and F. Engels.
Pl. Revolutions. Sculptor S. Mezentsev. Opened November 7, 1918. 
The construction of the monument to Marx and Engels was recognized by the Council of People's Commissars as a matter of paramount importance. For this purpose, special funds were allocated and a competition was announced. Lenin personally took part in viewing the projects.
but despite this, this monument almost instantly received the nickname “two in one bathroom” among the people
2. Those who died for peace and brotherhood of peoples. (Memorial plaque)
sculptor S. T. Konenkov. Red Square 1918.
This is how this memorial plaque was described in the magazine “Gorn” (No. 1, 1918):
“On a board made of colored cement by sculptor S.T. Konenkov, depicts a fantastic figure with the wings of a fairy swan. IN right hand figures - a dark red banner with the Soviet coat of arms on the pole, falling on mass graves, intertwined with mourning ribbon, with broken rifles and sabers. In the other hand is a green palm branch, extended to the heart with a very broad and natural gesture, as if as a sign of victory and eternal brotherhood and peace of nations.”
Despite the fragility of the material and the important political circumstance that Lenin was not entirely satisfied with its artistic concept, the board remained in its place until 1948.
They say that at the opening one old woman asked: “Which holy icon is being placed?” “Revolutions,” said Konenkov. “I don’t know such a saint,” the old woman was confused. “Well, remember,” she heard in response.
3. Obelisk of Freedom (Obelisk of the Constitution of the RSFSR)
Sovetskaya sq. 1918-1919 Obelisk-D.P. Osipov, sculpture - N.A. Andreev
This monument was opened in two stages: first, the obelisk itself with articles from the first constitution on wooden boards, and later, when the sculpture of Freedom was made, and the wooden boards were replaced with bronze ones. Despite the fact that the obelisk was made of simple brick, it stood for quite a long time - it was dismantled on the night of April 20-21, 1941.
In general, a lot of interesting things are connected with this monument.
Well, first of all, do you know that from 1924 and right up to 1993(!) he appeared on the official coat of arms of Moscow? 
However, for the sake of honor, it should be noted that after the war this coat of arms was rarely used.
Secondly, that the image of the obelisk of the constitution can be found on the fences of the B. Kamenny Bridge 
Thirdly, that the head of the statue of the dismantled monument is now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. 
By the way, Stanislavsky’s niece, Vera Alekseeva, posed for the statue.
And there are also several myths associated with the dismantling of the monument: according to the official version, it was dismantled due to its disrepair. There were also funny rumors that Svoboda looked very much like Trotsky’s wife. It seems to me that everything is much more prosaic: in those years they were planning to build a new avenue - Constitution Avenue (New Arbat). There were projects where the avenue was opened with obelisks with quotes from the new, Stalinist constitution. And two constitutions in one city are probably unnecessary...
My version is indirectly confirmed by another interesting point (although, of course, everything is quite in the spirit of our country): in 1962, Khrushchev submitted for consideration to the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers a proposal to dismantle the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, which had already been erected by that time, and restore it by November 7 1964 Obelisk of the Constitution. True, by that time it was not Dolgoruky who had been “removed”, but Khrushchev himself.
4. Revolutionary thinkers.
architect S.A. Vlasyev (the “remodeling” work was carried out by the architect N.A. Vsevolzhsky). Alexander Garden. 1918.
The obelisk-monument dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty was erected in the Alexander Garden in 1914. The author of the project is architect S.A. Vlasyev. The monument is a low stele made of white marble, the dome of which is topped with a gilded double-headed eagle. The walls of the monument were decorated with the names of all the ruling members carved on them. royal family Romanovs.
In 1918, according to the Monumental Propaganda plan, the obelisk radically changed its appearance and name. The surnames of the kings were erased, instead of them the surnames of revolutionary thinkers appeared, the double-headed eagle - a symbol of autocracy - was dismantled, and the monument itself acquired the name “Revolutionary thinkers and figures in the struggle for the liberation of the working people.” (performed by architect N.A. Vsevolzhsky).
A list of nineteen surnames is placed on the front surface of the tetrahedral obelisk - Marx, Engels, Liebknecht, Lassalle, Bebel, Campanella, Meslier, Winstley, More, Saint-Simon, Vaillant, Fourier, Jaurès, Proudhon, Bakunin, Chernyshevsky, Lavrov, Mikhailovsky , Plekhanov; the cubic pedestal is decorated, in the center of the relief ornament in the wreath is carved: “RSFSR” and below - “Workers of all countries, unite!”.
In 1966, in connection with the construction of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument, the monument was moved from the entrance to the Alexander Garden to the site near the “Ruins” grotto and the Middle Arsenal Tower.
5. Thought.
"Mysl" has an interesting fate. This monument, like the Merkurov monument to Dostoevsky (discussed below), was made even before the revolution. But when, according to the plan of monumental propaganda, it was necessary to install many sculptures in the city at once, they began to literally comb the workshops of famous and not so famous sculptors for suitable monuments, busts, obelisks, and sculptures. “Mysl” was taken “for company” with Fyodor Mikhailovich. It is also curious how the place for the sculptures was chosen: the “proximity of the place” factor worked. The monuments are bulky and heavy; there were no truck cranes at that time; transporting them somewhere far away is difficult! And the sculptor’s workshop was nearby, on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. This settled the matter. Here the sculpture stood until the autumn of 1936, when work began on the reconstruction of tram tracks on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
“Thought” was transported to Vorovskogo (Povarskaya) Street and installed in the front garden in front of the famous “Rostov House”, which was occupied by the Union of Soviet Writers. Soon the following story appeared: the writer Fyodor Panferov, one of the leaders of the union, asked: what kind of statue is this? Having learned that this was “Thought,” he said: “What does thought have to do with it, what does it have to do with writers? Put away!" For several years, the sculpture sent by the writers stood in the sculptor’s garden. After the master’s death in 1952, “Thought” became the tombstone of S. D. Merkurov’s grave on Novodevichy Cemetery.
6. and 7. Monuments to K. Marx
Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything about these monuments, except that one of them was installed on Sadovaya-Triumfalnaya Street, and the other on Nikoloyamskaya.
8. Monument to A.N. Radishchev
L. W. Sherwood. Triumfalnaya (Mayakovskogo) sq. 1918. 
The first monument of monumental propaganda in Moscow is considered to be the plaster bust of Alexander Nikolaevich, Radishchev, now kept in the State Scientific Research Museum of Architecture. A. V. Shchuseva. Bust-length portrait of the great Russian enlightener, founder revolutionary direction Russian social thought, the “prophet of liberty” was performed by L.V. Sherwood in two versions, installed simultaneously in Moscow and Petrograd.
The opening of the monument to Radishchev in Moscow took place on October 6, 1918 on Triumfalnaya Square. The plaster bust was mounted on a pedestal made from pine boards with the inscription carved on the facade: “Radishchev”.
Unlike the Petrograd one, which soon died during a storm, the Moscow monument to Radishchev stood for about 20 years. Only in the early 1930s, in connection with the reconstruction of the square, was it dismantled, and the bust was transferred for storage to the Museum of the USSR Revolution, from where it later entered the funds of the Literary Museum, and in the late 1940s, to the Museum of Architecture
9. Monument to Robespierre
B. Yu. Sandomirskaya. Alexander Garden. 1918
The monument was unveiled on November 3, 1918 in the Alexander Garden near the Grotto.
The Pravda newspaper wrote on November 5, 1918: “The Red Army regiments fill the Alexander Garden in orderly rows,” the newspaper’s own correspondent reported from the scene. - The pedestal of the monument is entwined with garlands of fresh flowers. The monument is surrounded by banners and flags. Music plays "La Marseillaise". The blanket falls off. Wreaths of chrysanthemums are placed at the foot.”
But he didn't last long. On the morning of November 7, only debris was found in its place. According to the official version published in the same
“Pravda” on November 9, 1918: “The monument to Robespierre, opened a week ago in the Alexander Garden, was destroyed by someone’s criminal hand on the night of November 6-7. The monument was apparently blown up..."
There is another version: like most monuments erected according to the plan of Lenin’s monumental propaganda, the monument to Robespierre was made of not the highest quality materials. On the night of November 6-7, frost struck, the concrete cracked and the monument collapsed.
10.Monument to A.V. Koltsov.
sculptor S. Syreyshchikov. Teatralnaya (Sverdlova) sq. 1918.
The photo shows the opening of the monument. Sergei Yesenin speaks to the audience. But this is not the only interesting thing about this photograph. Slightly behind him, to the left of Yesenin, stands S. Syreyshchikov - without a hat, listening to the poet (in the photograph there is a lightish spot above his head - we see a defect)
As for the sculpture itself, it was made in the workshop of Sergei Mikhailovich Volnukhin, the teacher of Sergei Syreyshchikov, who at the same time sculpted there the sculpture of T. Shevchenko, which was installed on Trubnaya Square at the beginning of Rozhdestvensky Boulevard. (more on this below)
S. Syreyshchikov at work in the workshop 
This is what they later wrote in the magazine “Iskusstvo” (1947, No. 4): “the monument was distinguished by a certain naivety of its image, but attracted attention with its softness, poetry, and spiritual purity.”
The sculpture "Rings" did not stand for long. Since they decided to convert the statue into bronze, the original, installed on Teatralnaya Square, was removed a few months later and transported to the utility room of the First Proletarian Museum, located on Bolshaya Dmitrovka. Syreyshchikov energetically began to refine the work, taking into account the new material, but on March 20, 1919, he asked for leave for 2 months to go to his parents in Voronezh - one of his relatives had died of typhus. The sculptor never returned to Moscow. According to some reports, he himself died of typhus, in the same 1919.
11. Monument to I. S. Nikitin.
sculptor A. Blazhievich. Teatralnaya (Sverdlova) sq. 1918.
The monument to Ivan Nikitin was erected in the rose garden near the China Town Wall on November 3, 1918. It stood on the square for less than a year and was removed due to partial collapse. 
12. Monument to T. Shevchenko.
S. M. Volnukhin, Rozhdestvensky Boulevard. 1918
The statue of T. G. Shevchenko by S. M. Volnukhin was installed on Rozhdestvensky Boulevard near Trubnaya Square on November 3, 1918. The image of Kobzar, strong in its psychological expressiveness, conceived by the sculptor, failed artistically, finding itself part of a sluggish genre composition, executed with hasty negligence. The plaster monument did not last long. In 1920, S. M. Volnukhin was given the opportunity to convert the monument into durable material, but the artist was unable to take advantage of it. Having become seriously ill and suffering severely from hunger and cold, he left Moscow and died in Gelendzhik in 1921.
Kollontai's speech at the opening of the monument to T. Shevchenko
The similarity in the destinies of the teacher (Volnukhin) and the student (Syreyshchikov) and their creations (Shevchenko and Koltsov), made in the same workshop, is amazing!
13.Monument to I.P. Kalyaev.
sculptor B. Lavrov, at the entrance to the Alexander Garden. 1918
Despite the fact that on the night of November 6-7, 1918, an explosion occurred in the Alexander Garden (according to the official version) and the monument to Robespierre was destroyed, already on the morning of November 7, a new monument was unveiled at the entrance to the Alexander Garden - I.P. Kalyaev, who committed the murder of the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
Muscovite Nikita Okunev writes in his diary on 11/13/18: "...I also saw the newly opened monument to the socialist Kalyaev. On one side of the pedestal it is written: "Destroyed by Velik. Ki. Sergei Romanov "There is nothing on the other sides. This means there are no other merits other than "destruction"?!..." (from the book by M.I. Vostryshev. "Stalin's Moscow. A Great Illustrated Chronicle"
14. Monument to S. N. Khalturin.
Sculptor S. Aleshin. Miusskaya sq. 1918
I was unable to find images of this monument, but I found several interesting facts.
Malevich was present at the opening of the monument, for whom this purely realistic monument caused a storm of indignation: “Rolled up sleeves and facial expressions terrify others.” This monument was assessed unsatisfactorily and was soon dismantled.
15. Monument to S. L. Perovskaya.
sculptor I. F. Rakhmanov. Miusskaya sq. 1918.
Here too, unfortunately, the image was not found.
Like the monument erected a little later in Petrograd, the sculpture on Miusskaya Square was made in the then fashionable manner of cubo-futurism and had nothing in common with the actual appearance of the revolutionary, which many did not like (but Malevich probably liked it :)). So almost immediately the question of closing the monument arose
In conditions civil war The monument to Perovskaya was not preserved and was no longer restored.
16. Monument to F. M. Dostoevsky.
S. D. Merkurov. Tsvetnoy Boulevard. 1918. 
Associated with this monument interesting story. When the commission came to Merkurov’s workshop to select monuments to fulfill the “state order”, they liked two works: the monument to Fyodor Mikhailovich and the figure “Thought”, also made of granite. Chairman of the Commission M.F. Vladimirov said that we will install Dostoevsky “if we agree on the price.” They agreed on the price, Merkurov asked divinely, and they decided to install both figures for the holiday.
The location was chosen not far from the sculptor’s workshop - in the center of Tsvetnoy Boulevard. This is how art critic N.D. Vinogradov described the installation of monuments: “On October 30, 1918, in the morning on Tsvetnoy Boulevard one could see Merkurov “in the Egyptian way” pulling his Dostoevsky for installation. The sculpture was laid on two logs tied together in the shape of a sleigh. Rolls were placed under the logs, along which the “sleigh” rolled with the help of a gate, which was strengthened along the path of the statue’s movement. This entire operation was carried out by three workers together with the author...”
The monument to Dostoevsky stood here until the fall of 1936, when work began on the reconstruction of tram tracks on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. In this regard, it was moved to the courtyard of the ancient Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, on Novaya Bozhedomka (since 1940 - Dostoevsky Street). Here, in one of the wings of the former hospital, the great writer was born in 1823 into the family of the staff doctor M. Dostoevsky. The monument remains here to this day.
17. Monument to M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.
Sculptor A.N. Zlatovratsky. Upper Taganskaya Square
The monument (bust) to Saltykov-Shchedrin was unveiled on Verkhnyaya Taganskaya Square, at the intersections with modern Taganskaya and Solzhenitsynskaya streets and Zemlyanoy Val passage, on November 7, 1918. Sculptor A.N. Zlatovratsky.
This photograph was taken not in a workshop, but in a square. For a better background, drapery is stretched.
I would like to note that in the above-mentioned journal “Science and Life” the installation location for some reason is listed as Serpukhovskaya (Dobryninskaya) Square.
Unfortunately, there is no information about the next three monuments on the list, nor are there any images of these monuments. We can only assert with sovereignty that not one of them has survived.
18. J. Zhores.
sculptor S.I. Guardian. Novinsky Boulevard. (Tchaikovsky St.). 1918.
19. G. Heine.
20. E. Verhaernu.
Catherine Square (Strostnoy Boulevard). 1918.
21. Monument to M. A. Bakunin.
B. D. Korolev. Turgenevskaya sq. 1919 
Monument to M. A. Bakunin, erected in June 1919 at the Myasnitsky Gate. The work, performed by the sculptor B. D. Korolev in a cubo-futurist vein, was a chaotic jumble of geometric shapes, which, according to the author, was supposed to symbolize the philosophy of anarchism. Monument made of cement for a long time was closed with boards - the authorities delayed the opening, not daring to present this very dubious work to the eyes of Muscovites. After the opening, newspapers were full of articles about the “enraged figure.” It is noteworthy that the monument was not accepted even by the anarchists themselves, who openly protested against such a “sculptural mockery” of their ideological leader. The Moscow City Council decided to remove the monument. Dismantled in the same 1919.
22. “Stepan Razin with the gang”
S. T. Konenkov. Red Square, Lobnoye Mesto. 1919
Fragment "Stepan Razin"
The figures of Razin, his comrades and the Persian princess, made in wood - geometric in shape, disproportionate, roughly processed and clumsily painted - resemble a folk wooden toy in style.
the composition included a carved wooden statue of the leader of the Peasant War, the heads of five Razin associates and a reclining figure of a Persian princess, cast from cement, which, as the famous song says, Stenka Razin threw into the “rushing wave.” The work took about two years and was completed in 1919.
The opening of the monument was timed to coincide with the May Day holiday of 1919. The sculptural composition was placed on Red Square, on Lobnoye Mesto, from which the death sentence to Stepan Razin was announced on June 6, 1671.
The sculpture stood on the square for only 25 days. The monument was removed, and not only because its appearance clearly violated the integrity of the perception of the ensemble of Red Square, but also because it did not correspond to the main task of the memorial structure and did not meet the goals of monumental propaganda, showing the peasant leader not as a historical figure, but as a national hero epic, fairy-tale, epic image.
Here is what art critic V.N. Ternovets wrote about this sculptural group: “The work, undoubtedly the most significant and brilliant of all that was created in the revolutionary era, remained unappreciated. Let the group play on Red Square - within the walls of the workshop and later, in the rooms of the museum, it captivates with its epic power. The faces of Razin and his comrades breathe the vastness of the Volga, the thirst for freedom, robbery and prowess. The stiffness of the poses, the folds of clothing barely outlined with a chisel - the wood is painted in painting, here it functions as a sculpture - everything - breathes majestic simplicity and beauty, which is rich in folk life"
23. Monument to J.-J. Danton
N. A. Andreev. Pl. Revolutions. 1919. 
The leitmotif of the image, of course, was the idea of continuity of the spirit of the Great French Revolution. But, impeccable from an ideological point of view, this work turned out to be not just unsuccessful, but anti-artistic. Processed with hard, “chopped” planes, the almost square head resembled the mask of a monstrous mechanical monster. Popular rumors immediately dubbed the monument “a monument to the talking head” from “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” Soon, by decree of the Moscow City Council, the monument was removed.
24. Monument to J.-P. Maratu
sculptor A.Ya.Imkhanitsky. Simonova Sloboda. 1919. 
25. Monument to A. I. Herzen
26. Monument to N.P. Ogarev.
ON THE. Andreev. in front of Moscow State University On Mokhovaya 1922 
27. Monument to K.A. Timiryazev.
sculptor. S.D. Merkurov, architect D.P. Osipov. Nikitsky Gate. 1923 
The last three monuments still stand in their places, so I won’t talk too much about them; you can easily find everything yourself on the Internet.
I’d rather show you a unique newsreel: an excerpt from Dziga Vertov’s film magazine for 1922 - the laying of the monument to Timiryazev
funny note - on the captions in the newsreels the surname is written everywhere as T e Miryazev.
I will also note that in the same years (1918-1923) several more monuments were founded, both erected and not erected later (see diagram)
28. K. Marx. Pl. Sverdlov. 1920.
29. “Liberated labor.” Prechistenskaya (Kropotkinskaya) embankment. 1920.
30. Ya. M. Sverdlov. Pl. Sverdlova.1919.
31 and 32. To the fighters 1905 Krasnaya Presnya. 1920.
33. A. N. Ostrovsky. Pl. Sverdlova.1923.
Ugh! look like that's it!
In the post, in addition to the books, newspapers and magazines mentioned in the text,
wonderful historical essay MONUMENTAL CHRONICLE OF MOSCOW; as well as material from the book "Moscow Search", M. 1978.
I would be grateful for any comments and additions.
2. Memorial plaque “To those who fell in the struggle for peace and brotherhood of peoples.”
Red Square, Senate Tower. Sculptor S. T. Konenkov. Opened on November 7, 1918.
Memorial plaque “To those who fell in the struggle for peace and brotherhood of peoples”
So, let's talk about item No. 2 on our list of monuments from the “monumental plan”. This is a memorial plaque “To those who fell in the struggle for peace and brotherhood of peoples.”
It is interesting that it was opened on the same day as the monument to Marx and Engels on Revolution Square - straight from there both the “leadership elite” and ordinary people moved to Red Square, where the memorial plaque was located.
However, first things first - in honor of what this board was installed, why exactly there, when, how long did it hang... Now we will answer all the questions.
1917, October 25 according to the old style and November 7 according to the new... The beginning of the armed uprising of the Bolsheviks in Moscow. The bloody massacre continued until November 2 (and according to the new style - until November 15). As a result, as we all know, the city was taken and subordinated to the new government - the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC).
On November 7 (that is, the 20th in our opinion) the Military Revolutionary Committee adopted a resolution on organizing a mass grave for those killed during the uprising at the Kremlin wall. The funeral is scheduled for the 10th (now it is the 23rd). The next day, preparations for this sad event begin: two huge graves are dug parallel to the Kremlin wall - just between it and the tram rails running along Red Square at that time. One grave stretched from the Nikolsky Gate to the Senate Tower, the second - from the Senate Tower to the Spassky Gate (there was a gap in the middle, where the mausoleum is now located).
On November 10, a ceremonial burial of 238 coffins took place (a few days later, two more coffins were lowered there; most of the fighters remained unknown, only 57 people were accurately identified). Later other burials appeared, but to us they are this moment not so interesting.
Preparing mass graves near the Kremlin wall
It is clear that the heroes of the Revolution should not be forgotten. On July 17, 1918, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars was issued, adopted on the report of the Deputy People's Commissar of Education Pokrovsky and the Chairman of the Moscow Society of Sculptors Konenkov on the implementation of the monumental propaganda plan, which reads: “Draw special attention of the People's Commissariat for Education to the desirability of erecting monuments to the fallen heroes of the October Revolution and, in particular, buildings in Moscow, in addition to monuments, bas-reliefs on the Kremlin wall, at the place of their burial.”
It was Sergei Timofeevich Konenkov himself who became the author of the memorial plaque. Which is quite expected and natural, the material of manufacture was short-lived - painted cement.
In the first issue of the magazine “Gorn” from 1918, the board was described as follows: “The board, made of colored cement by the sculptor S. T. Konenkov, depicts a fantastic figure with the wings of a fairy-tale swan. In the right hand of the figure is a dark red banner with the Soviet coat of arms on the pole, falling onto mass graves intertwined with mourning ribbon, with broken rifles and sabers. In the other hand is a green palm branch, extended to the heart with a very broad and natural gesture, as if as a sign of victory and eternal brotherhood and peace of nations.”
Well, yes, and instead of the sun’s rays there were ornamental letters: “October 1917 Revolution” (well, the words are just in that order, what can I do). And on the banners under the figure’s feet it is written: “To those who fell in the struggle for peace and brotherhood of peoples.”
It’s quite strange now to think about why, in the first year of the new government, such a strange figure, personifying the revolution, appeared in the center of the country, on Red Square: angel-like, with wings and a palm branch, in a flowing skirt and with a bare, bashfully covered chest... Why not a soldier with a stern face, for example, what would be more appropriate? In addition, I would be lying if I said that from an artistic point of view the memorial plaque is impeccable - for example, the gesture that “Gorn” describes as “very broad and natural” seems awkward and student-made to me...
What am I saying - Lenin himself was not satisfied with this artistic concept, but... the board took its place, where it spent more than one decade. The reason, I think, was a lack of time (everything had to be done on time; otherwise, Red Square and no symbols new era?..), although this idea is very superficial, of course. Moreover, Konenkov’s project also participated in the competition - and it won!..
But we got distracted, and meanwhile the board was made and fixed in its place - on the Senate Tower of the Kremlin (which, as you already understood, is located exactly between the two mass graves, in the middle) - and is still hidden under the blanket. Awaiting the grand opening. About which on November 8, 1918, the newspaper “Evening Izvestia” (and in full - “Evening Izvestia of the Moscow Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Deputies”) wrote this way: “By 11 o’clock Red Square is crowded with people. The sounds of the “Internationale” are heard, and troops begin to arrive in orderly ranks. A column of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee is heading from Theater Square... The column approaches the tower where the memorial plaque is. A colossal choir and orchestra of Proletkult also come here and settle down... A large column of members of the VI Congress of Soviets moves across the square... The celebration begins... V.I. Lenin, raised in the arms of those around him, cut off the seal on the draped board with scissors, and the cover falls at his feet. A white-winged figure appears to the eyes of those present with a branch of peace in his hand and the inscription: “To those who fell in the struggle for peace and brotherhood of peoples.” The square resounds with mournful sounds... the banners are bowed. The whole square, the whole crowd, as one person, bares their heads.”
V. I. Lenin cuts the ribbon, revealing a memorial plaque
Opening of the memorial plaque
The veil falls, and the combined choir (consisting mainly of young Proletkult studio workers under the direction of conductor-teacher G.P. Lyubimov) sings “Cantata,” written specially for this date. Konenkov said: “Klychkov visited me in the workshop in those years (note - poet Sergei Klychkov) and Yesenin (note - yes, that same Sergei Yesenin). Once, in a conversation with them, I said that it would be nice to write poetry for the grand opening of the memorial plaque. They responded promptly and willingly to my proposal. The poet Mikhail Gerasimov, with whom Yesenin was close at that time, also joined them. Composer Ivan Nikolaevich Shvedov wrote music based on the poems of Yesenin, Klychkov and Gerasimov. This is how “Cantata” appeared.
Here it is, this “Cantata”:
| 1
Through the fog of bloody death, Everyone who was offended yesterday, Let the last one be the tribute Sleep, beloved brothers, New conception in the world The sun with a golden seal
In the last battle there is no mercy, Roar, earth, the last storm, Moscow |
1
Through the bloody fog of death, Everyone who was offended yesterday, Let the last one be the tribute Sleep, beloved brothers, New conceptions in the world, The sun with a golden seal Come down from the cross, crucified people, In the last battle there is no mercy, Roar, earth, the last storm, Samara |
The first part of the work was written by Gerasimov, the second by Yesenin, the third by Klychkov. The fact that the “Cantata” is quoted twice is not a mistake. The fact is that the texts of the first and second publications were somewhat different from each other, and I decided to show you both options.
It is interesting that initially “Cantata” was “anonymous” - its authors were not named either during its performance or during its first publication in the newspaper “The Will and Thoughts of the Railway Worker” (October 26, 1918). The second publication - in the Samara magazine "Zarevo Zavody" (January 1, 1919) not only differed in text, but was also signed - the names of all three authors are listed.
There are rumors that during the opening of the board, a certain old woman asked: “Which saint is the icon being placed?” Konenkov proudly replied: “Revolution!” “I don’t know such a saint,” the old woman was embarrassed. “Well, remember,” was her answer.
Lenin not only cut the ribbon to unveil the plaque, he also made a speech from the podium. It was a temporary wooden stand, because at that time no such special devices had yet been built on Red Square. Actually, these words are illustrated by the following two photographs - and although our memorial plaque is not visible on them, from the point of view of history the pictures are interesting.
V. I. Lenin gives a speech on Red Square on the day of the celebration of the 1st anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
In 1922, the memorial plaque acquired a neighbor. In honor of the fifth anniversary of the Great October Revolution, it was decided to install a figure of a worker on Red Square, and the sculptor of this monument was Friedrich Lecht. Material: traditional plaster. That is, they built, as they say, not to last.
This is what Pravda wrote on November 9, 1922, after the grand opening of the monument (which took place, of course, on November 7): “Near the walkway for guests of the Comintern stands a white monolith two feet high (approx. - about 4.3 meters) with the image of a worker at an anvil. With a cap in his hand, with which he greets the approaching demonstration. This is the work of the sculptor Lecht, brilliantly carried out with exceptional unfavorable conditions, in frosty times, when, in order to sculpt the statue, it was necessary to work under a tarpaulin, warming the surrounding atmosphere and heating frozen water on the fire ... "
Some persistently call this monument “Liberated Labor,” but these are completely different things. This is "Worker". The characteristic “Leninist” pose (cap in an outstretched hand) can also confuse, but we have already figured out who this man is on the pedestal.
A fragment of the same photo - the worker is larger (thanks to cocomera)
Painting by K. F. Yuon
But not only the workers decorated Red Square for the 5th anniversary of the Revolution - a permanent brick tribune was built a little to the left (find it in the first photo with the worker). The Izvestia newspaper wrote on September 20, 1922: “The new stand according to the project will occupy an area of 15 by 8 arshins, its height will be 4 1/2 arshins, and the height of the flagpole will be 7 arshins. (note - do the math yourself, based on the fact that an arshin was equal to 0.7112 meters), and will be made of brick. The architectural stand will be one with the Kremlin wall. Construction style of the 17th century. The project was compiled by architect V. Mayat (approx. - Vladimir Mayat) and agreed with the chairman of the architectural society, engineer A. Shchusev.”
The same landscape, but a little later
In the last two photographs you can see the tram tracks (in the second - the tram itself). But I am most fascinated by the curly pillars (these are not lanterns, but holders of tram wires) ... and the eagles on the Kremlin towers (which, as you know, will be replaced with stars only in 1935; however, I’ve already talked about this).
But... On January 21, 1924, Lenin dies. It was decided to immortalize the leader of the world revolution by building a tomb for him in the heart of the capital (and, accordingly, the country) - on Red Square. The funeral is scheduled for January 27, and by this day the architect Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev is rebuilding the first, temporary mausoleum. This structure was made of wood and had the shape of a cube with a three-step top. Shchusev suggested making the inscription simple and laconic: “Lenin.”
Of course, it was necessary to destroy what was already occupying the place of the future mausoleum - the brick stand was dismantled.
January 1924, the brick stand is being dismantled. A memorial plaque on the tower is visible.
Construction of the mausoleum. Worker - rear view.
It is often written that the worker’s monument was also removed during the construction of the mausoleum. This is not entirely true - it remained in its place the entire time that Red Square was decorated with the first version of the mausoleum, that is, until May 1924 (even if this is only a few months, the fact remains a fact).
The first mausoleum, the worker and the edge of the memorial plaque
In May 1924, Shchusev began designing the second version of the mausoleum, no longer temporary, but intended long years to dominate the area. This mausoleum was also wooden, but it became much taller and generally larger in volume.
The worker was removed - of course, some guy next to the leader’s body is inappropriate. A. S. Abramov in the book “At the Kremlin Wall” wrote: “A four-meter statue of a worker at an anvil made of white stone, erected near the Senate Tower for the 5th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, is a symbol of the powerful creative force of the creators of the new world, which has become the best monument to the fallen fighters , “fell out of the architectural ensemble after the construction of the Lenin Mausoleum and was transported to another place in the city.” But you and I know that, firstly, the statue was not made of stone at all, but of plaster, so we can assume that it was not transported to any mysterious “other place in the city” - the fragile material could simply not withstand the movements from place to place.
The memorial plaque, which had previously been a visual center, was practically hidden from view - hidden behind the steps at the top of the mausoleum, it was visible only from the side. They stopped paying attention to the board so much that sometimes they even hid it almost entirely, for example, by hanging a huge portrait of Lenin on the Senate Tower.
Construction of the second wooden mausoleum, the plaque on the Senate Tower is visible
The second wooden mausoleum, the plaque on the Senate Tower is visible
Second wooden mausoleum, the plaque is partially hidden by a portrait of Lenin
This mausoleum also did not stand for very long - only five years. Wood does not last forever, and even though it was carefully processed, it was not saved from rotting. Shchusev is developing a new project - from granite. However, each of us has seen the third version of the mausoleum, built to last, even if only in pictures.
So, in 1929-1930, the familiar and recognizable silhouette of the mausoleum “flowed” from wood into stone, and the memorial plaque... well, what about the plaque? It hung and hung - like a familiar attribute and a familiar part of the landscape. And apparently it got even worse...
Stone mausoleum without a central tribune and the edge of the memorial plaque behind it
The memorial plaque remained in its place throughout the war. And in 1948 it was removed. The official version is due to damage. Of course, it is unrealistic for cement to hang in the open air for exactly 30 years and remain intact.
Why exactly in 1948 is clear without prompting: it was at this time that a through passage was made from the Kremlin to the Mausoleum through the Senate Tower (a gate appeared in its lower part, which exists to this day). During restoration and reconstruction it was very convenient to remove the memorial plaque.
For 15 years, the board “went into the shadows”, and in 1963 it was finally restored - under the supervision of Konenkov himself - and sent to the Russian Museum of Leningrad (in case anyone is confused, St. Petersburg), where it remains to this day. Go take a look.
And as a conclusion, a small note for those who are new to the topography of the Kremlin and still have not decided where the Senate Tower is located. Yes, here it is, so small and with a flag on the top of its head, standing in the center, immediately to the right of the Spasskaya Tower - well, you know it (if you look towards the mausoleum). That's it, won't you get lost?
Here they are - the gate in the wall of the Senate Tower, located right behind the Mausoleum
Modern view of the mausoleum and Senate tower
Spasskaya and Senate towers
The idea of a plan for monumental propaganda belonged to Lenin personally, who borrowed it from T. Campanella’s utopia “City of the Sun.” The main objectives of the plan were formulated in the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the monuments of the republic" (adopted on April 12, 1918). List of names historical figures, in whose honor it was planned to erect monuments in Russian cities, was approved by the Council of People's Commissars on July 30, 1918.
As part of Lenin's plan for monumental propaganda, about 20 sculptures were installed in Petrograd in 1918-1920.
Monument to A. N. Radishchev (1918, sculptor L. V. Sherwood)
Opened on September 22, 1918. It was located in a symbolic breach in the fence of the Winter Palace park from the embankment side.
From Lunacharsky's speech (in a retelling of "Petrograd Truth")
Radishchev belongs to us. Hands off him, right S.-R. and the Mensheviks! He was a revolutionary in full stature, who knew no compromises with serf owners and tyrants. And to him the first gift of the Russian revolution.
I bring to the attention of the commandant that on this date, during my duty at 5 o’clock in the morning, the monument erected on the corner of the former Winter Palace to Comrade Radishchev fell and broke. 1
Monument to F. Lassalle (1918, sculptor V. A. Sinaisky)
Opened on October 6, 1918, on the first anniversary of the October Revolution. It was located near the City Duma building on Nevsky Prospekt. Filmed in 1938.
Monument to N. A. Dobrolyubov (1918, sculptor K. F. Zale)
Opened on October 27, 1918 to mark the first anniversary of the October Revolution. It was located at the Tuchkov Bridge until 1924.
Monument to K. Marx (1918, sculptor A. T. Matveev)
Opened for the first anniversary of the October Revolution. Located at the Smolny Institute.
Monument "Red Guard" (1918, sculptor V. L. Simonov)
Opened for the first anniversary of the October Revolution. It was located at the Lutheran Church of St. Catherine on Bolshoi Avenue V.O. Existed until 1923.
Monument to N. G. Chernyshevsky (1918)
Monument to G. Heine (1918, sculptor V. A. Sinaisky)
Monument to T. G. Shevchenko (1918, sculptor J. Tilberg)
I was near the mosque. Existed until 1926.
The grand opening of the monument to the Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko took place in Petrograd. This is the first monument to Shevchenko in Russia.
Monument to S. Perovskaya (1918, sculpture about Griselli)
Opened on December 29, 1918. It was located on Znamenskaya Street. Removed by resolution of the Petrograd Soviet of April 8, 1919.
A.V. Lunacharsky about the opening of the monument:
Some directly jumped to the side, and Z. Lilina, in the highest tones, demanded that the monument be immediately removed. 1
Monument to A. I. Herzen (1919, sculptor L. V. Sherwood)
Monument to Auguste Blanqui (1919)
Monument to G. Garibaldi (1919, sculptor K. Zale)
Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution (1919, architect L.V. Rudnev)
Sculpture "To the Great Metalworker" (1920, sculptor M. F. Bloch)
It was located near the Palace of Labor.
Sculpture "Liberated Labor" (1920, sculptor M. F. Bloch)
V. M. Khodasevich:
The first rows were already entering the square and, completely stunned, stopped in front of the sculpture of the obscenely white, plaster, muscular “Proletarian” and slowly walked around it. Such statements began that, although I remember them, it’s awkward to write them, although many of them were even witty. 1
Bolshevik policy, as is known, was initially aimed not only at capturing and retaining political power, but also on the formation of a new society and a “new man”. As Lunacharsky wrote, “a person must think like WE, become a living, useful corresponding organ, part of this WE”.
Repression alone was, of course, not enough to solve this problem, and during the years of war communism many interesting forms of agitation of the population appeared, one of which was Lenin’s plan for monumental propaganda. Lenin borrowed the idea of this plan from T. Campanella’s utopia “City of the Sun,” and this is how Lunacharsky recalled Lenin’s words:
“In various prominent places, on suitable walls or on some special structures for this purpose, short but expressive inscriptions could be scattered, containing the most lasting, fundamental principles and slogans of Marxism... I consider monuments even more important than inscriptions: busts or entire figures, maybe bas-reliefs, groups... Particular attention should be paid to the opening of such monuments... Let each such discovery be an act of propaganda and a small holiday.”Generally speaking, right after February revolution In the city, the spontaneous destruction of monarchical symbols began - coats of arms or simply crowns were knocked off double-headed eagles - until recently one could see such eagles without crowns in the embankment fence opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress on Trinity Square. (Zinaida Gippius described it this way in her diary: “On Nevsky they were breaking eagles from everywhere, very peacefully. The janitors were sweeping, the boys were carrying the wings, shouting: “Here’s a wing for lunch.”). Soon proposals to remove the monuments appeared in the press - there were even calls for destruction Bronze Horseman, but the monument to Nicholas I caused particular dissatisfaction. So, for example, A.V. Amfiteatrov addressed readers: “A commission for the protection of monuments arose in Petrograd. Isn’t a commission needed to destroy some monuments... The most outrageous monument to the Holstein Torp dynasty, which must certainly be removed from the eyes of the people, and the sooner the better, is the monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac’s Square.”.
But these were only calls from the press. The Bolsheviks, having come to power, quickly got to work. Already on April 12, 1918, the Council of People’s Commissars decree “On the monuments of the republic” was adopted, in which three tasks were outlined:
1) Monuments erected in honor of kings and their servants and of no historical or artistic interest are subject to removal from squares and streets and partly moved to warehouses, partly for utilitarian use.By the first of May, the cities were indeed decorated in the most curious way. Let us turn again to Gippius’s diary:2) A Special Commission of the People's Commissars of Education and Property of the Republic and the Head of the Department fine arts under the People's Commissariat of Education is charged, in agreement with the artistic colleges of Moscow and Petrograd, to determine which monuments are subject to removal.
[...]4) The Council of People's Commissars expresses the desire that on May 1st some of the ugliest idols will already be removed and the first models of new monuments will be erected for the judgment of the masses.
“Wednesday on Strastnaya - May 1, new style. The rulers declared a “holiday for all the people.” Lunacharsky, this lying hairdresser, swears that he will create “a holiday out of holidays,” beauty out of beauties. They will carry chariots with figs (old world) and dragons ( new world, Soviet commune). Therefore, the cookies will be burned, and dragons will be crowned. The futurists are inflamed, greedily smearing their posters. Lunacharsky also promises the overthrow of idiots - old monuments. They are already aiming at the bar sculpture. Klodt on Mariinskaya Square. (Nothing came of Karl Marx; it’s easier to “overthrow” – let’s overthrow!)However, the holidays of the era of military communism are a topic worthy of separate consideration, but for now let’s return to the “monuments of the Republic.” The first-born of Lenin’s plan was a bust of Radishchev, installed in a symbolic break in the fence of the Winter Palace (which then stood around the park on Palace Passage). The bust was created by L.W. Sherwood and unveiled on September 22, 1918. In honor of the opening, a meeting was held, which was attended, in particular, by the “lied hairdresser” Lunacharsky. His speech was retold in Petrogradskaya Pravda:Just in case, they also set up machine guns. What if the unemployed come to the holiday with their faces not shining enough?”
“Radishchev belongs to us. Hands off him, right S.-R. and the Mensheviks! He was a revolutionary in full stature, who knew no compromises with serf owners and tyrants. And to him is the first gift of the Russian revolution.”This is the “privatization” of Radishchev. However, the monument did not stand for long. Already the report of the guardsman of the 2nd city district dated January 19, 1919 read with all the characteristic of a revolutionary style:
“I bring to the attention of the commandant that on this date, during my duty at 5 o’clock in the morning, the monument erected on the corner of the former Winter Palace to Comrade Radishchev fell and broke.”
(Photo from the New-York Public Library collection)
And after the opening of the firstborn, monuments began to appear like mushrooms after rain. Already on the first anniversary of the coup, monuments to Marx were unveiled at Smolny, Dobrolyubov at Tuchkov Bridge and Lassalle at the City Duma building. Until the end of 1918, monuments to Chernyshevsky appeared on Senate Square, Heine - near the University, Shevchenko - near the mosque, Sofya Perovskaya - on Znamenskaya Square (where else could a monument to her be erected). By the spring of 1919, monuments to Herzen were unveiled near Liteyny Bridge, Auguste Blanqui at the Baltic Station, Garibaldi at the Moscow Gate. And in just 1918-1920, about 20 monuments appeared in the city different parts cities.
The artistic merits of these creations often caused the strangest reactions from the townspeople (although it should be noted that on average the level of work in Petrograd was much higher than in other cities). So, for example, the monument to Sofya Perovskaya was made by an Italian futurist sculptor, had no portrait resemblance and represented, according to contemporaries, “a mighty lioness with a huge hairstyle, with powerful forms of face and neck.” At its opening, according to Lunacharsky’s recollections, “some directly jumped to the side, and Z. Lilina, in the highest tones, demanded that the monument be immediately removed”. (Lilina, Zinoviev’s first wife, worked in the Petrograd government). The monument was removed by a special resolution of the Petrograd Soviet.
(Opening of the monument to Sofya Perovskaya, December 30, 1918. Photographer Bulla. From the collection of TsGAKFFD St. Petersburg)
An even more interesting effect was caused by the sculpture “Liberated Labor” (installed on Kamenny Island for the day, sculptor M.F. Bloch). This plaster monument was a 10-meter figure of a worker with a single item of clothing: a hammer. This is what the artist V.M. recalled. Khodasevich:
“The sculptor Bloch sculpts a ten-meter figure of “Proletarian” from plaster and says that he has decided to “outdo” Michelangelo’s “David” in size. Bloch and his assistants work without rest. At night, fires are lit. Last days I also spent the nights before the opening on the island. The sculpture "Proletarian" caused Bloch and me a lot of trouble. Suddenly the revolutionary troika from the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of all the events on the island, arrived [...] I see the upset faces of the comrades, heatedly explaining themselves to Bloch, who insists that “Proletary” is good, and rightly says that even if he had agreed to attach a fig leaf, then This is impossible - the scaffolding has been dismantled, and the plaster has run out. In the squabble, they forgot about my presence, quarreled and called everything by their proper names[...] The first rows were already entering the square and, completely stunned, stopped in front of the sculpture of an obscenely white, plaster, muscular “Proletarian” and slowly walked around it. Such statements began that even though I remember them, it’s awkward to write it, although much of it was even witty.”The sculptor was forced to urgently “dress” the monument in an apron. I note that similar “revisions” of monuments happened in Soviet history and later. The most anecdotal (and I’m not sure that this story really took place) case is how in some city there was a monument to Gorky, depicting a writer with proud hair. When the fight against hippies began, the petrel of the revolution was “shaved.”
The sad circumstance in this rather comical story was that (according to some information) the plaster for the gigantic “Liberated Labor” was taken from the stocks of city hospitals - and this was in the conditions of a total shortage of everything that existed during the years of war communism.
(Photo from the NYPL collection)
Almost none of the examples of Lenin's plan for monumental propaganda have survived to this day on the streets of the city. Most of them were made of short-lived materials and quickly became dilapidated. Many were lost during the catastrophic flood of 1924.
Monument to Dobrolyubov, overturned by the flood of 1924.
The fate of the monument to Volodarsky, which was opened in 1919 on Konnogvardeisky Boulevard (sculptor M. Bloch), is noteworthy. This plaster monument was literally the victim of a terrorist act - in 1921 it was blown up by a certain Vasily Orlovsky. His remains stood in this place for a long time; G.A. Knyazev (archivist, known mainly for his work in the archives of the Academy of Sciences and for the siege diaries that were used by Adamovich and Granin in the “Siege Book”) made this on April 27, 1922 entry:
I don't understand anything. Or maybe I understand too much... The monument to Volodarsky at the beginning of Konnogvardeisky Boulevard with destroyed legs and in a dirty, torn case, from which an outstretched hand sticks out, is a terrible symbol of unfortunate Russia. I cannot pass by this disgrace without a shudder of heart... And there, not far away, is another monument - a Giant on a mad horse. He's still intact. Only the letters were stolen. No, no, Russia is still alive.The monument to Lassalle stood the longest - it was removed in 1936. The exception was the monument to the victims of the revolution on the Champ de Mars. The bust of Nekrasov on Liteiny Prospekt has also been preserved - but it already goes beyond the period of military communism (installed in 1922). After 1991, one of the busts of Lenin, located on Shirokaya Street, disappeared - with some stretch it can also be considered belonging to Lenin’s plan: it was opened in 1923 during Ilyich’s lifetime. A copy of the monument to Radishchev is kept in one of the Moscow museums; perhaps, copies of other sculptures have also been preserved.
From about 1920, Lenin's plan for monumental propaganda lost its initial aggressive impetus - a shortage of materials and general economic difficulties took its toll. For some time this plan existed in the form of competitions (for example, for the design of a monument to K. Liebknecht and R. Luxemburg). The advent of the NEP completely changed the worldview of the Soviet government - the romance of the first years was a thing of the past. The construction and destruction of monuments acquired systematic features. A kind of afterword to the monumental “explosion” of 1918-1920 was the story of the planned replacement of the angel on the Alexander Column with the figure of Lenin (later - the figure of a Red Army soldier). This story, which took place in 1924-1925 and was apparently connected with Zinoviev’s ambitions, was quite in the spirit of the era of military communism - the defenders of the column, for example, proposed erecting a statue of Lenin in ancient robes. But, fortunately, it ended in nothing: after long discussions and protests, the project remained only in the form of minutes of meetings and bureaucratic correspondence.
from lecture 5 -
ABOUT ILYICH'S "TESTAMENTS", "ADVICES" AND MODERNITY
It is not for nothing that Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is recognized as a genius. We will not discuss good or evil now. But he managed to create a political party practically from a “half-empty” place, and to make its ideas and activities understandable and attractive to many citizens of Russia (and not only pre-revolutionary Russia). It is no coincidence that Lenin is also considered one of the founders of the theory of Soviet agitation and propaganda - in Ilyich’s works we will find many interesting thoughts that can be useful to a modern politician.
The multi-volume collected works of V.I. Lenin contain many serious theoretical works and works of an applied nature, among which there are works devoted to the organization of agitation and propaganda work of the RSDLP. First of all, the articles “Where to start”, “Party organization and party literature” and “What to do” should be named. Is it worth it for a modern Russian politician to get acquainted with them? Of course it's worth it. And it is worth reflecting on Lenin’s plan for creating a party. But, of course, one should not stupidly copy Lenin’s experience.
What are and to what extent are Lenin’s “testaments” applicable now?
Let me remind you that Vladimir Ilyich began creating the party virtually from scratch.
Lenin's "model" of the party.
At the end of the 19th century, there were several dozen workers’ circles in Russia, which had to not only be united, but also attract a significant part of the workers and peasants to the ideas of Marxism (and later Bolshevism). Lenin paid great attention to what we could now call the word “modeling” or “designing” the party.
The “Leninist model” boiled down to the fact that the Bolshevik Party is a small group of professional revolutionaries, which relies on certain classes or strata, defining them as its support or allies. At the same time, the party determined who was an ally and who was a “temporary fellow traveler” depending on the political situation. Historians know what debates took place in the RSDLP regarding the clause in the party charter defining who could be a member of the RSDLP.
Another feature is that Lenin acted underground, illegally.
I note that most of the parties that applied for seats in the first and subsequent Russian parliaments were created mainly due to the fact that the Tsar announced elections to the First State Duma. That is, only the birth of parliament became the impetus for the unification of the landowners, bourgeoisie, middle class, and nobility in the ranks of the parties. And if the tsar had not called elections to the State Duma, then it is likely that there would have been only one party in Russia. Well, maybe two.
And now – some of Lenin’s “testaments” and “advices”.
Lenin set the creation of an all-Russian political newspaper as the first task of party building.
At the same time, he determined the specifics of this newspaper - it should be not only an agitator and propagandist, but also a collective organizer.
And another feature of the propaganda activities of Russian Social Democrats (but not the last) is that Lenin paid special attention to “exposures” in the party press.
This is what Ilyich himself wrote in his work "Where to begin?":
The starting point of activity, the first practical step to the creation of the desired organization, and finally, the main thread, following which we could steadily develop, deepen and expand this organization, should be the production of an all-Russian political newspaper. We need, first of all, a newspaper; without it, the systematic conduct of fundamentally consistent and comprehensive propaganda and agitation, which constitutes a constant and main task social democracy in general and especially the urgent task of the present moment, when interest in politics, in issues of socialism, has been awakened in the broadest layers of the population... It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the degree of frequency and regularity of the publication (and distribution) of a newspaper can serve as the most accurate measure of how solidly we have established this very primary and most vital branch of our activity. Next, we need an all-Russian newspaper. If we fail and until we are able to unite our influence on the people... through the printed word, the idea of uniting other, more complex, difficult, but also more decisive methods of influence will be utopian. ...Finally, we definitely need political newspaper. Without a political body it is unthinkable... a movement worthy of the name political. Without it, our task is absolutely impossible - to concentrate all the elements of political discontent and protest. We have taken the first step, we have awakened in the working class a passion for “economic”, factory denunciations. We must take the next step: awaken in all any conscious strata of the people the passion for political denunciations... People who are capable and ready to denounce do not have a platform from which they could speak - there is no audience that passionately listens and encourages the speakers. ...And we are obliged to create a platform for popular denunciation of the tsarist government; - a Social Democratic newspaper should be such a platform.
The role of the newspaper, however, is not limited to the dissemination of ideas, political education and the attraction of political allies. A newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer... With the help of the newspaper and in connection with it, a permanent organization will take shape of its own accord, engaged... in regular common work, teaching its members to closely monitor political events, assess their significance and their influence on different segments of the population, develop expedient ways of influencing these events on the part of the revolutionary party... And if we join forces in running a common newspaper, then such work will prepare and promote not only the most skillful propagandists, but and the most skillful organizers, the most talented political leaders of the party, capable at the right moment of giving a slogan for a decisive battle and leading it.
If speak about today, then which of the Russian parties have their own press organ? There are few of them - “ United Russia"Yes LDPR.
A Just Russia has published several issues, and many people, of course, have election newspapers, but elections are taking place and... silence.
Which political parties have their own television channel or radio station? Which leaflets are issued not during, but between elections?
And here’s the question: if a party does not have its own television and radio channel, its own print media, and does not have full access to the airwaves or the press, how does it disseminate information about its views?
Of course, it should be said that in Lenin’s time there was not only television and radio, but also the Internet. And each of our parties has its own website. But how do our parties use the Internet?! Oh oh oh. (Note - "Uh-oh-oh" - this means that they are using the Internet poorly. Even disgusting, if you think about the problems they are going to solve. But more on that later).
And I have to say: So, dear gentlemen politicians, you will not be able to achieve success in disseminating your views, positions, or win supporters! This means that it will not be possible to achieve success in the elections. And then your sponsors and donors will turn their backs on you.
And you will end as civilized political parties
Of course, many journalists act as relays of certain political ideas and assessments, that is, they express and convey to the masses the positions of certain political parties. But for the reader they express not someone else's party position, but their own. And therefore they are more authoritative and respected by the audience than the politicians themselves. But by the way, this is not the time to talk about the political skill of journalists and the journalistic skill of politicians.
Now almost every second so-called oppositionist complains that he is not allowed to speak on television.
But Vladimir Ilyich was also not given a word in the tsarist press, but he somehow managed to act! He printed the newspaper abroad and smuggled it into Russia via couriers.
But today’s politicians are allowed to campaign not from abroad, but in Russia, but no... Either they don’t want to, or they don’t know how.
The Bolshevik Party worked much more actively during the preparation of the first Russian revolution. If you look at the corresponding section of the Agitation Club (look here or here), you will see with what frequency leaflets and proclamations of the Bolsheviks appeared during the first Russian revolution. That is why they were able to lead the revolution.
KA-A-ANESHNO, then the situation was different.
Of course, there was tsarist autocratic oppression, the police, the cruelest oppression of the workers, poverty among the peasants, etc. and so on. and, as they say, the revolutionary situation was maturing even without the Bolsheviks.
But would people have followed the Bolsheviks if they had not engaged in agitation and propaganda?
And not only did the Bolshevik Proletary and Pravda engage in propaganda of their views, but they also exposed the views of the Mensheviks and other opportunists. And how they exposed it!
Where to get money, a modern aspiring politician will ask.
Here the experience of the Bolshevik Party should be taken critically, but creatively.
The story of Lenin receiving money from the German government to prepare for the revolution, although it looks beautiful, raises doubts among many serious historians. But since our parties are prohibited by law from receiving money from abroad, we will not discuss this.
The experience of the Bolsheviks and especially the Socialist Revolutionaries, who “expropriated” money for revolutionary needs, that is, simply robbed the “bourgeois”, should be categorically rejected. (By the way, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin also had a hand in the latter in his Bolshevik youth).
So where can you get the money?
Like any normal political party, there are, firstly, membership fees, and secondly, rich (or simply wealthy people) who are ready to provide financial assistance to a cause that they consider right.
And there is one more resource. The party can earn money itself! How? I would not like to answer this question specifically and in detail (something must be left for consultations with seminars), so I will limit myself to a cynical hint: the party can earn money through socially useful work! And it is not necessary to unload the cars.
It is no secret that the Bolsheviks were helped financially by both Maxim Gorky and Savva Morozov. And many of the creative intelligentsia did not treat them so badly. Because their attitude towards the tsarist regime was much worse.
Another thing is that one attitude existed BEFORE the October Revolution, another AFTER. Maxim Gorky, for example, joined the RSDLP in 1905, and left it in 1917 (he did not re-register).
Can Russian intelligentsia support our parties? Of course it can. And not only the intelligentsia! Just look at how creative singers, artists, football players are, finally, on the candidate lists of some parties! And there is no doubt that they do it selflessly (unlike filming in advertising). In any case, I want to believe this. And how many of our stars are participating in election events! This means they can support politicians if they want!
The truth is that they talk about different things about the selflessness of our stars... But about that too another time.
But in any case, if the party has ideas and they are smart, then it will be able to find financial support.
Of course, you should not trade places on party lists and try to use any tricks (grants, public funds, etc.) to drag money for your party from the state budget. It's simply ignoble. How can a party that cares about the welfare of the people dare to attach itself to the national budget?! Thank God we don’t have this in our country. Or we just don't know about it.
Another thing is the efficiency of using funds. But that is another topic.
And returning to Lenin’s behests, one more thing should be noted - there is no need to count every statement of Vladimir Ilyich methodological recommendation. The situation in Russia in 1905, 1912, 1916 was different. And therefore Lenin paid great attention to TACTICS of action in his works. And his statements on tactics should be considered just that, tactical, and not formulations of some fundamental principles.
And you should approach them CREATIVELY, adopting some, rejecting others.
Here, for example, are “denunciations”, the importance and necessity of which Lenin writes in his work “What is to be done.”
A modern politician must seriously think about whether he needs to denounce something or someone and how.
Watch any of Karaulov’s programs or read any of Khinshtein’s books - what are these denunciations, revelations or attacks? Or even slander? Or just literary creativity? (note - the names of Karaulov and Khinshtein are taken simply as an example, since their performances are bright and sharp, unlike many others)
Watch or listen to someone’s “critical” speech (be it a deputy, a prime minister, a president, or a governor):
What is criticized are “individual shortcomings” (as it was customary to write in very recent Soviet times) or the style and principles of government activities?
Individual careless officials are criticized or general organization affairs in public administration?
In Soviet times, “Krokodil” and numerous feuilletonists were involved in “exposing” individuals, who said, for example, that individual workers exhibited “personal immodesty.” True, the specific names of these workers were not often mentioned in Soviet criticism.
On television I was engaged in “revelation” (of course, we use this word in in this case with irony) Sergei Mikhalkov (author of many children's poems, fables, as well as the text of the USSR anthem), who was the editor-in-chief of the satirical television magazine "Fitil". The “Wick” denounced the director of a factory who produced unfashionable coats or defective televisions, a janitor who did not sweep the street well, etc. “negative phenomena” and “negligent workers”.
To what extent critical materials were subject to control and censorship in Soviet times, I think there is no need to say.
During the years of perestroika, newspapers and magazines received a “sip of freedom” and were engaged in “exposing” the recent past and a little of the perestroika “present” (you will find some publications in the Agitclub in the section on perestroika -).
Nowadays many people are engaged in “convictions”. Both in the press and on television.
But what is the effect? In Soviet times, even to measured criticism in the press, those criticized were obliged to respond. And what a resonance this criticism had in society! What about now?
If criticism of injustice does not evoke a response, it means that it is either carried out ineptly, or society has become so indifferent that nothing except entertainment programs can reach it. Well, maybe at the dollar exchange rate.
However, you can personally assess the decline in social sensitivity. Does anything make you uncomfortable? Indignation? Anger? Or do you not care at all? And if not everything, then what don’t you like? What's infuriating? What are you unhappy about?
If you cannot answer, then you will not be a good agitator or propagandist. Because campaigning and propaganda require emotions, feelings, nerves, pain. And sincere ones.
This is especially important for a politician.
He may be mistaken, make mistakes, but if he has principles, beliefs, views, a desire to defend them, to convince other people that he is right, then he will be able to achieve success.
If a politician has one sincere desire - to occupy a higher position with more money, then he will also convince people (of course, that he cares about their welfare, about the welfare of the country, and not at all about his own), but... some, but then many people will see through it.
Of course, there are still opportunities to manipulate, coerce, intimidate people, etc. (and even rig votes during the election campaign), but this has nothing to do with civilized politics.
But maybe Lenin’s idea of “exposure” is irrelevant in principle? In the end, Russia in 1907 and Russia in 2007 are, as they say in Odessa, “two big differences.”
Maybe now our politicians should not “reprove”, “expose”, “criticize”, etc., but on the contrary - “consolidate”, look for ways of “constructive interaction”, strive for “consensus”, forget about political differences and work together , together, in one impulse...
For example, the thesis about the “anti-people policy of the authorities.” Is this anti-nationalism characteristic of all government decisions or individual ones? It manifests itself only in the decisions of the president and State Duma or are many decisions of local authorities “anti-people”?
Luzhkov's decisions, for example, are they anti-people? What about the decisions of the Federation Council?
In general, re-read Vladimir Ilyich and take a few things into account.
BANAL CONCLUSIONS.
Political Party must "decide". With your own ideas, ideology, allies and opponents, views and positions. And not just decide, but also formulate them.
A political party must be actively involved in campaigning and promoting its views, and not only during the election campaign.
A political party must “position itself” by clearly and unambiguously showing its differences from other parties, demonstrating its advantages and criticizing, exposing and exposing the shortcomings, vices and errors of other political forces.
INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION.
Lenin was not only a great theorist, but also a good practitioner.
And he understood the importance of agitation and propaganda not only for the party seeking to change power, but also for the party in power.
By the way, after the revolution, among the first decrees of the Soviet government were decrees on the closure of the opposition press and the creation of the Cheka. And Stalin (thanks to the efforts of the GPU-NKVD) virtually reduced the possibility of “exposure” to zero.
And the best way to learn about Vladimir Ilyich’s own views on agitation and propaganda is from the works of Lenin himself. And, by the way, appreciate his journalistic skills.
