Newspaper articles for the 1920s. Absolutely awesome catalog

But first, a small preamble.

“The leader of all the oppressed on earth” positioned himself as a journalist and knew a lot about propaganda. And then say, to whom, no matter how he, the editor, with nearly half a dozen proletarian newspapers, does not know the power of the printed word ?! And also photo and film images? And now, remember, dear reader, how many photographs have you seen in your life of the October Revolution of 1917? At exhibitions, in the media? One? Ten? Twenty? Only a few come to my mind: the assault on the Winter Palace is something semi-dark and semi-vague; Ulyanov (Lenin) associates, but a couple of revolutionary sailors ...

Worker drags a machine gun
  now he will join the battle
  hanging poster "Gentlemen Down!"
  ... well, etc.)

I looked for this interesting picture in my archive.

The rest are leveled in the events of subsequent no less turbulent years. It would seem strange: really in 1917 there were no photographers, newsreels in Russia? What misfortune has happened with cinema-photographic equipment? Unfortunately, neither the first nor the second. The trouble came from where no one was waiting for her. On October 11, 1918, a government decree was issued: “All professional photographers with negatives or copies of photographs depicting revolutionary events starting February 27, 1917 are required to register them at the latest until October 25 with the regional cinema committee (Sergievskaya St. 20). Disobedience to this order is punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 rubles. ” Also, it was ordered to submit to the committee three prints from each negative. And on March 1 and 4, 1919, in Moscow and Petrograd (respectively), the so-called photo-film committees were established, which completely took control, or rather, subjugated, the process of the formation of young Soviet photo-film art.

An example of this is the example of the family of the great Russian photographer Karl Karlovich Bulla, which we will write more about in the next issue of Soyuz. On the basis of the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of January 28, 1929 and the Decree of the Presidium of the Leningrad Council of April 29, 1929, the Bulla family (Karl himself had already died by this time) was obliged to transfer all the negatives of the master to the Leningrad Regional Archival Bureau. The archive received more than 130 thousand negatives, of which almost half were created by K.K. Bull or with his participation. How many works of the master have reached contemporaries? In the photo salon to them. K. Bulla (Nevsky pr. 54), several hundred of his works hang - in fact, all that remains of his legacy ...

But this is the preamble - our talk today - about the writing fraternity. And not in the global historical, but, on the contrary, in a very narrow section of the mid-20s of the last century. What did young Soviet journalism live then? What was interesting, and perhaps instructive for us? The old issue of the Journalist magazine for 1924, which by chance turned up on my desktop, will “make a witness” of the era.

But first, a few words about journalism and the internal political situation of those "fiery years."

Professor R.P. Hovsepyan, a major specialist in the history of Russian journalism, writes about this period:

In the spring of 1921, questions of organizing propaganda of a new economic policy among the broad masses of workers and peasants came to the fore in the work of Soviet journalism.

Let me remind you that at the Tenth Congress of the RCP (B) Party, which met in early March 1921, V.I. Lenin proposed replacing the outdated policy of "war communism" with the so-called "new economic policy" (NEP). The Leninist idea met with a sharply negative attitude from the majority of his associates. But, in the end, his position prevailed.

... the active actions of the press were restrained by a number of reasons that arose in previous years. They were expressed in the extremely low level of publications, explainable in wartime, but unacceptable in peacetime. The state of the press was adversely affected by the devastation that swept the country. Material difficulties did not allow to engage in the training of journalistic personnel, improving the technical base of newspaper and journal production. This reduced interest in Soviet journalism, dropped its credibility among readers, and restrained influence on the masses.

Here is an example from the archives of the Union - the Izvestia issue for 1919

In the second half of 1922, the press was in a state of crisis. The transition to NEP aggravated the already difficult financial situation of the press, its printing and technical equipment. In addition, both the lack of journalistic staff and their poor professional preparedness affected. The overwhelming majority of journalists in the Soviet press could not find the main topics that arose in connection with the NEP, could not quickly rebuild, she was still carried away by praise, the repetition of long-known provisions and was divorced from real life. Such a sharp turn in party politics led to the fact that many, not understanding the essence of NEP, fell into a panic and were at a loss.

Amurskaya Pravda, 1920 (it is a pity that it is impossible to read a lot ...)

How to pay the newspaper:

In 1918, the editor of Izvestia of the Annunciation Council of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants' Deputies (the future Amur Truth) received 450 rubles a month.

400 rubles was the earnings of a team member.

150 rubles - a reporter. It was good money for those times, for example, the chairman of the regional executive committee Fedor Mukhin had a salary of 450 rubles.

- The deterioration of the state of the Soviet press was also affected by a certain revival of private enterprise, which led to the emergence of a significant number of publishing associations. During the first year of NEP in Moscow, 220 were registered, and in Petrograd, 99 private publishers, which flooded the book market with products designed for NEPMs, business people, and ordinary people.

Here's an example of paid ads from those years ...

To overcome the press crisis, which had diverse forms of manifestation, complex measures were required. Among them, the main place was taken by material assistance to the press. In 1923, financing of the local press began to be carried out from the republican, regional, and provincial budgets. The central press was financed from the state budget.

Material assistance from the state could bring the desired results - in combination with the income from subscribing to periodicals. But there were almost no people willing to write newspapers and magazines. In May 1924, the Thirteenth Congress of the RCP (B.) Adopted a directive according to which local party bodies and newspaper offices should ensure that every communist subscribes to the party newspaper and one mass peasant newspaper is written out for every 10 peasant households. At the same time, this meant not only “The Poor”, but also the peasant newspaper, which saw the light at the end of November 1923, which had special hopes. The newspaper immediately adopted the necessary guidelines. She was worried about literally all issues of peasant life: problems of land management, land use, agricultural technology; she helped the peasant with advice, and carried on active correspondence with him. The editors had their own lawyer, their own agronomist, who advised readers and answered their questions.

And here is the “Peasant newspaper” - true, for January 1929 (5-6 years after the period under consideration). During this time, the newspaper has undergone a qualitative transformation - layout, design, or as we said today - the design has changed for the better, which, however, cannot be said about the content.

The second important measure is providing print staff. For this purpose, admission to the State Institute of Journalism is almost doubled. A large group of journalists who have left for party and economic work returns to the editorial office. In addition, people who show a penchant for journalism are sent to newspapers and magazines from the sphere of social and economic activities.

The liberalization of life in Soviet Russia made it possible to establish a spiritual connection between the mother country and emigration during the years of NEP.

In an atmosphere of revitalization of private entrepreneurship, the expansion of the newspaper and magazine market and business publications, the revival of the idea of \u200b\u200bfreedom of the press was quite natural.

NEP allowed the government to make significant allocations to strengthen the printing base. Dozens of printing houses are being reconstructed, they are provided with new equipment, fonts, paint, paper.

In the years 1925-1927. the Izvestia newspaper building is under construction in Moscow (architect G. Barkhin, with the participation of M. Barkhin). Initially, the authors presented the design of the 11-story tower. But urban planning considerations forced to abandon the high-altitude composition. A six-story-high option was adopted. Printing machines located on the lower floors predetermined the nature of the windows, which turned the facade almost into a completely glazed plane. Vertical blades and floors create a clear reinforced concrete "mesh". The round windows of the editorial offices located on the top floor of the building form a rather expressive black-and-white “decoration” of the building. The building firmly entered the circle of indisputable achievements of Soviet architecture.

The circulation of the entire Soviet press by mid-1924 reached 3 million copies. Particularly noticeable is the growth of the peasant press, led by the Peasant Newspaper. Nevertheless, life urgently required the further development of periodicals. In 1925, 589 newspapers were published in the country, including peasant - 141, workers - 76, Komsomol - 72, military - 17. New central publications appeared: Komsomolskaya Pravda, Pionerskaya Pravda, a year earlier, Red Star.

1921–1925 can rightfully be called the time of the mass development of magazine periodicals, despite all the difficulties that the press found itself in at the beginning of the 1920s. New socio-political, literary, artistic, popular science, youth magazines are being created. Among them: “Proletarian revolution”, “Krasnaya nov”, “Under the banner of Marxism”, “Peasant woman”, “Young guard”, “Crocodile”, “October”, “Star”, “New world”, etc. Back to top During the first five-year period, over 1700 magazines and journal-type publications were published in the country, with a total circulation of about 150 million copies.

In August 1922, subscribers of Rabochaya Gazeta received the first issue of Crocodile. In the first issue in the program poem of Demian Poor “Red Crocodile - the bravest of the brave! - against black and white crocodiles ”the task of publishing is clearly formulated:

Get to all rottenness
And stir up rot without any mercy,
So that NEP’s turbidity does not bloom
And did not rot
That is the task of the Red Crocodile!

“We decided that the time had come, To clean the NEP Nile, Release the RED Crocodile,” he wrote in the same place. However, the nature of the new journal, designed for a working reader, was not determined solely by this task.

Crocodile is rapidly gaining immense popularity in the work environment. The circulation is growing rapidly. By the beginning of 1923, it reaches 150 thousand copies. - unprecedented figures for those times for publications of this kind.

The Crocodile owed its success to a talented team of writers and artists working on its release. The first editor of the magazine K.S. played a large role in uniting this team. Eremeev is a great publicist and one of the best feuilletonists of the pre-October Pravda. The editorial board of the journal included D. Bedny, D. Moor, V. Lebedev-Kumach, M. Cheremnykh, M. Pustynin, I. Malyutin, I. Abramsky, S. Hessen. From the fourth number in the "Crocodile" comes Vladimir Mayakovsky. The magazine incorporates the best powers of satirists and comedians. The writers of the older generation (M. Andreev, S. Basov-Verkhoyantsev, N. Bogdanov, S. Gorodetsky, K. Mill-Polyarny, L. Nikulin, D. Tiger, A. Flit, K. Shelonsky and others) become his collaborators. , talented youth (M. Andrievskaya, A. Grigorovich, A. Zorich, V. Kataev, S. Ogurtsov, G. Ryklin, etc.) The circle of artists is expanding (Yu. Ganf, K. Golts, V. Denis, K. Eliseev , P. Kemenov, N. Kupreyanov, Yu. Kupriyanov, A. Lebedev, D. Melnikov, V. Mikhailov, P. Radimov, G. Rose, A. Samokhvalov, A. Sokolov, I. Chashnikov, N. Shestopalov, M . Yazvin).

From February 1923, the “Crocodile Library” began to be regularly published, in which works of the magazine’s best satirists and caricature albums of its leading artists were printed in mass editions. In May of the same year, the release of "Live Crocodile" was organized — repertoire collections of satirical plays, feuilletons, miniatures intended for theaters, workers' and Red Army clubs, etc.

Crocodile had a great influence on the formation of the Soviet satirical periodicals of the 1920s. By its type, satirical applications of central and local newspapers begin to be built.

Towards the end of the recovery period, the mass rabselkor movement is rapidly developing. If in 1924 there were 100 thousand workers and rural correspondents in the country, then in a year there were already 216 thousand. To summarize the experience of the Rabelselkor movement and the spread of proven forms of leadership in 1924, the editorial board of Pravda began publishing the journal Worker correspondent ”, which a year later gets the name“ Worker and Peasant Correspondent ”. In November 1923, the first meeting of the rabselkors took place. The second All-Union Conference of Press Activists took place in December 1924, and the third in 1926. Their participants discussed in detail the issues of studying rabelselkors, newspaper management methods, strengthening rabselkor organizations, expanding their ranks.

The next paragraph is a special conversation ... The professor writes:

In the 20s. another link appeared in the movement of press activists, which is almost never mentioned. We are talking about chamber, prison, camp correspondents. By 1921, in Soviet Russia, there were 132 concentration camps in which from 40 to 60 thousand people sat. Moreover, about half of them were convicted for political reasons, i.e. for dissent. The regulations on places of detention in the RSFSR, adopted in 1920, allowed the publication of newspapers and magazines in those houses of detention and correctional labor institutions where there were technical capabilities for this. There were personnel for this type of activity - many educated people sat in prisons. They founded the Soviet prison periodicals under the supervision of the cultural and educational departments of the State Administration of Places of Detention (GUMZ). Such newspapers in the early 20s. several dozen came out. In 1927, 432 issues of prison newspapers and magazines were printed. At first, the detention regime was relatively sparing. Collaboration in the prison press was also encouraged. Due to this, the number of camcorders, prison guards, lagkors in each newspaper was significant. Nevertheless, the class approach, hostility towards those who were considered convicted of counter-revolutionary activity, significantly limited the capabilities of such “correspondents” by the will of the camp and prison authorities.

This picture was created a little later, in a different historical era, but the process of preparing a camp newspaper is obvious.

One of the leading topics is the state of affairs in the national economy. More and more materials appeared in the press about the commissioning of new plants, factories, hydroelectric power stations, mines in various regions of the country. Newspapers criticized collectives and enterprises lagging behind in restoration work.

In the first decade of Soviet power, domestic journalism underwent major structural changes. Having entered the October Revolution as a multi-party system, it acquires a one-party system during the years of the Civil War. The liberalization of the Soviet regime caused by NEP was a serious test for one-party journalism. Overcoming the crisis, it evolved into a multinational differentiated system of the media. The short-term period of the liberalization of society led to the fact that the totalitarian ideology became dominant, that Soviet journalism began to more and more confidently fit into the emerging administrative-command system, the main place in which was occupied by party policy.

The essential thing in the above is liberalization, freedom. In fact, it was a short but extremely interesting and fruitful period in the development of Russian journalism. One "tyrant" left, the other had not yet ascended and the reins were slightly released ... Freethinking winds started to blow, and the hottest heads began to pull the white robes of liberty over the dusty and in some places rusted statue of the Russian press. In fact, everything was much simpler - in a hurry they did not have time to close the door of the mousetrap, and the content of "liveliness" rejoiced in the sun and light ...

Let us try from these positions to consider the contents of the summer issue of the Journalist magazine for 1924.

The 12th issue opens in our opinion, an article of Comrade. Trotsky's “Mass Newspaper and Reader,” which is a transcript of his speech at a meeting of military press workers. “A military newspaper is, first of all, a newspaper and then a military newspaper,” comrade Comrade cuts with his palm. Trotsky. “As a newspaper, it should be a good newspaper,” - unambiguously and revolutionaryly uncompromising! But the tone is calm, even benevolent ... in the role of "big brother", Leiba Davidovich advises military commanders how to conduct newspaper business. The next material by N. Ivanov, “Closer to Life,” is about the stamping of the language and journalistic images. In the article dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin, reveals some features of the poet-journalist in his relationship with Bulgarin. In the rubric “Discussion” you can hear the echoes of the battles between the Smekhovekhists and the adherents of the new faith ...

An excellent photograph of the working moment in the Associated Press with a detailed signature acquaints the reader with the organization of work of the American telegraph agency.

Next - a photo story about the presentation of the “living” newspaper, difficulties of the Rabelsselkor movement, issues of bibliography and ecology, delivery of circulation to the subscriber, right there - how to improve the work of the corrector, how to help the nascent Komsomol press - the themes gush, though truthfully, in places is uncomfortable, but expressed with bluntness and determination - raises journal articles to a high moral level.
  What, for example, is such a passage from the review of the newspaper Muzhitskaya Pravda: “But another event occurred in which“ Muzhitskaya Pravda ”played a decisive role. She exposed the “adventures of the chairman of the Sukharev group council”, Mr. Barynin, a member of the RCP, who was very rude to women, drank moonshine, appropriated insurance money in the amount of 5 chervonets, etc. ” Well - he is not the first, he is not the last. Has anything changed in the behavior of “chairmen of group councils” in less than 90 years? Little! Only "moonshine" became a Scottish spill, and some ladies began to smoke, and others were red. And so, in fact, it’s all the same ... But where is this “Muzhitskaya Pravda” today, which fearlessly cuts the truth-uterus about the villain-leader?

How the central and Moscow apparatus of the press workers work, how the staff study at the State Institute of Journalism (GIH), why fees are cut, how illustrated magazines are made, why local publications are getting worse, how foreign press is doing - this is not a complete list of topics that fit in 76 -and the pages of that legendary "Journalist". And all - by name, openly, impartially, with names and addresses. Not that our embarrassing: "in some places there are still some flaws."

Journalistic life was in full swing. Like mushrooms after the rain, new editions appear, Alexander Rodchenko conquers the space of perspective, the frantic Dziga Vetrov removes new documentary! The caricature from the magazine "Bolshevik Press" (already the former "Journalist") gives, in our opinion, an adequate idea of \u200b\u200bthe state of journalism of those years.

By the way, a colorful description of editorial life is contained in the novel "12 Chairs", written in 1927.

“The reporter Persitsky came in.
- Do you need to give impressions from the plenum? He asked very quietly.
- Of course! Cried the secretary. - After all, the day before yesterday they said.
“There is a plenum,” said Persitsky even more quietly, “and two sketches, but they do not give me a place.”
- How not to give? Who were you talking to? What are they crazy about ?!
The secretary ran to swear. Persitsky followed him, intriguing on the go, and an employee from the ad department also ran behind.
- We have a secar liquid! He shouted in a sad voice.
A supply manager was trailing behind them, dragging a soft chair, bought for the editor at auction, with him.
- Liquid tomorrow. Today we publish our applications!
- You will have a lot from your free ads, but money has already been received for the liquid.
- Well, we'll find out at night. Post your ad to Pasha. She’s just going to the night.
The secretary sat down to read the front line. He was immediately torn from this fascinating activity. The artist came.
“Yeah,” the secretary said, “very well.” There is a topic for a caricature in connection with the latest telegrams from Germany.
“I think so,” the artist said, “Steel helmet” and the general situation of Germany ... ”
- Good. So you somehow combine, and then show me.
The artist went to combine in his department. He took a square of whatman paper and scribbled a thin dog with a pencil. He put on a German helmet with a pike on his dog’s head. And then he undertook to make inscriptions. He wrote the word “Germany” in block letters on the animal’s body, “The Danzig Corridor” on the twisted tail, “Dreams of revenge” on the jaw, “The Dawes Plan” on the collar and “Stresemann” in the protruding tongue. In front of the dog, the artist placed Poincare holding a piece of meat in his hand. "...

But let's continue about new times - after all, in the hallways of many editorial offices the heavy tread of the new Kremlin Master was already “heard” ... Here is one of the news. In the front page of the first issue of the Red Press magazine (formerly the Journalist), it was noted: “The place of the“ Journalist ”of the instructive weekly ROSTA is occupied by the“ Red Press ”- the organ of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the RCP (B.). What caused this change? "Journalist" spoke on behalf of GROWTH, "Red Seal" - on behalf of the party. "Journalist" supervised the work of the newspaper editorial staff alone, "Red Seal" will strive to supervise all work in the field of printing. "

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), she took an active part in the construction of the Soviet state, in the approval of the authoritarian principles of its leadership.

In the first Soviet decade, journalism went through several different stages. Journalism of Russia entered the October Revolution as a multi-party system (November 1917 - July 1918). In October days, all bourgeois parties continued to publish. All the newspapers and magazines of the socialist parties came out - 52 Menshevik, 31 Socialist-Revolutionary, 6 anarchist. In addition to Pravda and Izvestia, the first official government agency, the newspaper of the Provisional Worker and Peasant Government, was released on November 10. The next publication of this kind was the Army and Fleet of Workers and Peasants Russia.

The reaction of the whole bourgeois, petty-bourgeois, Menshevik press was unfriendly. The very next day after the coup, the revolutionary committee closed the 10 largest bourgeois newspapers - Rech, Russkoe Slovo, Russkaya Volya, Novoye Vremya, Birzhevye Vedomosti, Kopek and others.

The printing base of Russian Will was transferred to the Bolshevik Pravda, the printing house of which was defeated by the junkers the day before the uprising. For the newspapers Soldierskaya Pravda and Rural Poor, they used the printing presses of the Rech and Den newspapers. The publication of Izvestia was organized at the Kopeyka printing house.

November 10, 1917 - Press Decree. Violation of the idea of \u200b\u200bfreedom of the press. Public discontent was followed by repressive measures. January 1918 - Decree “On the revolutionary press tribunal”. Struggling against opposition journalism, the RCP (B.) Simultaneously took measures to create and strengthen the press of the Soviet state. In mid-December 1917, the new composition of the editorial board of Pravda was approved: Bukharin, Sokolnikov, Stalin. On March 10, 1918, it stopped publishing the newspaper of the Provisional Worker and Peasant Government. Izvestia is the central body of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and its executive body of 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: “The Poor” (for the village reader and the Red Army soldiers), “News of the People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs”, “News of the People’s Commissariat of Health”, “Evening Red Newspaper” and other newspapers for various categories of readers.

At the end of 1917 the local press was developing intensively. At the beginning of 1918, 84 newspapers and 753 journals were published by the committees of the RCP and local government bodies. All new publications appear in the national regions of the country (in more than 20 languages \u200b\u200bof the peoples of Russia). The total number of publications reached almost 2000, and a one-time circulation of 2 million copies.

A system of publishing houses is taking shape: in addition to publishing houses Priboy (PG) and Volna (Moscow), created 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 set before it two main tasks: the issuance of cheap national publications of Russian classics and the mass publication of textbooks.

Radio played a significant role in the dissemination of political information. By radio telegraphy transmitted decrees, government messages, which were published by all Bolshevik newspapers in large cities and regions. From February to July 1918 103 new radio telegraph 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 position of the new system, propagandized decrees of the Soviet government, and organized the masses to implement them. The theme of the world 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 Treaty turned out to be short-lived. 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, the process of differentiation was ongoing. 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 navy, 2 newspapers of special army groups). By the end of 1919 - about 90 newspapers of various types.

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

During the years of the Civil War, radio acquired special significance. On July 19, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the “Decree on the Centralization of the Radio Engineering of the RSFSR,” on the creation of the state radio network. On March 1, 1920, a powerful radio station with a radius of about 2 thousand kilometers was built on Shabolovskaya Street.

September 7, 1918 - Decree on the establishment of the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA). The agency consisted of 10 departments: literary and propaganda, instructor, artistic and photographic and others. By the end of 1919 - 42 branches of the agency.

The functions of distribution of the press were carried out by the People’s Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs, whose system included Centripchat. After the end of the civil war, it was reorganized into the Central Mail Expedition, and with the formation of the USSR, into Soyuzpechat.

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

White Guard press: “Voice of the Siberian Army” was published in Kolchak’s troops, “Bulletin of the Don Army” in the Don, and “Voice of the Front” in Melitopol. The official press is Volny Don, published in Novocherkassk, the bulletin of the military government, Volnaya Kuban (Ekaterinodar), the organ of the Kuban regional government, Bulletin of the Supreme Circle, and other general-purpose newspapers: Great Russia, editor Vl. Shulgin. It was 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” has come to a standstill. The result of this policy is a crisis in the country at the end of 1920. With the liquidation of opposition parties, the RCP (b) established its monopoly on power. Lenin proposed abandoning the policy of “war communism”, transferring the national economy to the rails of a new economic policy, replacing the surplus appraisal with a tax on taxes. Transition to NEP - 10th Party Congress in early March 1921. 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 paid newspapers" in late 1921, the number of newspapers began to decline dramatically. By August 1922, the total circulation was halved.

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

During the NEP, various political trends and philosophical views revived both in the country and abroad (shift work).

After the civil war, two Russia were formed: Soviet and foreign. Three main directions of the foreign press: conservative (monarchists, “Two-headed eagle”, “Coming Russia”, P. Struve - “Russian Thought”, newspaper “Renaissance”), moderate (P. Milyukov - newspaper “Latest News”, weekly “Days” ”), Loyal direction (N. Ustryalov - shift journalism). Democratic publications: the daily newspaper I. Hessen and Vl. Nabokov “The Wheel”, Vl. Burtsev’s magazine “The Common Affair”.

The press crisis demanded measures to overcome it. The main thing is financial assistance. Since 1923, financing of the local press began to be carried out from the republican, regional, and provincial budgets. The central press was financed from the state budget.

The 13th party congress adopted a directive on the compulsory subscription of communists to a party newspaper. For every 10 peasant households, one mass newspaper must be issued. The second measure is the provision of printing personnel. Admission to the State Institute of Journalism has almost doubled. By April 1923, the print position had stabilized somewhat. Its further growth was indicated. The circulation of the entire Soviet press by mid-1924 reached 3 million copies. New central publications: “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Pioneer Pravda”, “Red Star”. 1921-25 - years of mass development of magazine periodicals. “Proletarian revolution”, “Krasnaya nov”, “Under the banner of Marxism”, “Peasant woman”, “Young guard”, “Crocodile”, “October”, “Star”. By the beginning of the first five-year period, over 1700 magazines and journal-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 - The Central Publishing House was formed.

In the early 1920s, radio played an increasingly prominent role in cultural, educational, political and educational work with the masses. Radio newspaper "Peasant Radio Newspaper" - aired since April 1926. Until May 1926 "Radio newspaper ROSTA" appeared. “Working Radio Newspaper”, “Komsomolskaya Pravda” - radio issue. Since 1927 - “Red Army Radio Newspaper”. By the end of 1926, five radio newspapers regularly went on the air from Moscow.

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

1922 - Glavlit was created.

At the 10th congress, the question of party unity was also resolved. In the days of the congress, there was an uprising in Kronstadt. "Power to the Soviets, not the parties."

Russian periodicals of the 18th century.

Manuscript newspaper of the XVII century "Chimes", or "Columns". The first Russian newspaper “Vedomosti” (1702-1727). Her character and distinguishing features from the West European newspapers. Propaganda of the Petrine transformations, informational messages. The role of the newspaper in the development of domestic culture.

Russian journalism of the 1730-1760s. Activities M.V. Lomonosov in the field of journalism. Creation on his initiative of the journal of the Academy of Sciences "Monthly essays for the benefit and amusement of employees." The purpose of the publication.

Magazines N.I. Novikov. Satirical magazines “Drone”, “Pustomelya”, “Painter”, “Wallet”. Educational magazines N.I. Novikov 1780s: "Morning Light", "Moscow News", "Economic Store". Specialized publications N.I. Novikov. Editions I.A. Krylova and N.M. Karamzin. The appearance of the first provincial publications. Branch editions. The results of the development of domestic journalism of the XVIII century.

Russian journalism of the first half of the XIX century.

Journalism of the beginning of the XIX century and the era of the Patriotic War of 1812. The journal "Herald of Europe" (1802-1830). Journal N.I. Buckwheat "Son of the Fatherland."

Periodicals of the era of Decembrism. The Polar Star A.A. Bestuzheva and K.F. Ryleeva.

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

Moscow Telegraph N.A. Field. The program of the magazine, 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. Role A.S. Pushkin in the formation of the newspaper. The political and aesthetic significance of the Literary Newspaper.

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

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

"Domestic notes" A.A. Kraevsky. Purpose and nature of the publication. The circle of employees. Cooperation V.G. Belinsky in the journal, his role in the department of criticism and bibliography.

"Physiology of St. Petersburg" and "Petersburg collection" N.A. Nekrasov. The role of these publications in the development of Russian journalism and literature.

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

Russian journalism of the 1850-1880s.

General characteristics of the period. Magazine "Contemporary". New balance of power in journalism. G.E. Blagosvetlov is the editor and author of the Russian Word magazine. The circle of employees. Role D.I. Pisareva in the formation of the literary-critical and journalistic departments of the journal.

Magazines M.M. and F.M. Dostoevsky's “Time” and “Epoch”. The place of publications of the Dostoevsky brothers in Russian journalism of the 1860s. The main departments of the magazine. Forensic topic. Literary criticism and fiction. The origins of the "mass" of domestic journalism.

Publications M.N. Katkova. Monthly magazine "Russian Herald". The newspaper "Moscow News". Department of fiction and its significance for the history of Russian literature. Topical journalism. The socio-political role of the articles of M.N. Katkova in the Moscow Gazette.

Journal "Domestic Notes" N.A. Nekrasova and M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1868-1884). The circle of employees. The main departments of the publication. Literary and aesthetic orientation.

Newspapers and magazines of the 1880-1890s. Periodicals on 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 currents (the theory of "world will", the movement of "Tolstoyans", experiments in religious metaphysical searches, increased attention to mystical and occult knowledge). The role of journalism in changing the literary and aesthetic consciousness of a wide circle of readers.

Journalistic and literary critical speeches 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. Awakening theosophical approach to culture. The heyday of Russian poetry, the first literary experiments of I.A. Bunina, A.I. Kuprin, M. Gorky, L.N. Andreeva and their reflection in the newspaper and magazine periodicals.

Journalism of the early twentieth century.

The increasing role of newspapers and their quantitative growth. New types of newspaper periodicals. The development of mass newspapers. Information and tabloid publications.

The evolution of magazines in the early twentieth century. Weekly illustrated magazines ("New World", "Spark", "Awakening", etc.). Magazines for family reading. Popular science editions. Magazines for self-education. Theatrical periodicals. Satirical magazines. Editions of modernist movements. The 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: wireless, rumor, rumors, announcements. Soviet newspapers with a pre-revolutionary past: Pravda, Izvestia. The first government editions. Opposition press. The closure of large "bourgeois" newspapers. “Press Decree” (November 1917). Russian Telegraph Agency (September 1918).

New forms of communication with the reader in the Soviet press: readers' letters, newspaper discussions, opinion polls. 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 Russian Journalists (May 1919) on party influence in the field of journalism. Journalism during the Civil War. Subject of publications in the Red Army press. Wall printing, print runs and GROWTH publications. The activities of V. Mayakovsky in the “Windows” of GROWTH.

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

Class flair as a qualification requirement for a journalist. Censorship in the Soviet press. Establishment of Glavlit (June 1922) as a body standing "on guard of the political, ideological, military-economic and cultural interests of the Soviet country."

Proletcult publications “Horn”, “Coming”, “Proletarian Culture”. The first Soviet thick literary and artistic magazine Krasnaya Nov. The role of A. Voronsky in the formation of Soviet periodicals. Napostovskiy magazines "October" and "Young Guard". V. Polonsky - editor of the New World. A. Lunacharsky is a publicist.

Social and political magazines: Searchlight, Press and Revolution, Spark.

As a rule, almost every new registered ideological and political group of emigrants founded their own press organ, so that newspapers were of all stripes and colors. There are newspapers of Russian monarchists - “Nabat” (1921), “Banner of Russia” (1923), “True Way” (1929), the circle “Young Russians”, who advocated the almost impossible combination of Bolshevism with monarchism - (newspaper Molodoye the word ”- 1931–37), and supporters of Russian fascism - the newspaper“ Rus ”(1935–36) and others.

A fierce struggle is unfolding on the pages of some newspapers between the pro-Soviet organization Sovnarod (Union for Homecoming), which worked in the name of the return of Russian refugees to Soviet Russia in 1922–23. and opponents of this political repatriation, which carries many dangers for those who want to return home. Verbal skirmishes erupt between the body of the People’s Union, the newspaper On Homeland (1922) and the New Russia newspaper (1922–23), which is close to its position, on the one hand, and the newspaper Rus (1922–28). ) - with another.
  As a result of the heated polemic in 1923, the first contracted political assassination of a Russian journalist in Bulgaria, the editor of the New Russia newspaper and A.M., an employee of the Russian (Soviet) Red Cross in Bulgaria, was committed. Ageeva, carried out, in all likelihood, by opponents of repatriation. The series of political killings of journalists continues in 1924, when Ivan M. Kalinnikov, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Nedelya and Rus newspapers, was killed in his house 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, \u200b\u200bin order to prevent bright anti-Bolshevik materials from appearing on newspaper pages, experts from the Police Directorate review the entire Russian emigrant press and, in some cases, even penalize publications that, according to representatives of the USSR, are beyond and call for an armed overthrow of Soviet power. For example, at the beginning of 1935, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Religions received a protest from the Soviet embassy regarding the line of the newspaper "For Russia", which "incites the killing of prominent Soviet people." On February 17 of the same year, the Police Directorate stopped publishing the newspaper.

Gradually, from independent Russian periodicals and publishing houses, reflecting mainly the problems of emigration and intended only for it, Russian emigrants switched to participation in the Bulgarian periodical press, to publishing books in Bulgarian publishing houses, and ultimately to organizing a common Russian-Bulgarian book publishing. The Union of Russian Writers and Journalists, established in Sofia, worked in constant close contact 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 the classics of Russian literature in Bulgarian, new authors are also represented who remained in Russia or emigrated to Bulgaria, Germany, France and other countries. Joint literary evenings of Russian and Bulgarian writers were organized, close personal contacts and close friendships arose, common aesthetic, philosophical and moral positions were revealed. It was then that Eurasianism arose in Bulgaria, which later became widespread in Central and Western Europe. The essence of this theory is formulated by Prince N.S. Trubetskoy in his book “Europe and Humanity”, published in 1926 by the Russian-Bulgarian Book 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” S.N. Bulgakova, two-volume "Russian Collections" edited by E.D. Grimm and K.N. Sokolova, a series of "Library of World Literature" and others.

After the political changes in Russia at the end of World War I
  the intellectual elite was forced to leave the country. The publishing activities of the Russian emigration completely went 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.
Emigrant Russian publishers who organized book publishing in Bulgaria remained in the country until the end of the Civil War, but after the dissolution of the army of Baron Wrangel moved to Belgrade and Paris. So, for example, the creators of the largest Russian book publishing in Bulgaria “Russian-Bulgarian Book Publishing” - N.S. Zhekulin (former director of the Kiev 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 publishing activities of the branches of the Eurasian Book Publishing in Paris and Brussels.

A special place in the Russian emigrant press is occupied by editions edited by political emigrants who fled from the USSR in the 1930s. In 1936–38 former Bolshevik journalists, brothers Ivan and Boris Solonevich, begin to publish the newspaper Voice of Russia, in which they publish numerous testimonies of political repression and terror in the USSR in the late 1920s and 1930s. Excerpts from I. Solonevich’s books “Russia in a concentration camp”, reflecting the author’s stay in the camp, and “Youth and GPU”, which caused unprecedented excitement among the emigrant mass in Bulgaria, are published on its pages. Naturally, this “liberty” was not in vain and very soon was punished by supporters of the USSR in Bulgaria. On February 3, 1938, a bomb exploded in the newspaper’s editorial office, killing the wife of chief editor Ivan Solonevich, Tamara Solonevich, and a Russian youth, Nikolai Petrovich Mikhailov, who was accidentally there.
  The Russian periodical of white emigration chronologically existed in 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 big refugee waves and the actual settling of emigrants in Bulgaria.

Sources: Kyoseva Ts., Daskalov D., Goryainov AN, "Russian Newspaper".

In a study of the 1920s-1930s. I very often use materials from the main newspaper of the time, Pravda. In this regard, it is often necessary to encounter a lack of understanding by some readers of the importance, as well as the features of this historical source. I’ll try to explain perhaps more popular.

The main features of the newspaper in general as a historical source are:

1) The variety of forms of information, each of which involves its own methods of its use in historical research.Various forms of Pravda materials will be discussed below.

2) Efficiency and frequency of publication of information.   Therefore, in any newspaper, there may be some factual inaccuracies and errors associated with the need for prompt publication of news. However, in such informational materials of Pravda, the accuracy is significantly higher than the average accuracy of modern media. This accuracy stems from the position that Pravda occupied in the Soviet state, the responsibility of journalists associated with this, and the fact that it was not typical for Soviet newspapers to chase sensations.

3) The dependence of the newspaper’s information policy on the goals of its owner, whether it be a state, department, political party, national or religious community, private individual. In this regard, the topic of censorship (as control) arises. Control over the publication of materials in the media (censorship) always exists. There was state censorship in the USSR, today it is in most cases replaced by the censorship of the editor or the owner of the media, although state censorship restrictions have not been completely lifted.

Information is the main basis for human activity. Therefore, in any society, an information publication issues this information to the extent that it wishes to influence the potential actions of its reader.

Along with the above general properties of periodicals as a historical source soviet newspapers had their own fundamental features:

4) Pravda, and to a lesser extent other Soviet newspapers, were authorized to interpret decisions of state and party leaders. Of particular importance were the editorials of Pravda, which determined the current issue of the day and offered specific recommendations. Hence the significance of Pravda as a source for determining state and party policies at one time or another.

5) Pravda, and to a lesser extent other Soviet newspapers, were one of the control bodies of the central leadership of the country over all other authorities. Critical materials inevitably entailed administrative and judicial consequences. Control was established in the 1920s. very difficult, the first correspondents, especially local ones, were often simply killed in order to hide the situation on the ground from the central government.

However, by the 1930s. newspapers gained a steady influence: critics who came under fire were in a hurry to answer about checking newspaper materials and the measures taken.
Certainly, Pravda treasured this function of power. Hence the extreme responsibility in publishing critical material. Hence the periodic blows of Pravda against any government, with the exception of only a few top leaders of the country. Pay attention to the acuteness of those in April 1937.

Critical materials from Soviet newspapers are one of the main sources for studying the functioning of various organs of Soviet power, with the exception of the highest, which was not subject to criticism.

6) Soviet newspapers acted in line with the unified information policy of the state.   For example, if a certain information campaign began, then it was conducted by all Soviet newspapers in a very coordinated manner. Therefore, tracking such information campaigns is the most important means for studying real state policy in the USSR.

However, soviet newspapers, of course, were characterized by parochialism and departmentalism, and sometimes clanism. Pravda often noted facts when the local authorities crushed the local press under themselves. I even came across an example of such a “cooperation” between the local newspaper and the District Consumer Union in 1937.

Therefore, the materials of the local and departmental Soviet press can by no means always testify to the policy of the central leadership.

I would divide the variety of forms of published Pravda materials into the following groups:

-Official Informationon decisions of authorities, personnel changes, materials of congresses, conferences, meetings, rallies, speeches of statesmen, TASS messages and other official announcements, court reports, obituaries, official photos.
It is clear that the reliability of such official information is extremely high.

-Information materials of the newspaper itself:   chronicles of events, interviews, reports, messages of their correspondents, reviews of the state of affairs prepared by specialists, photo reports, the use of materials from other information publications, including foreign ones.

The specificity of the informational materials of any media is that any mass media begins its policy of influencing the reader already at the stage of selecting certain informational news, bulging out some news and keeping silent about others. Say, if today the media creates a negative and demoralizing background, then for Pravda it’s typical general atmosphere of positivism. If today the media publish a huge part of useless foreign news from the life of stars or some curiosities, then Pravda gave preference to more serious information about the economic situation, the life of society, and political constellations in foreign countries. Confrontation with capital countries prompted Pravda regularly publish critical and negative information about capitalist countries.   However, the tone of this information was incomparably calmer   both the hysterical tone of modern Russian media about the Soviet period of their own history, and the anti-Soviet propaganda of that time abroad. Unlike anti-Soviet propaganda did not publish "Truth" and outright liesas a rule, limiting oneself to reprinting information from foreign publications or analyzing official statistics of capitalist states.

Editorial Editorial, editorials and editorials, the importance of which for the Soviet system and for historians, I have already said.

-Analytical materials, i.e. Reflections on events: articles, essays, correspondence, reviews.
As today, the purpose of such materials is to form the reader’s opinion on current events. The peculiarity of Soviet analytics was a single ideological orientation, whereas today, in principle, various ideological materials are possible, albeit at the margins of the information space.

Thus, the editorial and analytical materials of Pravda are an excellent historical source for studying the ideology and goals of the state’s information policy.

-Critical materials   "Truth", the role of which I have already spoken.

-Artistic and journalistic materials   (feuilleton, pamphlets, partly essays, poems, stories). Such materials traditionally enhance the emotional and artistic impact of newspaper materials on the reader, and make reading the newspaper more entertaining.

-Letters of readers.   Pravda used the publication of readers ’letters to illustrate the situation on the ground, to demonstrate popular opinion and support, and to maintain its oversight function (a significant part of the newspaper’s critical materials was based on readers’ letters).
  In my opinion, for a very long time a letter to a newspaper for a Soviet citizen in remote areas remained the last way to achieve justice.

It is clear, therefore, that a single letter to the newspaper Pravda cannot be used as a decisive source neither about the mood of the people, nor about the situation on the ground. Unfortunately, today, even professional historians resort to such a forgery, drawing global conclusions based on selected individual letters of Soviet citizens to the authorities.I recall the basics of historical methodology: letters of citizens matter only in a comprehensive study, when, for example, the entire known array of letters to a specific authority for a certain period is subjected to analysis, and together with the reaction of the authority to these letters (verification, answers, measures taken )

Recently, during one of my interesting dialogue with a young historian, the question arose about the possibility of studying Soviet public opinion on the basis of newspaper materials. I answered in this way and once again draw the attention of the reader: it is possible to understand the mood of the people from the materials of Soviet newspapers, but not from letters published by the newspaper itself. The better reflection of popular opinion - its actions, the more massive - the more widespread expressing opinion. I will name two well-known phenomena that reflect actions and the corresponding mood of the opposite parts of Soviet society: the Stakhanov movement and speculation.

-Discussion materials.   For example, I met a discussion between Pravda and Izvestia about jazz, several popular discussions in the newspaper of draft laws and the Stalin Constitution.

To summarize.

1. Due to the specifics of Pravda’s position in the system of Soviet power, the materials of this newspaper are the most important source for studying the dynamics of central government policy in the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s, its goals, ideology, and the methods used.

2. Pravda is an excellent source for studying the synchronism and mutual influence of events in various spheres of life of the Soviet state and society.

3. Very often, the information of Pravda allows you to restore data lost from other types of historical sources. Here the value of the materials of Pravda is auxiliary.

4. Critical materials of Pravda denote the most relevant, in the opinion of the authorities, problems of the life of Soviet society, economy and politics. However, for a full study of real problems, it is necessary to attract other sources. Today, for example, materials of archival funds of the OGPU-NKVD are published.

5. The lack of newspaper materials of Pravda as a historical source stems from the fact that the Soviet newspaper often expresses the point of view, desires and goals of only the central government. Therefore, to study the opinions and activities of other socio-political groups in the USSR, Pravda materials are completely insufficient.