SOVIET PROPAGANDA ON THE EVE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR: FAIR AND UNFAIR WARS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyse the general trends and characteristic features of the organisation and efficiency of the USSR propaganda machine on the eve of the German attack. The author emphasises that Soviet propaganda sought to form its own special view of the interpretation of international law. Thus, neither the country's leaders nor numerous propagandists denied the possibility of an attack on another country. A «just» war was recognised as a «continuation of the policy of the progressive, revolutionary classes» that serves the «interests of the people». An unjust war is one that is unleashed in the interests of capitalists and exploiters. In this context, the question of who was attacking and who was defending should not have arisen at all. The emphasis was fundamentally changed. The Red Army would wage war for the cause of all «progressive humanity», against «reaction, exploitation, counter-revolution». Therefore, any war, no matter where it was fought and no matter who started it first, with the participation of the Red Army in any variant would be a priori just. Even if the USSR attacked any country, the war would not be an occupation or aggression, but a revolutionary and, moreover, civil war. After all, during the Red Army's offensive, the population, and specifically the workers of the capitalist countries, would give it full support and assistance. Thus, the main task was to transform an isolated revolution into a world revolution. J. Stalin repeatedly emphasised the incomparable interest of the USSR in the world revolution, as it would guarantee the country's protection from the restoration of the old bourgeois order, help to finally eradicate the atavisms of capitalism and build socialism-communism. Accordingly, the Red Army was interpreted as «a weapon of liberation for the workers of all countries». It is proved that Soviet propaganda in the interwar period was based on numerous groundless class clichés: the expectation of a «world revolution» that was to begin in the event of military aggression; the belief in an «imminent war on foreign territory»; deliberate underestimation of the military capabilities of potential opponents, etc. Such a military doctrine allowed J. Stalin to treat the norms of international law extremely freely and, together with his ally A. Hitler, to become one of the arsonists of the Second World War.