Evaluate the significance of propaganda to the maintenance of Stalin’s power between 1929 and 1945.

Candidates will appraise the importance of propaganda to Stalin in his efforts to sustain support for his rule. There may be, for example, reference to the Cult of Personality. Propaganda was used to control and encourage the population, to support and implement policies such as the Five Year Plans (Stakhanovite Movement), as well as to justify the repressive policies of the state. The Show Trials may be considered as propaganda. Propaganda was important in encouraging national resistance during the Second World War as it emphasized the need to protect the Motherland. Some candidates may argue that the nature of propaganda evolved as priorities changed, as it was much more nationalistic during the war. Candidates may weigh up the importance of other policies that supported Stalin’s maintenance of power. They may argue that propaganda was merely the public face of a repressive one-party state.