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180-423: It has been described as an 'extravaganza of pageantry' and a tremendous propaganda exercise; but among its principal goals were to 'inspire reverence and popular support for the principle of autocracy', and also a reinvention of the past, 'to recount the epic of the "popular tsar", so as to invest the monarchy with a historical legitimacy and an image of enduring permanence at this anxious time when its right to rule

360-467: A biased approach. Richard Alan Nelson provides a definition of the term: "Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological , political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels." The definition focuses on

540-400: A khlyst !) He's always there, goes into the nursery, visits Olga and Tatiana while they are getting ready for bed, sits there talking to them and caressing them. They are careful to hide him from Sofia Ivanovna, and the children don't dare talk to her about him. It's all quite unbelievable and beyond understanding." Another of the nursery governesses claimed in the spring of 1910 that she

720-436: A revolver from Pavlovich, then returned to the basement and told Rasputin that he had "better look at the crucifix and say a prayer", referring to a crucifix in the room, then shot him once in the chest. The conspirators then drove to Rasputin's apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin's coat and hat in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night. Upon returning to his palace, Yusupov went back to

900-521: A telegram asking to present the tsar with an icon of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye . He met with Nicholas and Alexandra on 18 July and again in October, when he first met their children. At some point, Nicholas and Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin possessed the miraculous power to heal their only son, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich , who suffered from haemophilia . Historians disagree over when this happened: according to Orlando Figes , Rasputin

1080-417: A broad definition of the term propaganda, writing it as: "the expression of opinions or actions carried out deliberately by individuals or groups with a view to influencing the opinions or actions of other individuals or groups for predetermined ends and through psychological manipulations." Garth Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell theorize that propaganda and persuasion are linked as humans use communication as

1260-435: A commercial product or shapes the perception of an organization, person, or brand. For example, after claiming victory in the 2006 Lebanon War , Hezbollah campaigned for broader popularity among Arabs by organizing mass rallies where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah combined elements of the local dialect with classical Arabic to reach audiences outside Lebanon. Banners and billboards were commissioned in commemoration of

1440-811: A controversial figure; he was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, was suspected of exerting undue political influence over the tsar and was even rumored to be having an affair with the tsarina. Opposition to Rasputin's influence grew within the Eastern Orthodox Church . In 1907, the local clergy in Pokrovskoye denounced Rasputin as a heretic, and the Bishop of Tobolsk launched an inquest into his activities, accusing him of "spreading false, Khlyst-like doctrines". In Saint Petersburg, Rasputin faced opposition from even more prominent critics, including Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin and

1620-477: A faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich , who suffered from haemophilia . He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan . The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in

1800-668: A few months on his first visit and returned to Pokrovskoye in the fall of 1903. Smith, however, argues that it is impossible to know whether Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg or returned to Pokrovskoye at some point between his first arrival and 1905. Regardless, by 1905 Rasputin had formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the "Black Princesses", Militsa and Anastasia of Montenegro , who had married cousins of Tsar Nicholas II (Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich and Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky ) and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to

1980-469: A form of soft power through the development and cultivation of propaganda materials. In a 1929 literary debate with Edward Bernays , Everett Dean Martin argues that, "Propaganda is making puppets of us. We are moved by hidden strings which the propagandist manipulates." In the 1920s and 1930s, propaganda was sometimes described as all-powerful. For example, Bernays acknowledged in his book Propaganda that "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of

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2160-567: A gala performance of Glinka 's A Life for the Tsar was held, which had featured prominently during the jubilee. Meriel Buchanan, daughter of the British Ambassador George Buchanan , remarked how the vast display of jewels and tiaras swayed 'like a field of poppies' when they all arose to greet the tsar. Despite the appearance of Nicholas' former mistress, Mathilde Kschessinska , who came out of retirement to dance

2340-465: A great effort in justifying, revising or denying mass war crimes committed by Serb forces during these wars. In the early 20th century the term propaganda was used by the founders of the nascent public relations industry to refer to their people. Literally translated from the Latin gerundive as "things that must be disseminated", in some cultures the term is neutral or even positive, while in others

2520-504: A heated exchange of words, only ended by a sergeant-at-arms' intervention, Rasputin left the building in a waiting carriage. prime minister Vladimir Kokovtsov was equally outraged by the court's attitude towards the elected government during rituals of the tercentenary. Factories were closed for a public holiday, and free meals were given out from municipal canteens to celebrate the 300th anniversary. Rumors circulated that pawnshops were offering pawned items back without interest, but once

2700-527: A hospital in Tyumen, he recovered. Guseva was a follower of Iliodor , a former priest who had supported Rasputin before denouncing his sexual escapades and self-aggrandizement in December 1911. A radical conservative and anti-semite , Iliodor had been part of a group of establishment figures who had attempted to drive a wedge between Rasputin and the imperial family in 1911. When this effort failed, Iliodor

2880-514: A large hematoma . In severe pain and delirious with fever, the tsarevich appeared close to death. In desperation, Alexandra asked Vyrubova to send Rasputin (who was in Siberia) a telegram, asking him to pray for Alexei. Rasputin wrote back quickly, telling the tsarina that "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much." The next morning, Alexei's condition

3060-524: A modern analysis of Rasputin's death, published on the 100th anniversary of the event, Dr Carolyn Harris of the University of Toronto notes that the actual circumstances were apparently less dramatic than Yusupov's account. Rasputin's daughter recorded that her father disliked sweet food and would not have eaten the supposedly poisoned cakes. An autopsy account by the official surgeon involved has no record of poisoning or drowning but simply records death by

3240-564: A more generalized Soviet hero. Only his eyes and famous moustache remained unaltered. Zhores Medvedev and Roy Medvedev say his "majestic new image was devised appropriately to depict the leader of all times and of all peoples." Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits any propaganda for war as well as any advocacy of national or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence by law. Naturally,

3420-747: A new administrative body ( congregation ) of the Catholic Church created in 1622 as part of the Counter-Reformation , called the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide ( Congregation for Propagating the Faith ), or informally simply Propaganda . Its activity was aimed at "propagating" the Catholic faith in non-Catholic countries. From the 1790s, the term began being used also to refer to propaganda in secular activities. In English,

3600-776: A particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented. Propaganda can be found in a wide variety of different contexts. Beginning in the twentieth century, the English term propaganda became associated with a manipulative approach, but historically, propaganda had been a neutral descriptive term of any material that promotes certain opinions or ideologies . A wide range of materials and media are used for conveying propaganda messages, which changed as new technologies were invented, including paintings, cartoons, posters, pamphlets, films, radio shows, TV shows, and websites. More recently,

3780-466: A peasant girl named Praskovya Dubrovina. After a courtship of several months, they married in February 1887. Praskovya remained in Pokrovskoye throughout Rasputin's later travels and rise to prominence, and remained devoted to him until his death. The couple had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood: Dmitry (b. 1895), Maria (b. 1898) and Varvara (b. 1900). In 1897, Rasputin developed

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3960-634: A primary cause of the collapse of morale and revolts in the German home front and Navy in 1918 (see also: Dolchstoßlegende ). In Mein Kampf (1925) Hitler expounded his theory of propaganda, which provided a powerful base for his rise to power in 1933. Historian Robert Ensor explains that "Hitler...puts no limit on what can be done by propaganda; people will believe anything, provided they are told it often enough and emphatically enough, and that contradicters are either silenced or smothered in calumny." This

4140-690: A religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church . In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna . In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as

4320-527: A renewed interest in religion and left Pokrovskoye to go on a pilgrimage . His reasons are unclear; according to some sources, he left the village to escape punishment for his role in horse theft. Other sources suggest Rasputin had a vision of the Virgin Mary or of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye , while still others suggest that his pilgrimage was inspired by a young theological student, Melity Zaborovsky. Whatever his reasons, Rasputin cast off his old life: he

4500-510: A report of Rasputin's death "after a party in one of the most aristocratic homes in the center of the city" on the afternoon of 30 December [ O.S. 17 December] 1916. After two workmen discovered blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge and a boot on the ice below, police began searching the area. Rasputin's body was found under the river ice on 1 January (O.S. 19 December) approximately 200 meters downstream from

4680-530: A second telegram, Rasputin told the child, "My Dear M! My Little Friend! May the Lord help you to carry your cross with wisdom and joy in Christ. This world is like the day, look it's already evening. So it is with the cares of the world." In February 1909, Rasputin sent all of the children a telegram, advising them to, "Love the whole of God's nature, the whole of His creation in particular this earth. The Mother of God

4860-788: A simple transmission, such as a leaflet or advertisement dropped from a plane or an advertisement. Generally, these messages will contain directions on how to obtain more information, via a website, hotline, radio program, etc. (as it is seen also for selling purposes among other goals). The strategy intends to initiate the individual from information recipient to information seeker through reinforcement, and then from information seeker to opinion leader through indoctrination. A number of techniques based in social psychological research are used to generate propaganda. Many of these same techniques can be found under logical fallacies , since propagandists use arguments that, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid. Some time has been spent analyzing

5040-413: A single bullet fired into the head at close range. News of Rasputin's murder spread quickly, even before his body was found. According to Smith, Purishkevich spoke openly about the murder to two soldiers and to a policeman who was investigating reports of shots shortly after the event, but urged them not to tell anyone else. An investigation was launched the next morning. The Stock Exchange Gazette ran

5220-506: A society of mass information, people are forced to make decisions quickly and often superficially, as opposed to logically. Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( / r æ ˈ s p j uː t ɪ n / ; Russian: Григо́рий Ефи́мович Распу́тин [ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ rɐˈsputʲɪn] ; 21 January [ O.S. 9 January] 1869   – 30 December [ O.S. 17 December] 1916)

5400-492: A tremendous propaganda exercise undertaken by the Romanov dynasty in an unstable time for the monarchy. Among its principal goals were to 'inspire reverence and popular support for the principle of autocracy', but also a reinvention of the past, 'to recount the epic of the "popular Tsar", so as to invest the monarchy with a mythical historical legitimacy and an image of enduring permanence at this anxious time when its right to rule

5580-715: A variety of peoples worked together against the Axis menace: Stage Door Canteen (1943) features one segment meant to dispel Americans' mistrust of the Soviets, and another to dispel their bigotry against the Chinese. Polish filmmakers in Great Britain created the anti-Nazi color film Calling Mr. Smith (1943) about Nazi crimes in German-occupied Europe and about lies of Nazi propaganda. The West and

Romanov Tercentenary - Misplaced Pages Continue

5760-411: A vegetarian, swore off alcohol, and prayed and sang much more fervently than he had in the past. Rasputin spent the years that followed as a strannik (a holy wanderer or pilgrim), leaving Pokrovskoye for months or even years at a time to wander the country and visit a variety of holy sites. It is possible he wandered as far as Mount Athos —the center of Eastern Orthodox monastic life—in 1900. By

5940-495: A very subjective and often misleading light, primarily meant to persuade rather than inform. Normally they use only subtle propaganda techniques and not the more obvious ones used in traditional commercial advertisements. If the reader believes that a paid advertisement is in fact a news item, the message the advertiser is trying to communicate will be more easily "believed" or "internalized". Such advertisements are considered obvious examples of "covert" propaganda because they take on

6120-618: A weapon of war, building on the experience of WWI , by Goebbels and the British Political Warfare Executive , as well as the United States Office of War Information . In the early 20th century, the invention of motion pictures (as in movies, diafilms) gave propaganda-creators a powerful tool for advancing political and military interests when it came to reaching a broad segment of the population and creating consent or encouraging rejection of

6300-644: A white pavilion filled with bromeliads , incense and palms, and where a vast crowd carrying icons, crosses and banners had been gathering since the morning. Inside the Cathedral were Russia's 'ruling class', with grand dukes and princes, marshals of nobility , court members, members of government including ministers, senators, and state councillors alongside duma parliamentarians, senior civil servants, military leaders such as generals and admirals, and provincial governors, city mayors, and zemstvo leaders. Patriarch Gregory IV of Antioch , who had arrived especially for

6480-714: Is another example. In Nazi Germany , Hitler frequently appeared on postage stamps in Germany and some of the occupied nations. A British program to parody these, and other Nazi-inspired stamps, involved airdropping them into Germany on letters containing anti-Nazi literature. In 2018 a scandal broke in which the journalist Carole Cadwalladr , several whistleblowers and the academic Emma Briant revealed advances in digital propaganda techniques showing that online human intelligence techniques used in psychological warfare had been coupled with psychological profiling using illegally obtained social media data for political campaigns in

6660-435: Is considered commonplace contemporary political strategy around the world to implement bots in achieving political goals. Common media for transmitting propaganda messages include news reports, government reports, historical revision, junk science , books, leaflets, movies , radio, television, and posters. Some propaganda campaigns follow a strategic transmission pattern to indoctrinate the target group. This may begin with

6840-497: Is the last Roman civil wars (44–30 BCE) during which Octavian and Mark Antony blamed each other for obscure and degrading origins, cruelty, cowardice, oratorical and literary incompetence, debaucheries, luxury, drunkenness and other slanders. This defamation took the form of uituperatio (Roman rhetorical genre of the invective) which was decisive for shaping the Roman public opinion at this time. Another early example of propaganda

7020-422: Is the willingness of the propagandist to change people's understanding through deception and confusion rather than persuasion and understanding. The leaders of an organization know the information to be one sided or untrue, but this may not be true for the rank and file members who help to disseminate the propaganda. Propaganda was often used to influence opinions and beliefs on religious issues, particularly during

7200-464: Is then recycled in the media and in the educational system, without the need for direct governmental intervention on the media. Such permeating propaganda may be used for political goals: by giving citizens a false impression of the quality or policies of their country, they may be incited to reject certain proposals or certain remarks or ignore the experience of others. In the Soviet Union during

7380-731: The Okhrana , the tsar's secret police . Having ordered an investigation into Rasputin's activities, Stolypin confronted Nicholas but did not succeed in reining in Rasputin's influence or exiling him from Saint Petersburg. Outside of the royal court, Rasputin preached that physical contact between him and others purified them; he engaged in drunken revels and extramarital affairs with a wide range of women from prostitutes to high-society ladies. In 1909, Khioniya Berlatskaya, one of Rasputin's early supporters, accused him of rape. Betlatskaya sought aid from Theofan, who became convinced that Rasputin

Romanov Tercentenary - Misplaced Pages Continue

7560-556: The 1905 Revolution . Along their route were Imperial Guards decorated in 'gorgeous' uniforms, and military bands played the national anthem. During the ceremony two doves flew down from the dome and hovered for several seconds over Nicholas II and his son, which the Tsar took as God's blessing on his dynasty. The ceremony in the Kazan Cathedral also bore witness to some conflict, almost symbolic between Rasputin and Duma President Mikhail Rodzianko . Rodzianko had complained that

7740-467: The Axis Powers . Others were intended to help Americans understand their Allies in general, as in films like Know Your Ally: Britain and Our Greek Allies . Apart from its war films, Hollywood did its part to boost American morale in a film intended to show how stars of stage and screen who remained on the home front were doing their part not just in their labors, but also in their understanding that

7920-606: The First World War . In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front , both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December [ O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over

8100-638: The French Revolutionary period movement of 1789 to 1799 between the start and the middle portion of the 19th century, in a time where the word started to be used in a nonclerical and political context. The first large-scale and organised propagation of government propaganda was occasioned by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. After the defeat of Germany, military officials such as General Erich Ludendorff suggested that British propaganda had been instrumental in their defeat. Adolf Hitler came to echo this view, believing that it had been

8280-581: The Peloponnesian War , the Athenians exploited the figures from stories about Troy as well as other mythical images to incite feelings against Sparta . For example, Helen of Troy was even portrayed as an Athenian, whose mother Nemesis would avenge Troy. During the Punic Wars , extensive campaigns of propaganda were carried out by both sides. To dissolve the Roman system of socii and

8460-706: The Soviet Union both used propaganda extensively during the Cold War . Both sides used film , television, and radio programming to influence their own citizens, each other, and Third World nations. Through a front organization called the Bedford Publishing Company, the CIA through a covert department called the Office of Policy Coordination disseminated over one million books to Soviet readers over

8640-898: The US Government , resisted by Pentagon Public Affairs and critiqued by some scholars. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (section 1078 (a)) amended the US Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (popularly referred to as the Smith-Mundt Act ) and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, allowing for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders for

8820-515: The Winter Palace outnumbered. The city was bustling with these visitors, and Nevsky Prospect experienced the worst traffic jams in history, due to the converging of cars, carriages and trams . The streets themselves were decorated in the imperial colors of blue, red and white, statues were dressed up with ribbons and garlands , and portraits of the line of tsars going all the way back to the Romanov dynasty's founder Michael were hung up on

9000-430: The mazurka , the 'sensation of the evening' was tenor Leonid Sobinov , who, standing in for Shaliapin , was dressed as Michael I Romanov – the first time a Romanov tsar had been represented on the stage. Meriel Buchanan also noted how the pale tsarina's fan trembled in her hands as she struggled breathing and how her emotions seemed to have a firm grip over her; she also noted how a small wave of resentment 'rippled over

9180-472: The "actor" or "system" that performs it. Propaganda is also one of the methods used in psychological warfare , which may also involve false flag operations in which the identity of the operatives is depicted as those of an enemy nation (e.g., The Bay of Pigs Invasion used CIA planes painted in Cuban Air Force markings). The term propaganda may also refer to false information meant to reinforce

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9360-421: The 'Little Father Tsar' and his Orthodox subjects, who revered and adored him. In the celebrations, the symbols of the tsar were in the centre, with all symbols of the state pushed far into the background. The tercentenary was kicked off in the imperial capital Saint Petersburg on a rainy February morning. The event had been on everyone's lips for several weeks leading up the actual date, and dignitaries from

9540-650: The Archivist of the United States. The Smith-Mundt Act, as amended, provided that "the Secretary and the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall make available to the Archivist of the United States, for domestic distribution, motion pictures, films, videotapes, and other material 12 years after the initial dissemination of the material abroad (...) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit

9720-473: The Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors from engaging in any medium or form of communication, either directly or indirectly, because a United States domestic audience is or may be thereby exposed to program material, or based on a presumption of such exposure." Public concerns were raised upon passage due to the relaxation of prohibitions of domestic propaganda in the United States. In

9900-477: The Greek poleis , Hannibal released without conditions Latin prisoners that he had treated generously to their native cities, where they helped to disseminate his propaganda. The Romans on the other hand tried to portray Hannibal as a person devoid of humanity and would soon lose the favour of gods. At the same time, led by Q.Fabius Maximus , they organized elaborate religious rituals to protect Roman morale. In

10080-590: The Kostroma Romanov estate, and according to legend he misled the Poles looking to kill Mikhail Romanov on the eve of his ascension to the throne, at the cost of his own life. Performances of Glinka 's A Life for the Tsar was staged throughout Russia by schools, regiments and amateur companies. Pamphlets and the penny press printed the story of Susanin ad nauseam , and one newspaper told how Susanin had showed each and every soldier how to fulfil his oath to

10260-492: The Romanov dynasty in 1613 had been a 'crucial moment of national awakening', and the first real act of the national state of Russia. It was said that the entire country had participated in the election, and that through it, the Romanovs had come to embody the will of the people. This was reflected among other places in the words of one propagandist who wrote that 'The spirit of Russia is incarnate in her Tsar', 'The Tsar stands to

10440-468: The Russian Empire. They concocted a plan in December 1916 to kill Rasputin, apparently by luring him to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace . Rasputin was murdered during the early morning on 30 December [ O.S. 17 December] 1916 at the home of Prince Yusupov. He died of three gunshot wounds, one of which was a close-range shot to his forehead. Little is certain about his death beyond this, and

10620-586: The Second World War, the propaganda designed to encourage civilians was controlled by Stalin, who insisted on a heavy-handed style that educated audiences easily saw was inauthentic. On the other hand, the unofficial rumors about German atrocities were well founded and convincing. Stalin was a Georgian who spoke Russian with a heavy accent. That would not do for a national hero so starting in the 1930s all new visual portraits of Stalin were retouched to erase his Georgian facial characteristics and make him

10800-551: The United States in 2016 to aid Donald Trump by the firm Cambridge Analytica . The company initially denied breaking laws but later admitted breaking UK law, the scandal provoking a worldwide debate on acceptable use of data for propaganda and influence. The field of social psychology includes the study of persuasion . Social psychologists can be sociologists or psychologists . The field includes many theories and approaches to understanding persuasion. For example, communication theory points out that people can be persuaded by

10980-708: The Volga or visiting the Caucasus or Siberia. He also thought about closing the Duma, inspired by his more reactionary ministers, or turning it into a consultative body such as the Muscovite Land Assembly (Zemsky Sobor) of the 1500s. Fedor Linde , sergeant of the Finland Regiment , was allowed to return to Russia under amnesty to celebrate the tercentenary, after being exiled for his involvement in

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11160-450: The administration of aspirin , then widely used to relieve pain, but unknown as an anti-clotting agent until the 1950s. Alexei and his siblings were also taught to view Rasputin as "our friend" and to share confidences with him. In the autumn of 1907, their aunt, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna , was escorted to the nursery by Nicholas to meet Rasputin. Maria, her sisters and brother Alexei were all wearing their long white nightgowns. "All

11340-449: The anniversary her son's condition had taken a turn for the worse, and the view that the tercentenary celebrations was an ideal possibility to improve public opinion of the tsarina, she was only perceived as arrogant and cold. Three months later, in May, the imperial family went on a tour, a sort of pilgrimage, following the route of Mikhail I after his election as ruler in 1613, and the tour

11520-463: The appearance of greater media fluidity, propaganda institutions, practices and legal frameworks have been evolving in the US and Britain. Briant shows how this included expansion and integration of the apparatus cross-government and details attempts to coordinate the forms of propaganda for foreign and domestic audiences, with new efforts in strategic communication . These were subject to contestation within

11700-622: The appearance of objective information rather than the appearance of propaganda, which is misleading. Federal law specifically mandates that any advertisement appearing in the format of a news item must state that the item is in fact a paid advertisement. Edmund McGarry illustrates that advertising is more than selling to an audience but a type of propaganda that is trying to persuade the public and not to be balanced in judgement. Propaganda has become more common in political contexts, in particular, to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments, political groups, but also often covert interests. In

11880-592: The aristocracy were intensely curious about the occult and the supernatural. Rasputin's ideas and "strange manners" made him the subject of intense curiosity among the city's elite, who according to Fuhrmann were "bored, cynical, and seeking new experiences" during this period. Rasputin's appeal may have been enhanced by the fact that he was also a native Russian, unlike other self-described "holy men" such as Nizier Anthelme Philippe and Gérard Encausse , who had previously been popular in Saint Petersburg. According to Fuhrmann, Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg for only

12060-520: The background. Nicholas ordered Rasputin to leave Saint Petersburg for a time, much to Alexandra's displeasure, and Rasputin went on a pilgrimage to Palestine . Despite the scandal, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until his murder on 17 December 1916. "Our Friend is so contented with our girlies, says they have gone through heavy 'courses' for their age and their souls have much developed," Alexandra wrote to Nicholas on 6 December 1916. In his memoirs, A. A. Mordvinov reported that

12240-482: The ball the Empress felt so ill she could hardly stand up, and was only rescued from fainting in public by her husband Nicholas II intervening and leading her away in time. The communion between the tsar and his Orthodox subjects was the central theme of the celebrations. Central to this was the cult of Russian peasant Ivan Susanin , which was to show that the 'simple' Russian people loved the tsar. Susanin had lived on

12420-587: The basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead. Suddenly, Rasputin leaped up and attacked Yusupov, who freed himself with some effort and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed Yusupov into the palace's courtyard, where he was shot by Purishkevich. He collapsed into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped his body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Little Nevka river. In an unsubstantiated claim, Grand Duchess Tatiana, who

12600-457: The basement. Yusupov offered tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide . After initially refusing the cakes, Rasputin began to eat them and, to Yusupov's surprise, appeared unaffected by the poison. Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress. At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. He took

12780-533: The bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. Simply enough the covenant specifically is not defining the content of propaganda. In simplest terms, an act of propaganda if used in a reply to a wartime act is not prohibited. Propaganda shares techniques with advertising and public relations , each of which can be thought of as propaganda that promotes

12960-659: The blame on Alexandra and Rasputin. One outspoken member of the Duma , far-right politician Vladimir Purishkevich , stated in November 1916 that he held the tsar's ministers had "been turned into marionettes , marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna—the evil genius of Russia and the Tsarina… who has remained a German on the Russian throne and alien to

13140-442: The bridge. Dmitry Kosorotov, the city's senior autopsy surgeon, examined the body. Kosorotov's report was lost, but he later stated that Rasputin's body had shown signs of severe trauma, including three gunshot wounds (one at close range to the forehead), a slice wound to his left side and other injuries, many of which Kosorotov felt had been sustained post-mortem. Kosorotov found a single bullet in Rasputin's body but stated that it

13320-573: The capital, garlanded statues of the tsar and a showering of confetti from the people, were 'even more magnificent than in St. Petersburg.' The tsar dismounted in the Red Square , the convergence point of the religious processions throughout the city who flocked to him, where he walked by rows of priests chanting and for prayers entered the Uspensky Cathedral . The young Tsarevich was, along

13500-586: The capital, receiving guests at the Winter Palace where 'long lines' of dignitaries were waiting to present themselves to the royal couple in the palace's concert hall. A luxurious ball was held in the Noblemen's Assembly , where Grand Duchess Olga attended alongside her parents in one of her first social events. A stir was caused when she danced polonaise with Prince Saltykov, who breached etiquette when he forgot to take off his hat. At Marinsky Theatre ,

13680-669: The case of the United States, there is also an important legal (imposed by law) distinction between advertising (a type of overt propaganda) and what the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an arm of the United States Congress, refers to as "covert propaganda." Propaganda is divided into two in political situations, they are preparation, meaning to create a new frame of mind or view of things, and operational, meaning they instigate actions. Roderick Hindery argues that propaganda exists on

13860-403: The children seemed to like him," Olga Alexandrovna recalled. "They were completely at ease with him." Rasputin's friendship with the tsar's children was evident in the messages he sent to them. "My Dear Pearl M!" Rasputin wrote the nine-year-old Maria in one telegram in 1908. "Tell me how you talked with the sea, with nature! I miss your simple soul. We will see each other soon! A big kiss." In

14040-459: The circumstances of his death have been the subject of considerable speculation. According to Smith, "what really happened at the Yusupov home on 17 December will never be known". The story that Yusupov recounted in his memoirs, however, has become the most frequently told version of events. According to Yusupov's account, Rasputin was invited to his palace shortly after midnight and ushered into

14220-678: The cognate began taking a pejorative or negative connotation in the mid-19th century, when it was used in the political sphere. Non-English cognates of propaganda as well as some similar non-English terms retain neutral or positive connotations. For example, in official party discourse, xuanchuan is treated as a more neutral or positive term, though it can be used pejoratively through protest or other informal settings within China. Historian Arthur Aspinall observed that newspapers were not expected to be independent organs of information when they began to play an important part in political life in

14400-563: The common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. The people can always be brought to

14580-502: The communicative process involved – or more precisely, on the purpose of the process, and allow "propaganda" to be interpreted as positive or negative behavior depending on the perspective of the viewer or listener. Propaganda can often be recognized by the rhetorical strategies used in its design. In the 1930s, the Institute for Propaganda Analysis identified a variety of propaganda techniques that were commonly used in newspapers and on

14760-527: The communicator's credibility, expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. The elaboration likelihood model, as well as heuristic models of persuasion, suggest that a number of factors (e.g., the degree of interest of the recipient of the communication), influence the degree to which people allow superficial factors to persuade them. Nobel Prize–winning psychologist Herbert A. Simon won the Nobel prize for his theory that people are cognitive misers . That is, in

14940-399: The country and its people". (The tsarina had been born a German princess.) On 12 July [ O.S. 29 June] 1914, a 33-year-old peasant woman named Khioniya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear if he would survive. After surgery and some time in

15120-417: The crowds learned that this was not the case, several pawnshops had their windows smashed. 2,000 prisoners were to be released under amnesty to mark the anniversary, and women gathered outside the city jails hoping their men would be among the released. Later in the afternoon a sound and light show saw large crowds gather in the square to watch. Stalls sold beer and pies, alongside Romanov flags and souvenirs. In

15300-536: The crowning of the first Romanov ruler, at Alexandrovsky train station, greeted by a large number of dignitaries. The tsar mounted a white horse and rode alone, sixty feet ahead of the rest of the party and his Cossack guard escort, towards the Kremlin in front of large cheering crowds. The decorations of Tverskaya Street , with velvet banners donning Romanov symbols spanning the boulevard, buildings covered in pennants, flags, and lights 'even more inventive' than those in

15480-406: The descendants of Boyars who had offered the crown to Mikhail. From there, the tour went to Vladimir , Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl , by rail in a luxurious train. To the monastery town of Suzdal the party had to travel in thirty open-top Renaults , as there were no railways. The pilgrimage 'climaxed' when the imperial family triumphantly arrived in the historical capital Moscow , site of

15660-453: The digital age has given rise to new ways of disseminating propaganda, for example, bots and algorithms are currently being used to create computational propaganda and fake or biased news and spread it on social media. Propaganda is a modern Latin word, the neuter plural gerundive form of propagare , meaning 'to spread' or 'to propagate', thus propaganda means the things which are to be propagated . Originally this word derived from

15840-430: The dissemination of information in favor of any given cause. During the 20th century, however, the term acquired a thoroughly negative meaning in western countries, representing the intentional dissemination of often false, but certainly "compelling" claims to support or justify political actions or ideologies. According to Harold Lasswell , the term began to fall out of favor due to growing public suspicion of propaganda in

16020-483: The early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a small circle of followers, primarily family members and other local peasants, who prayed with him on Sundays and other holy days when he was in Pokrovskoye. Building a makeshift chapel in Yefim's root cellar—Rasputin was still living within his father's household at the time—the group held secret prayer meetings there. These meetings were the subject of some suspicion and hostility from

16200-488: The early 20th century, propaganda was exemplified in the form of party slogans. Propaganda also has much in common with public information campaigns by governments, which are intended to encourage or discourage certain forms of behavior (such as wearing seat belts, not smoking, not littering, and so forth). Again, the emphasis is more political in propaganda. Propaganda can take the form of leaflets , posters, TV, and radio broadcasts and can also extend to any other medium . In

16380-471: The early predecessors of modern newspapers or neue zeitungen – targeting the mass. ) and influence the population of his enemies. Propaganda during the Reformation , helped by the spread of the printing press throughout Europe, and in particular within Germany, caused new ideas, thoughts, and doctrine to be made available to the public in ways that had never been seen before the 16th century. During

16560-459: The early sixteenth century, Maximilian I invented one kind of psychological warfare targeting the enemies. During his war against Venice , he attached pamphlets to balloons that his archers would shoot down. The content spoke of freedom and equality and provoked the populace to rebel against the tyrants (their Signoria). Post–World War II usage of the word "propaganda" more typically refers to political or nationalist uses of these techniques or to

16740-427: The enemy or some organization besides its actual origins (compare with black operation , a type of clandestine operation in which the identity of the sponsoring government is hidden). In scale, these different types of propaganda can also be defined by the potential of true and correct information to compete with the propaganda. For example, opposition to white propaganda is often readily found and may slightly discredit

16920-648: The era of the American Revolution , the American colonies had a flourishing network of newspapers and printers who specialized in the topic on behalf of the Patriots (and to a lesser extent on behalf of the Loyalists ). Academic Barbara Diggs-Brown conceives that the negative connotations of the term "propaganda" are associated with the earlier social and political transformations that occurred during

17100-554: The facades of banks and stores. Over tram lines were chains of light hung up, which spelled out 'God Save the Tsar' or portrayed the Romanov double-headed eagle with '1613–1913' spelled out underneath it. For many of the provincial visitors this was their first sight of electric light, and they stood in wonder of the 'columns, arcs and obelisks of light'. The rituals were started in the Kazan Cathedral , outside of which stood

17280-630: The four grand duchesses appeared "cold and visibly terribly upset" by Rasputin's death and sat "huddled up closely together" on a sofa in one of their bedrooms on the night they received the news. Mordvinov reported that the young women were in a gloomy mood and seemed to sense the political upheaval that was about to be unleashed. Rasputin was buried with an icon signed on its reverse side by the grand duchesses and their mother. The imperial family's belief in Rasputin's healing powers brought him considerable status and power at court. Nicholas appointed Rasputin his lampadnik (lamplighter), charged with keeping

17460-436: The history of certain groups or foreign countries may be encouraged or tolerated in the educational system. Since few people actually double-check what they learn at school, such disinformation will be repeated by journalists as well as parents, thus reinforcing the idea that the disinformation item is really a "well-known fact", even though no one repeating the myth is able to point to an authoritative source. The disinformation

17640-466: The hopes, fears, and dreams of a targeted audience; and (4) it attacks opponents. Propaganda is sometimes evaluated based on the intention and goals of the individual or institution who created it. According to historian Zbyněk Zeman , propaganda is defined as either white, grey or black. White propaganda openly discloses its source and intent. Grey propaganda has an ambiguous or non-disclosed source or intent. Black propaganda purports to be published by

17820-427: The imperial family, who were scandalized by the reports, though Rasputin's contacts with the children were by all accounts completely innocent. Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna , was horrified by Tyutcheva's story. Xenia wrote on 15 March 1910 that she could not understand "...the attitude of Alix and the children to that sinister Grigory (whom they consider to be almost a saint, when in fact he's only

18000-507: The imperial family. Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on common rumors; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture . Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin

18180-652: The importance of propaganda. Propaganda was used extensively by Communist forces in the Vietnam War as means of controlling people's opinions. During the Yugoslav wars , propaganda was used as a military strategy by governments of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Croatia . Propaganda was used to create fear and hatred, and particularly to incite the Serb population against the other ethnicities ( Bosniaks , Croats , Albanians and other non-Serbs). Serb media made

18360-400: The influential salons where the local aristocracy gathered for religious discussions. It was through these meetings that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers—many of whom would later turn against him. Alternative religious movements such as spiritualism and theosophy had become popular among Saint Petersburg's aristocracy before Rasputin's arrival, and many of

18540-584: The intention of producing any effect in the audience (e.g. action or inaction; reinforcement or transformation of feelings, ideas, attitudes or behaviours) that is desired by the propagandist." The same author explains the importance of consistent terminology across history, particularly as contemporary euphemistic synonyms are used in governments' continual efforts to rebrand their operations such as 'information support' and strategic communication . Other scholars also see benefits to acknowledging that propaganda can be interpreted as beneficial or harmful, depending on

18720-441: The jubilee a biography – the first ever made for a living tsar – was published, which depicted him as an overlooking father of his people, keeping a compassionate and earnest watch over their needs. It also wrote that he devoted special care to the development of the peasantry, and that he often visited their huts to 'partake their milk and black bread', that he would talk 'genially' with the peasants at official functions, whereafter

18900-597: The lamps lit before religious icons in the palace, which gained him regular access to the palace and imperial family. By December 1906, Rasputin had become close enough to ask a special favor of the tsar: that he be permitted to change his surname to Rasputin-Noviy (Rasputin-New). Nicholas granted the request and the name change was speedily processed, suggesting that Rasputin already had the tsar's favor at that early date. Rasputin used his position to full effect, accepting bribes and sexual favors from admirers and working diligently to expand his influence. Rasputin soon became

19080-406: The late 1700s, but were assumed to promote the views of their owners or government sponsors. In the 20th century, the term propaganda emerged along with the rise of mass media, including newspapers and radio. As researchers began studying the effects of media, they used suggestion theory to explain how people could be influenced by emotionally-resonant persuasive messages. Harold Lasswell provided

19260-461: The line between liberal and illiberal policies in communications, and emphasized the dangers of nationalist chauvinism. With Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia active on the radio, its liberal goals were ignored, while free speech advocates warned that the code represented restraints on free speech. Identifying propaganda has always been a problem. The main difficulties have involved differentiating propaganda from other types of persuasion , and avoiding

19440-556: The means by which the propaganda messages are transmitted. That work is important but it is clear that information dissemination strategies become propaganda strategies only when coupled with propagandistic messages . Identifying these messages is a necessary prerequisite to study the methods by which those messages are spread. Propaganda can also be turned on its makers. For example, postage stamps have frequently been tools for government advertising, such as North Korea 's extensive issues. The presence of Stalin on numerous Soviet stamps

19620-563: The message sender, target audience, message, and context. David Goodman argues that the 1936 League of Nations "Convention on the Use of Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace" tried to create the standards for a liberal international public sphere. The Convention encouraged empathetic and neighborly radio broadcasts to other nations. It called for League prohibitions on international broadcast containing hostile speech and false claims. It tried to define

19800-679: The mindsets of people who already believe as the propagandist wishes (e.g., During the First World War, the main purpose of British propaganda was to encourage men to join the army, and women to work in the country's industry. Propaganda posters were used because regular general radio broadcasting was yet to commence and TV technology was still under development). The assumption is that, if people believe something false, they will constantly be assailed by doubts. Since these doubts are unpleasant (see cognitive dissonance ), people will be eager to have them extinguished, and are therefore receptive to

19980-402: The occasion from Greece , led a 'solemn thanksgiving', alongside the three Russian metropolitans and fifty St. Petersburg priests. The imperial family had driven from the Winter Palace in open carriages, escorted by two squadrons of His Majesty's Own Horseguards and Cossack riders donning black caftans and red Caucasian hats. The tsar, Nicholas II , rode for the first time in public since

20160-538: The opinion, emotions, attitudes, or behaviour of any specified group in order to benefit the sponsor, either directly or indirectly". Primitive forms of propaganda have been a human activity as far back as reliable recorded evidence exists. The Behistun Inscription ( c.  515 BCE ) detailing the rise of Darius I to the Persian throne is viewed by most historians as an early example of propaganda. Another striking example of propaganda during ancient history

20340-465: The organization of an 'academic legion' alongside the Social Democrats to spread propaganda to the working class. Not only the court, however, was 'swept away' by the rhetoric of the jubilee. The Times wrote of the tercentenary that 'no hope seems too confident or too bright', regarding the Romanov's future in a special edition covering the jubilee. It also reported that stamps depicting

20520-502: The organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." NATO 's 2011 guidance for military public affairs defines propaganda as "information, ideas, doctrines, or special appeals disseminated to influence

20700-524: The parks there were concerts and parks. When darkness fell Nevsky Prospect 'became one solid mass of people'. Fireworks lit up the sky, and lights 'criss-crossed' the city, and swept across the rooftops, lingering a while over significant monuments. The Admiralty 's spire 'burned like a torch', and the Winter Palace was illuminated by three vast portraits of the ruling tsar, Peter the Great and dynasty founder Michael I. The royal family remained for one week in

20880-520: The patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time.... How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?" Historian Robert K. Massie has called Alexei's recovery "one of the most mysterious episodes of the whole Rasputin legend". The cause of his recovery is unclear: Massie speculated that Rasputin's suggestion not to let doctors disturb Alexei had aided his recovery by allowing him to rest and heal, or that his message may have aided Alexei's recovery by calming his mother and reducing

21060-418: The peasantry, tasting the rations of soldiers or inspecting new types of ploughs. All of this was to give the impression that the tsar, no matter how trivial something was, came under his attention, and that his influence was omnipresent. Throughout the jubilee the cult of seventeenth century Muscovy, with its patrimonialism (with the tsar owning Russia as a private fiefdom , votchina ), personal rule with

21240-437: The peasants would cross themselves and feel happier the rest of their life. It wrote of the 'thousands of invisible threads centr[ing] in the tsar's heart, and these threads stretch to the huts of the poor to the palaces of the rich.' He was also depicted as wearing peasant robes, eating peasant food like borscht and blinies , and sharing their habits. During the tercentenary, pictures were taken of him acting symbolic homages to

21420-495: The people as their highest conception of the destiny and ideals of the nation.' This in practice meant that Russia and the Romanov dynasty was one and the same, and Nicholas II was presented as Russia incarnate during the anniversary. The newspaper Novoe vremia wrote of this saying that 'In every soul there is something Romanov. Something from the soul and spirit of the House that has reigned for 300 years.' The religious status of

21600-504: The person of the Emperor displayed by the population wherever His Majesty appeared. There is no doubt that in this strong attachment of the masses ... to the person of the Emperor lies the great strength of the Russian autocracy.' Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage

21780-435: The political left, and right, and in mainstream centrist parties. Hindery further argues that debates about most social issues can be productively revisited in the context of asking "what is or is not propaganda?" Not to be overlooked is the link between propaganda, indoctrination, and terrorism/ counterterrorism . He argues that threats to destroy are often as socially disruptive as physical devastation itself. Since 9/11 and

21960-569: The promotion of a set of ideas. Propaganda is a powerful weapon in war; in certain cases, it is used to dehumanize and create hatred toward a supposed enemy, either internal or external, by creating a false image in the mind of soldiers and citizens. This can be done by using derogatory or racist terms (e.g., the racist terms " Jap " and " gook " used during World War II and the Vietnam War, respectively), avoiding some words or language or by making allegations of enemy atrocities. The goal of this

22140-401: The propaganda source. Opposition to grey propaganda, when revealed (often by an inside source), may create some level of public outcry. Opposition to black propaganda is often unavailable and may be dangerous to reveal, because public cognizance of black propaganda tactics and sources would undermine or backfire the very campaign the black propagandist supported. The propagandist seeks to change

22320-437: The public mind the fact that propaganda existed. ... The public's discovery of propaganda has led to a great of lamentation over it. Propaganda has become an epithet of contempt and hate, and the propagandists have sought protective coloration in such names as 'public relations council,' 'specialist in public education,' 'public relations adviser.' " In 1949, political science professor Dayton David McKean wrote, "After World War I

22500-488: The radio, which were the mass media of the time period. Propaganda techniques include "name calling" (using derogatory labels), "bandwagon" (expressing the social appeal of a message), or "glittering generalities" (using positive but imprecise language). With the rise of the internet and social media, Renee Hobbs identified four characteristic design features of many forms of contemporary propaganda: (1) it activates strong emotions; (2) it simplifies information; (3) it appeals to

22680-615: The real or imagined enemy. In the years following the October Revolution of 1917, the Soviet government sponsored the Russian film industry with the purpose of making propaganda films (e.g., the 1925 film The Battleship Potemkin glorifies Communist ideals). In WWII, Nazi filmmakers produced highly emotional films to create popular support for occupying the Sudetenland and attacking Poland. The 1930s and 1940s, which saw

22860-431: The reassurances of those in power. For this reason, propaganda is often addressed to people who are already sympathetic to the agenda or views being presented. This process of reinforcement uses an individual's predisposition to self-select "agreeable" information sources as a mechanism for maintaining control over populations. Propaganda may be administered in insidious ways. For instance, disparaging disinformation about

23040-557: The rest of the family, also supposed to walk the last hundred yards, but he collapsed due to haemophilia , and had to be carried by a Cossack guard to the 'exclamations of sorrow' from the crowds. It was followed by, in the words of historian Orlando Figes , 'another round of pageantry and gastronomy . The ball in the Assembly of the Moscow Nobility was particularly lavish, far beyond the wildest dreams of Hollywood .' During

23220-819: The rise of totalitarian states and the Second World War , are arguably the "Golden Age of Propaganda". Leni Riefenstahl , a filmmaker working in Nazi Germany , created one of the best-known propaganda movies, Triumph of the Will . In 1942, the propaganda song Niet Molotoff was made in Finland during the Continuation War , making fun of the Red Army 's failure in the Winter War , referring

23400-404: The same community or propaganda intended to keep political power in the hands of a religious elite can incite religious hate on a global or national scale. It could make use of many propaganda mediums. War, terrorism, riots, and other violent acts can result from it. It can also conceal injustices, inequities, exploitation, and atrocities, leading to ignorance-based indifference and alienation. In

23580-402: The seating of the Duma members was at the back, behind those of the state councilors and senators , which he found beneath their dignity. After complaining to the master of ceremonies, pointing out that an assembly of the people had elected Mikhail as tsar in 1613, their seats were swapped with those of the senators. When he went to his new seat, he discovered Rasputin occupying his chair. After

23760-508: The song's name to the Soviet's Minister of Foreign Affairs , Vyacheslav Molotov . In the US, animation became popular, especially for winning over youthful audiences and aiding the U.S. war effort, e.g., Der Fuehrer's Face (1942), which ridicules Hitler and advocates the value of freedom. Some American war films in the early 1940s were designed to create a patriotic mindset and convince viewers that sacrifices needed to be made to defeat

23940-536: The sovereign. The image of the seventeenth-century peasant therefore featured prominently in the tercentenary; one example is the Romanov Monument in Kostroma , where a female personification of Russia gave blessings to a kneeling Susanin. In Kostroma Nicholas II was presented with a group of peasants from Potemkin who claimed to be descendants of Susanin. Jubilee propaganda claimed that the election of

24120-469: The span of 15 years, including novels by George Orwell, Albert Camus, Vladimir Nabakov, James Joyce, and Pasternak in an attempt to promote anti-communist sentiment and sympathy of Western values. George Orwell 's contemporaneous novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four portray the use of propaganda in fictional dystopian societies. During the Cuban Revolution , Fidel Castro stressed

24300-687: The split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches or during the Crusades . The sociologist Jeffrey K. Hadden has argued that members of the anti-cult movement and Christian counter-cult movement accuse the leaders of what they consider cults of using propaganda extensively to recruit followers and keep them. Hadden argued that ex-members of cults and the anti-cult movement are committed to making these movements look bad. Propaganda against other religions in

24480-409: The state ministers 'constantly' threatening the tsar with talks of revolution were cowards, as they only had to show themselves and 'at once their hearts are ours'. Figes notes that the only ones convinced by the illusions of the anniversary were the court itself. Nicholas began looking to move closer to his dream of personal rule, and it also spawned talks of travelling the Russian interior, sailing down

24660-528: The term has acquired a strong negative connotation. The connotations of the term "propaganda" can also vary over time. For example, in Portuguese and some Spanish language speaking countries, particularly in the Southern Cone , the word "propaganda" usually refers to the most common manipulative media in business terms – "advertising". In English, propaganda was originally a neutral term for

24840-415: The theatre' as she arose and left after a few whispers to the emperor, not to be seen again the rest of the evening. The empress was strained by the jubilee, and she often left all public functions early with clear signs of distress. Orlando Figes notes that this was because the empress had not appeared in public more than a dozen occasions in a decade, after her son was born a haemophiliac. Also, just before

25020-437: The tsar an embodiment of God on earth, and the concept of a 'mystical union' between the 'Father Tsar' and his Orthodox subjects, who revered and adored him as both father and God, had played a central role as the leitmotiv of the celebrations. In the celebrations, the symbols of the tsar was in the centre, with all symbols of the state pushed far into the background. It has been described as an 'extravaganza of pageantry' and

25200-513: The tsar and his family. Rasputin first met Nicholas on 1 November 1905, at the Peterhof Palace . The tsar recorded the event in his diary, writing that he and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna , had "made the acquaintance of a man of God – Grigory, from Tobolsk province". Rasputin returned to Pokrovskoye shortly after their first meeting and did not return to Saint Petersburg until July 1906. On his return, he sent Nicholas

25380-402: The tsar in the public's consciousness also figured heavily, and his role as Tsar Batiushka ("Father Tsar"), a god on earth. The myth of the good tsar was something the courts propagandists increasingly relied on as the revolutionary crisis grew. The tsar was depicted as a man of modest lifestyle and simple tastes, 'intimately acquainted' with each peasant, and 'carrying for their every need.' For

25560-415: The tsar made in commemoration of the anniversary had to be recalled when 'some royalist post-office clerks refused to impress the obliterating postmark on these hallowed visages'. It concluded that 'these loyal and eminently respectable scruples are typical of the mind of the vast masses of the Russian people'. The British Foreign Office agreed, writing that 'nothing could exceed the affection and devotion to

25740-439: The tsarevich when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning. Alexandra's friend Anna Vyrubova became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous powers shortly thereafter and became one of his most influential advocates. During the summer of 1912, Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a jolting carriage ride near the imperial hunting grounds at Spała , which caused

25920-448: The tsarevich's emotional stress. Alexandra believed that Rasputin had performed a miracle, and concluded that he was essential to Alexei's survival. Some writers and historians, such as Ferro, claim that Rasputin stopped Alexei's bleeding on other occasions through hypnosis . Still other historians–including memoirist Pierre Gilliard , Alexei's French-language tutor–have speculated that Rasputin controlled Alexei's bleeding by disallowing

26100-413: The tsarina had a "passionate attachment" to Rasputin, believing he could heal her son's affliction. Harold Shukman wrote that Rasputin became "an indispensable member of the royal entourage". It is unclear when Rasputin first learned of Alexei's haemophilia, or when he first acted as a healer. He may have been aware of Alexei's condition as early as October 1906, and was summoned by Alexandra to pray for

26280-468: The village priest and other villagers. It was rumored that female followers were ceremonially washing Rasputin before each meeting, that the group sang strange songs, and even that Rasputin had joined the Khlysty , a religious sect whose ecstatic rituals were rumored to include self- flagellation and sexual orgies . According to Fuhrmann, however, "repeated investigations failed to establish that Rasputin

26460-636: The wake of its use during World War I by the Creel Committee in the United States and the Ministry of Information in Britain: Writing in 1928, Lasswell observed, "In democratic countries the official propaganda bureau was looked upon with genuine alarm, for fear that it might be suborned to party and personal ends. The outcry in the United States against Mr. Creel's famous Bureau of Public Information (or 'Inflammation') helped to din into

26640-539: The wake of this, the internet has become a prolific method of distributing political propaganda, benefiting from an evolution in coding called bots. Software agents or bots can be used for many things, including populating social media with automated messages and posts with a range of sophistication. During the 2016 U.S. election a cyber-strategy was implemented using bots to direct US voters to Russian political news and information sources, and to spread politically motivated rumors and false news stories. At this point it

26820-413: The war is just. In these efforts it was difficult to determine the accuracy of how propaganda truly impacted the war. In NATO doctrine, propaganda is defined as "Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view." Within this perspective, the information provided does not need to be necessarily false but must be instead relevant to specific goals of

27000-480: The war, along with various merchandise items with Hezbollah's logo, flag color (yellow), and images of Nasrallah. T-shirts, baseball caps and other war memorabilia were marketed for all ages. The uniformity of messaging helped define Hezbollah's brand. In the journalistic context, advertisements evolved from the traditional commercial advertisements to include also a new type in the form of paid articles or broadcasts disguised as news. These generally present an issue in

27180-448: The way people understand an issue or situation for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations in ways that are desirable to the interest group. Propaganda, in this sense, serves as a corollary to censorship in which the same purpose is achieved, not by filling people's minds with approved information, but by preventing people from being confronted with opposing points of view. What sets propaganda apart from other forms of advocacy

27360-620: The whole of the empire had gathered in the capital's grand hotels: princes from the Baltic and Poland , high-priests from Armenia and Georgia in the Caucasus , and mullahs and tribal chiefs from Central Asia alongside the Khan of Khiva and the Emir of Bukhara . Additionally there was a large group of visitors from the provinces and workers, which left the usual well-dressed promenaders of

27540-444: The word came to be applied to 'what you don't like of the other fellow's publicity,' as Edward L. Bernays said...." The term is essentially contested and some have argued for a neutral definition, arguing that ethics depend on intent and context, while others define it as necessarily unethical and negative. Emma Briant defines it as "the deliberate manipulation of representations (including text, pictures, video, speech etc.) with

27720-472: Was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers on the orders of Alexander Kerensky shortly after Nicholas abdicated the throne in March 1917, so that his grave would not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime. Rasputin's daughter, Maria Rasputin (born Matryona Rasputina; 1898–1977), emigrated to France after the October Revolution and then to the United States. There, she worked as

27900-478: Was raped by Rasputin. Maria Ivanovna Vishnyakova had at first been a devotee of Rasputin, but later was disillusioned by him. Alexandra refused to believe Vishnyakova "and said that everything Rasputin does is holy". Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was told that Vishnyakova's claim had been immediately investigated, but "they caught the young woman in bed with a Cossack of the Imperial Guard ." Vishnyakova

28080-415: Was "profoundly humbled" by a starets (elder) known as Makary. Rasputin may have spent several months at Verkhoturye, and it was perhaps here that he learned to read and write. However, he later claimed that some of the monks at Verkhotuyre engaged in homosexuality and criticized monastic life as too coercive. He returned to Pokrovskoye a changed man, looking disheveled and behaving differently. He became

28260-509: Was 28 years old, married ten years, with an infant son and another child on the way. According to Smith, his decision "could only have been occasioned by some sort of emotional or spiritual crisis". Rasputin had undertaken earlier, shorter pilgrimages to the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abalak and to Tobolsk's cathedral , but his visit to the St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in 1897 transformed him. There, he met and

28440-763: Was a Russian mystic and faith healer . He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II , the last Emperor of Russia , through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire . Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye , located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate (present-day Yarkovsky District in Tyumen Oblast ). He had

28620-402: Was a danger to the monarchy. Rumors multiplied that Rasputin had assaulted female followers and behaved inappropriately on visits with the imperial family—and particularly with Nicholas's teenage daughters Olga and Tatiana. During this period the First World War , the dissolution of feudalism and a meddling government bureaucracy all contributed to Russia's rapid economic decline. Many laid

28800-431: Was a peasant farmer and church elder who had been born in Pokrovskoye and married Rasputin's mother, Anna Parshukova (c. 1840 – 1906), in 1863. Yefim also worked as a government courier, ferrying people and goods between Tobolsk and Tyumen . The couple had seven other children, all of whom died in infancy and early childhood; there may have been a ninth child, Feodosiya. According to historian Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin

28980-750: Was always occupied with flowers and needlework." One of the girls' governesses , Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva , was horrified in 1910 when Rasputin was permitted access to the nursery when the four girls were in their nightgowns. Tyutcheva wanted Rasputin barred from the nurseries. In response to her complaints, Nicholas asked Rasputin to end his nursery visits. "I am so afr(aid) that S.I. [Tyutcheva] can speak ... about our friend something bad," Maria's twelve-year-old sister Tatiana wrote to her mother on 8 March 1910, after begging Alexandra to forgive her for doing something she did not like. "I hope our nurse will be nice to our friend now." Alexandra eventually had Tyutcheva fired. Tyutcheva took her story to other members of

29160-621: Was banished from Saint Petersburg and was ultimately defrocked . Guseva claimed to have acted alone, having read about Rasputin in the newspapers and believing him to be a "false prophet and even an Antichrist ". Both the police and Rasputin, however, believed that Iliodor had instigated the assassination attempt. Iliodor fled the country before he could be questioned, and Guseva was found to be not responsible for her actions by reason of insanity . A group of nobles led by Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Felix Yusupov decided that Rasputin's influence over Alexandra threatened

29340-403: Was being challenged by Russia's emerging democracy', a retreat 'to the past, hoping it would save them from the future'. Throughout the jubilee, the leitmotiv as it were was the cult of seventeenth century Muscovy, with its patrimonialism (with the tsar owning Russia as a private fiefdom), personal rule with the tsar a representation of God on earth , and the concept of a mystical union between

29520-409: Was being challenged by Russia's emerging democracy'. It was according to Figes a retreat 'to the past, hoping it would save them from the future'. The success of the celebrations nurtured a stronger confidence in the tsar's ambitions of a popular autocracy, as the tsar returned from the tour stating that 'my people love me'. His wife, Tsarina Alexandra, wrote to him describing the events as showing how

29700-517: Was born a peasant in the small village of Pokrovskoye , along the Tura River in the Tobolsk Governorate (now Tyumen Oblast ) in the Russian Empire . According to official records, he was born on 21 January [ O.S. 9 January] 1869 and christened the following day. He was named for St. Gregory of Nyssa , whose feast was celebrated on 10 January. There are few records of Rasputin's parents. His father, Yefim (1842 – 1916),

29880-435: Was buried on 2 January (O.S. 21 December) at a small church that Vyrubova had been building at Tsarskoye Selo . The funeral was attended only by the imperial family and a few of their intimates. Rasputin's wife, mistress and children were not invited, although his daughters met with the imperial family at Vyrubova's home later that day. The imperial family planned to build a church over Rasputin's grave site. However, his body

30060-553: Was certainly close to Feodosiya and was godfather to her children, but "the records that have survived do not permit us to say more than that". According to historian Douglas Smith , Rasputin's youth and early adulthood are "a black hole about which we know almost nothing", though the lack of reliable sources and information did not stop others from fabricating stories about Rasputin's parents and his youth after his rise to prominence. Historians agree, however, that like most Siberian peasants, including his mother and father, Rasputin

30240-454: Was dismissed from her post in 1913. It was whispered in society that Rasputin had seduced not only Alexandra but also the four grand duchesses. Rasputin had released ardent letters written to him by the tsarina and the grand duchesses, which circulated throughout society and fueled the rumors. Pornographic cartoons also circulated that depicted Rasputin having sexual relations with the tsarina, with her four daughters and Anna Vyrubova nude in

30420-524: Was earlier alleged to have been raped by Rasputin, was present at the site of Rasputin's murder, "disguised as a lieutenant of the Chevaliers-Gardes , so that she could revenge herself on Rasputin who had tried to violate her". Maurice Paléologue , the French ambassador to Russia, wrote that Tatiana had supposedly witnessed Rasputin's castration , but he doubted the credibility of the rumor. In

30600-467: Was ever a member of the sect", and rumors that he was a Khlyst appear to have been unfounded. Word of Rasputin's activity and charisma began to spread in Siberia during the early 1900s. At some point during 1904 or 1905, he traveled to the city of Kazan , where he acquired a reputation as a wise starets who could help people resolve their spiritual crises and anxieties. Despite rumors that Rasputin

30780-453: Was first introduced to the tsar and tsarina as a healer who could help their son in November 1905, while Joseph T. Fuhrmann has speculated that it was in October 1906 that Rasputin was first asked to pray for the health of Alexei. Much of Rasputin's influence with the imperial family stemmed from the belief by Alexandra and others that he had on several occasions eased Alexei's pain and stopped his bleeding. According to historian Marc Ferro ,

30960-449: Was from Genghis Khan . The emperor would send some of his men ahead of his army to spread rumors to the enemy. In many cases, his army was actually smaller than his opponents'. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I was the first ruler to utilize the power of the printing press for propaganda – in order to build his image , stir up patriotic feelings in the population of his empire (he was the first ruler who utilized one-sided battle reports –

31140-578: Was having sex with female followers, he made a favorable impression on several local religious leaders. Among these were Archimandrite Andrei and Bishop Chrysthanos, who gave Rasputin a letter of recommendation to Bishop Sergei, the rector of the theological seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery , and arranged for him to travel to Saint Petersburg . Upon arriving at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra , Rasputin

31320-407: Was introduced to church leaders, including Archimandrite Theofan , inspector of the theological seminary, who was well-connected in Saint Petersburg society and later served as confessor to the imperial family. Theofan was so impressed with Rasputin that he invited him to stay in his home; he went on to become one of Rasputin's most important friends in Saint Petersburg, gaining him entry to many of

31500-523: Was not formally educated and remained illiterate well into his early adulthood. Local archival records suggest that he had a somewhat unruly youth—possibly involving drinking, small thefts and disrespect for local authorities—but contain no evidence of his being charged with stealing horses , blasphemy or bearing false witness, all major crimes later imputed to him as a young man. In 1886, Rasputin traveled to Abalak , some 250 km east-northeast of Tyumen and 2,800 km east of Moscow , where he met

31680-457: Was to be true in Germany and backed up with their army making it difficult to allow other propaganda to flow in. Most propaganda in Nazi Germany was produced by the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels . Goebbels mentions propaganda as a way to see through the masses. Symbols are used towards propaganda such as justice, liberty and one's devotion to one's country. World War II saw continued use of propaganda as

31860-539: Was to demoralize the opponent into thinking what was being projected was actually true. Most propaganda efforts in wartime require the home population to feel the enemy has inflicted an injustice, which may be fictitious or may be based on facts (e.g., the sinking of the passenger ship RMS  Lusitania by the German Navy in World War I). The home population must also believe that the cause of their nation in

32040-575: Was to visit all ancient towns of Muscovy associated with the founding of the Romanov dynasty. The tour started off in Kostroma , where they arrived in a 'flotilla of steamboats' on the Volga , greeted by a large crowd of townspeople. Here Nicholas visited the Ipatiev Monastery , where Michael had sought refuge from the invading Poles and the Muscovite civil wars, and posed for a photo with

32220-402: Was too badly deformed and of a type too widely used to trace. He found no evidence that Rasputin had been poisoned. According to both Smith and Fuhrmann, Kosorotov found no water in Rasputin's lungs and reports that Rasputin had been thrown into the water alive were incorrect. Some later accounts claimed that Rasputin's penis had been severed, but Kosorotov found his genitals intact. Rasputin

32400-430: Was unchanged, but Alexandra was encouraged by the message and regained some hope that he would survive. His bleeding stopped the following day. Dr. S. P. Fedorov , one of the physicians who attended Alexei, admitted that "the recovery was wholly inexplicable from a medical point of view." Later, Dr. Fedorov admitted that Alexandra could not be blamed for seeing Rasputin as a miracle man: "Rasputin would come in, walk up to

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