Myths & Facts: The Soviet Union

There are a lot of myths (even some Americanized ones) about the Sovie Union. In this page, we will explore some of those myths and even tell some facts that say to the contrary.

## Myth #1

In the United States, there is (and still is) that myth floating around that the Soviet Union held no elections for a next Soviet Premier, and that Premier stayed until he/she dies.

### Fact

Just because there were no "Free Elections" in the Soviet Union, doesn't mean there were no elections at all. As said before, these weren't "free" elections, meaning the people didn't vote on whoever gets into government office or vote on any laws like in the United States, all of that was elected on government officials. Unlike, say, the US President, the Soviet Premier had not term limits which only reinforces this particular myth, likewise with no elections every 4 years. Still, the fact is that there were elections, but it wasn't voted on by "the people". But eventually, the Soviet people were able to vote and decide on their laws and Government when Mihail Gorbachev inrtoduced his idea of "Perestroika & Glasnost".

## Myth #2

In Soviet Propaganda, it was said that unlike the "Captialist Pig Government" of the United States, political corruption doesn't exist in the Soviet Union.

### Fact

This one always gets me especially when somebody believes in this particular myth about the Soviet Union. Fact is that, there was corruption, and this page means tons of it. Especially by the late 1960s, early 1970s when members of the Soviet Government were beginning to live the high life and be financially secured, \*and\* leaving millions of their own people starving to death while doing it. There were alsodecisions by the Russian Mafia on how the USSR should run which weakened the Government and strengthened the Mafia over time.

## Myth #3

According to US Propaganda back in the 1950s and 60s, the people were told that the Soviets were miserable because not only were they not allowed to express themselves freely, but also not have any of the goods that the "Capitalist West" had such as fast food and good toys.

### Fact

This is not much of a "myth" so to say, but more of a half-truth. Yes there were Soviet people that were downright miserable, but there were also a good number of Soviets that were quite content with communism and what the Soviet Government officials were doing, no matter how corrupt they might be. Either they went along with the Soviet Propaganda or agreed with their Communist Government themselves.

## Myth #4

Vladimire Lenin's plans to bring prosperity to Russia like with "Peace, Bread, and Land" idea worked so well, that lenin actually succeeded on bringing his promise.

### Fact

Again, this is Soviet Propaganda at work here. Lenin's plans to bring "All power to the Soviets" wasn't exactly "successful" to say the least. Though, Lenin and his Bolsheviks only success out of Lenin's "Peace, Bread, and Land" was (ironically) getting Russia out of World War 1 and made the Bolsheviks all the more legitimate to the Russian people, but the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk wasn't entirely successful either, once the Russians stopped fighting, the Central Powers took more land from Russia (though it was given back to Russia after the war ended). Once the Bolsheviks got in, they spread resentment by the Russians who didn't want a communist dictatorship or wanted the Romanovs to come back into power, hence the Russian Civil War, so the "Peace" part didn't work out so well. The "Land" part worked out better as some of the land was given back to the peasants, and those farmers became rich themselves (they were called "Kulaks"), but their land and riches were eventually taken from them once the Soviet Government began "Collectivization", which also reinforces Lenin's other plan; "Bread". The Bread part was probably Lenin's biggest failure, Lenin also wanted to deal with the numerous famines that were plaguing Russia either caused by local climate and World War 1, once he took over however and during the Russian Civil War, he ordered massive collectivizations, which had the opposite effect on Russia, and the country saw more famines and made areas already plagued by famines even worse, and millions of Russians died as a result.

## Myth #5

In the 1950s, US Senator Joe McCarthy created what is now known as the "Red Scare" and the Domino Theory where US Propaganda used those as a "scare tactic thinking that the Soviet Union and its allies want the Enitre World in the communist's icy grip. so, it was natural for people in this generation that the Soviets had something similar.

### Fact

I went around the internet and spotted this myth just by chance, and I find it very interesting. Since a lot of Stalin's policies were still in effect even long after his death, it was kind of easy to think that the Soviets had a "Blue Scare" where the "Capitalist Pigs" would take over the USSR (even if it was true, they were right).

In reality, there wasn't. Because it would've gone against the Soviet Propaganda for the time which to make the Soviet people believe that Communism was better than Democracy and Capitalism, but not to fear it, and because the Soviet Union didn't allow freedom of expression of any kind (until Gorbavchev's Perestroika & Glasnost) so a "Josef Makarov" would've gotten arrested and thrown in jail for spreading this "Blue Scare". Though, it might have spread revolt as his message spreads, but it would also have met with brutal puishment of some kind.

## Myth #6

Once the Soviets took over Russia, they also made it illegal to practice any form of religion (including Russia's own religion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity) and even disavow the existance of gods, magic, or anything supernatural.

### Fact

There's one thing you must remember about laws is that if you make something illegal, or \*ban\* something. You can't expect everybody to follow the ban, and there were still a good number of Soviet People who were devoutly religious. If you were to go to the Soviet Union, you may not find religious people in, say, Moscow or Leningrad. but in the farthest reach of the Soviet Union, yes you may find some Eastern orthodox Christans in Poland or Lithuania, and in the "Stan" regions( e.g., Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan), you can find some devout Muslims too. These regions have little to almost no Soviet Influence, so practicing religion was done quite a bit.

That'll do it for this page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.