Best books on old Soviet tactics?

[1seeker]

Hey everyone,

Now and again I hear words like "agitprop" mentioned. An old soviet merge of agitation and propaganda. Also "apparatchik" or whatever sees some mileage. Sure I could wiki these words' meanings, but I feel like people are reading serious and/or in-depth books which give these words emotive meaning outside of Soviet history. I see these words applied to US or other contemporary world contexts.

What are folks reading from soviet history, where these words acquire a large and important meaning?

[james03]

I would say that the "Rise and Fall of Communism" by Carroll is an excellent treatment of the history, though it is not dealing with your specific question.  "Radical Son" by Horowitz touches on what was done, though it is an autobiography.  "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers discusses what he did, though both of these are American communists aligned with Russia.

I found Youtube to be the best, to be honest.  Why read some American "Sovietologist", when you can listen to a KGB defector tell you what he did?

Agitprop also came out of the Frankfurt school, though "agitation and propaganda" were what Yuri Bezmenov and the KGB spent most of their time on to implement demoralization.

[Gardener]

I have these two books:

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Communist-Jargon-Carew-Hunt/dp/B0006AV51M

http://www.amazon.com/Shakedown-Socialism-Pitchforks-Collective-Redistributive/dp/1882514912

Dunno if that's what you are looking for.

You should pm dellery.

ETA: you also might read what Stalin had to say on the issue of linguistics and how it interfaces with Marxism : https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1950/jun/20.htm

[dellery]

Agitprop is not exclusively Soviet, but just denotes one of the two main forms of propaganda --agitative and integrative.
Integrative propaganda doesn't have a cool name like agitprop though. One forces people apart the other brings them together. The Coca-cola company is an integrative-propaganda master.

Read Lenin's "What is to be done" & "Left-wing communism: an infantile disorder". Also, " The philosophy of world revolution" by Franz Marek, "the united front" by Georgi Dimitroff, and "propaganda" by Jeaques Ellul. Don't waste your time with YouTube or any other form of mindless entertainment.

The best way to summarize communist methods is to say: in order to get man to violently overthrow his state's authorities he must be put in an environment that FORCES him to act. Effective propaganda does not convince a man to act with words, but creates an actual environment that becomes unbearable for him to live in, so he is pushed to action by environmental circumstances.

I made a thread a while ago detailing how modern revolutionaries are currently creating an environment that is facilitating a right-wing revolution. Leftism in its present form is nothing but social antagonism designed to create an environment that will foster revolution.

[1seeker]

I would say that the "Rise and Fall of Communism" by Carroll is an excellent treatment of the history, though it is not dealing with your specific question.  "Radical Son" by Horowitz touches on what was done, though it is an autobiography.  "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers discusses what he did, though both of these are American communists aligned with Russia.

I found Youtube to be the best, to be honest.  Why read some American "Sovietologist", when you can listen to a KGB defector tell you what he did?

Agitprop also came out of the Frankfurt school, though "agitation and propaganda" were what Yuri Bezmenov and the KGB spent most of their time on to implement demoralization.

I'll start looking for those books in secondhand sales.

I did see Bezmenov's youtube video... its been a while ago but I remember him talking about Disinformation, rather than Agitprop specifically.

I have these two books:

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Communist-Jargon-Carew-Hunt/dp/B0006AV51M

http://www.amazon.com/Shakedown-Socialism-Pitchforks-Collective-Redistributive/dp/1882514912

Would you say a little about those two works? Are they comprehensive and authoritative?

ETA: you also might read what Stalin had to say on the issue of linguistics and how it interfaces with Marxism : https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1950/jun/20.htm

Fascinating.

[1seeker]

Agitprop is not exclusively Soviet, but just denotes one of the two main forms of propaganda --agitative and integrative.
Integrative propaganda doesn't have a cool name like agitprop though. One forces people apart the other brings them together. The Coca-cola company is an integrative-propaganda master.

Fascinating. So wasn't the Soviet party its own integrative-propaganda master when it DID come to power?

I suppose somewhere even they failed, by 1989.

Also, so wait, agitprop doesn't mean "agitation and propaganda" but rather, "the agitative form of propaganda"?

Read Lenin's "What is to be done" & "Left-wing communism: an infantile disorder". Also, " The philosophy of world revolution" by Franz Marek, "the united front" by Georgi Dimitroff, and "propaganda" by Jeaques Ellul. Don't waste your time with YouTube or any other form of mindless entertainment.

Fascinating, are these where the Agitative and Integrative distinctions are made etc?

The best way to summarize communist methods is to say: in order to get man to violently overthrow his state's authorities he must be put in an environment that FORCES him to act. Effective propaganda does not convince a man to act with words, but creates an actual environment that becomes unbearable for him to live in, so he is pushed to action by environmental circumstances.

I made a thread a while ago detailing how modern revolutionaries are currently creating an environment that is facilitating a right-wing revolution. Leftism in its present form is nothing but social antagonism designed to create an environment that will foster revolution.

Just brilliant. If you can point me to that thread and others like it I'd read them with enjoyment.

[1seeker]

Duplicate.

[verenaerin]

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Red-Years-Inside-Soviet/dp/0874918855

This is about a JAmaican who moved to Russia thinking that it would be this utopia that they say they are. He was there for 44 years and finally was able to escape in the 70s. Check the reviews, I think it might be something you are looking for.

[maryslittlegarden]

Witness is an excellent book.

I'm reading 1917: Red Banners, White Mantle by Warren Carroll
http://www.amazon.com/1917-Red-Banners-White-Mantle/dp/0931888050/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450199546&sr=8-1&keywords=1917+book+warren+carroll

It's interesting, especially the story of Rasputin (been awhile since I read about him.)

[maryslittlegarden]

Witness is an excellent book.

I'm reading 1917: Red Banners, White Mantle by Warren Carroll
http://www.amazon.com/1917-Red-Banners-White-Mantle/dp/0931888050/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450199546&sr=8-1&keywords=1917+book+warren+carroll

It's interesting, especially the story of Rasputin (been awhile since I read about him.)

http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Communist-Revolution/dp/093188859X/ref=sr_1_1_twi_har_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450200342&sr=8-1&keywords=Rise+%26+Fall+Of+Communist+Revolution

This one looks good, too

[Habitual_Ritual]

Brain Washing: A Synthesis Of The Russian Textbook By Goff Kenneth

Warning to the West - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

[mikemac]

The best way to summarize communist methods is to say: in order to get man to violently overthrow his state's authorities he must be put in an environment that FORCES him to act. Effective propaganda does not convince a man to act with words, but creates an actual environment that becomes unbearable for him to live in, so he is pushed to action by environmental circumstances.

I made a thread a while ago detailing how modern revolutionaries are currently creating an environment that is facilitating a right-wing revolution. Leftism in its present form is nothing but social antagonism designed to create an environment that will foster revolution.

Just brilliant. If you can point me to that thread and others like it I'd read them with enjoyment.

Here is the thread that dellery was referring to.
http://www.suscipedomine.com/forum/index.php?topic=11144.0

And this is some what related.
http://www.suscipedomine.com/forum/index.php?topic=11145.0

[dellery]

Agitprop is not exclusively Soviet, but just denotes one of the two main forms of propaganda --agitative and integrative.
Integrative propaganda doesn't have a cool name like agitprop though. One forces people apart the other brings them together. The Coca-cola company is an integrative-propaganda master.

Fascinating. So wasn't the Soviet party its own integrative-propaganda master when it DID come to power?

I suppose somewhere even they failed, by 1989.

Also, so wait, agitprop doesn't mean "agitation and propaganda" but rather, "the agitative form of propaganda"?

Read Lenin's "What is to be done" & "Left-wing communism: an infantile disorder". Also, " The philosophy of world revolution" by Franz Marek, "the united front" by Georgi Dimitroff, and "propaganda" by Jeaques Ellul. Don't waste your time with YouTube or any other form of mindless entertainment.

Fascinating, are these where the Agitative and Integrative distinctions are made etc?

The best way to summarize communist methods is to say: in order to get man to violently overthrow his state's authorities he must be put in an environment that FORCES him to act. Effective propaganda does not convince a man to act with words, but creates an actual environment that becomes unbearable for him to live in, so he is pushed to action by environmental circumstances.

I made a thread a while ago detailing how modern revolutionaries are currently creating an environment that is facilitating a right-wing revolution. Leftism in its present form is nothing but social antagonism designed to create an environment that will foster revolution.

Just brilliant. If you can point me to that thread and others like it I'd read them with enjoyment.

I've never considered the Soviets level of integrative propaganda compared with American corporations, and can't give an answer on that right now.

Agitative propaganda is propaganda with the intention of making people angry. Since propaganda must produce a desired environment to be effective, agitative/integrative denotes the difference in environments. One seeks to stir unrest, insurrection, and hatred; the other seeks to unite people under a desired status quo.

Most of the books I listed deal with agitprop except for "Propaganda" by Ellul, which explicitly explains the agititation vs. integration distinction.

http://www.suscipedomine.com/forum/index.php?topic=11144.0

Hope you find it interesting.