RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE SOVIET ARMY - - A POWERFUL MEDIUM OF AGITATION AND PROPAGANDA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600330410-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 410
• Publication Date: August 1, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

DATE OF
INFORMATION. 19+9
DATE DIST. ~ Aug 195G
N0. OF PAGES 2
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE SOVIET ARMY --
A POWERFUL MEDZiTtd OF AGITATION AND PROPAGANDA.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP80-00809A000600330410-9
!/
COUNTRY
SUBJECT.
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
CLASSIFICATION. cor>FiDENTIAL CONFIDE!~TIAI
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD C':O.
Military; Political - Propaganda
Monthly periodical
Moscow
Feb 1950
TNU DoorrlNT eor7Alrl urolr-nol ArrlenNl TNl rAnDYAL Dartln
Y, t. D., fl AND ft AD Art DtO. TMT) TrAN/rllrtlON Or lnll ll\ 4nOr
rI IITYD IT TLAr. l rlrIODYCnOr Or iNl/ tOlr Ill rNONI ~IiI O, It tr0?
SOURCE
Since the war, Soviet Army men, who have been working continuously to aug-
ment their political and military knowledge, have found radio one of the best
means to this end. Soviet broadcasts give soldiers, and the whole nation, a
widely varied scope of truthful information on international affairs and the
successes of our country and of the peoples' democracies. Broadcasts expose the
agitation of .Anglo-American rrarmongErs for a new wor13 war and recount the great
efforts for peace being made under the leadership of the Soviet Union. Radio
also recounts the heroic labors of t.hl, Laople to fulfill the Stalin Five-Year
Plans; it aids the growth of Communist consciousness and the material welfare
of the citizens of our nation.
Typical broadcasts include lectures on politics, science, and otheropuple.y~
jects, with speeches by leading authorities and Stakhanovitereaders give ex-
from the best theatres, choral works, music, etc?the Moscow papers, and speeches
cerpts i`rom the principal: newspapers, especially
on patriotic subjects.
In every garrison and regiment there are Party and Komsomol organi:q-
tions which make full use of the radio to raise the political and cultural
level of soldiers and officers. In remote ~rrisons, where newspapers are
delivered only every few days, broadcasts of news, music, lectures, reports,
etcy are very important. All soldiers' clubs, barracks, etc?, and officers?
quarters are supplied with radios. Portable sets accompany the troope to
camp or in the fields.
In organizing programs, special attention is paid to patriot_c propa-
ganda, military matters and regulations, del~ees of the Ministry of the Armed
Forces of the USSR, and the heroic traditions of the Ax~mye
-1- OOI~FIDE~TIAI
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
~rere New Nsae CISTRIBUTION
ARMY AIR ~I~I Fal I I I I ~ I I.
_.. _._-
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31 .CIA-RDP80-00809A000600330410-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP80-00809A000600330410-9
~O~~Fa~FF~`~~
CONFIDENTIAL
For example, in ore typical military radio-club center the program is ar-
ranged on a schedule corresponding wits the orders of the day. Transmissions
from the regular central broadcast stations are supplemented with local programs.
In addition t?o the previously mentioned propaganda and official information,
broadcasts publicize leaders in studies and sports, achievements in science,
literature, and art?~ The program includes selected material from the leading
newspapers and military gazettes, the "Soviet Soldier," "Pravda," "Red Star,"
and the "Literary Gazette:"
Later there are lectures and talks on the following subjects "Lenin and
Stalin -- Leaders of the Communist Party of Bolsheviks;" "Ethical Aspects of
the Soviet Man;" "Resolutions of the Eleventh All-Union Lenin Young Communist
League;" "Origin and Growth of the Earth;" "Each Soldier Prides Himself on His
Own 5pecialty;" "Lei Us Prize the Honor and Military Fame of the Soviet Army,
;nd Our Own Urits an3 Ratings;" and "The Role of Russian Scientists in the Field
of Geographic Sciences " Excerpts from the works of M~ Gorky, B= Polevyy, Vo
Azhayev and others are also read In addition, Party and Komsomo]. secretaries,
outstanding s+,uden+.s, and others make regular appearances before the microphone.
The PI-th Regiment has weekly reviews ant excerpts of new books. In a period
of only three months the Club Library organized 10 radio programs on education-
al subjects, books of Stalin Prize Laureates, and military and political maga-
zine.articles.
During training exercises radio is used to guide thearancesrinithehfield~
put before them Special mobile radio stations make app
locations of the smaller units A special radio newspaper is put out on the
progress of the exercises, after a brief message from the Commander.
At dinner time, the radio brings the soldiers their favorite army and nation-
al songs, and articles from military journals connected with their studies.
At the target range, the duty officer has a radio at his disposition to
transmit orders and anno.uice the results Outstanding riflemen frequently give
Valuable advice.
A special newspaper, Radio Programs," is published which makes it possible
to plan hired transmissions from centra] stations and arrange for collective
hearings of special programs. Central broadcasts by Soviet soldiers, and local
news of demobilized soldiers now in factories or kholkozes, are very popular.
In many regiments, special attention is paid to broadcasts on the sggresaive
attitude of the antidemocratic imperialistic camp. One regiment had broad-
casts on such subjects as "Under the Rule of the Dollar," Gorky?s "City of
the Yellow Devil," the verseb of V. Ma,yakovakiy on America, the newspaper ar-
title "Cosmopolitanism -- the Weapon of Anglo-American Reaction," and others.
Another club gave a series of broadcasts on the theme "Two Worlds -- Two
Lives," contrasting the well-being of the Soviet worker with the mass unemploy-:
ment and suffering of labor in capitalistic countries,
Soviet soldiers have greeted with enthusiasm the ukase of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet iJSSR stating: "Citizens in the ranks of the Armed
Forces of the USSR have the right to vote and to be elected to office on en
equal footing willl all citizens." Political organizations are preparing them
for their duties by explaining the Stalin Constitution, the advantages of
Soviet democracy over the false bourgeois democracy, information on dates and
places for balloting, and Soviet regulations on voting
Radio is doing its part to spread the information which will fit soldiers
of t?he Armed Forces to take t'?ir proper place in Soviet life.
-2-
CONFIDENTIAL ~6~~FiDE~TiA~.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP80-00809A000600330410-9