Speech at a meeting of the Bureau of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU October 27, 1952

Stalin I.V.

Source: Stalin I.V. Works. - T. 18. - Tver: Informational publishing center "Soyuz", 2006. S. 588–590.

Our propaganda is being conducted badly, some kind of propaganda is not propaganda. Everyone is dissatisfied with the way the propaganda case is being organized. There is not a single Politburo member who would be satisfied with the work of the Propaganda Department. Our cadres, especially young people, do not have a deep knowledge of Marxism. Our older generation was strong because we knew Marxism and political economy well. 

Propaganda is especially poorly presented in newspapers, in particular in Pravda. The editor of Pravda Ilyichev is weak. He's just too small for such a thing. It would be necessary to appoint the editor-in-chief of "Pravda" stronger than this, and let this one learn.

Pravda is a newspaper of newspapers. It should summarize the experience of all newspapers. She should reprint good articles and excerpts from other newspapers. Pravda should be the main base for the work of the Propaganda Department. Well, who do you propose to appoint as editor-in-chief of Pravda? Can't it be postponed for a hundred years? - All were silent. - Yes, you don't know people.

We also need to think about the best management of the industry. It is necessary to have a single Department of Industry and Transport and put a major person at the head of it. It is necessary to control the cadres, study them and promptly nominate young people for leadership work. We have a lot of talented young people, but we don't know young cadres very well. But if a person is promoted to some kind of job and he stays at this job for 10 years without further advancement, he stops growing and disappears as an employee. How many people were ruined due to the fact that they were not nominated on time.

Agriculture is doing badly. Party workers do not know the history of agriculture in Europe, do not know how animal husbandry is conducted in the United States. Only the papers are signed and this ruins the case.

Our young cadres are poorly trained in theoretical terms, they need help to grow. Lectures are, of course, a useful thing, but print propaganda should play the main role in the growth of cadres.

To guide the entire ideological work of the Party, it is necessary to create a permanent commission on ideological questions under the Presidium of the Central Committee. The commission should select 10–20 qualified workers - the apparatus of the commission. It is necessary to have people there with knowledge of languages ​​- English, German, French (now it is less widespread), Spanish (more than 120 million people speak Spanish). We need to find someone who knows Chinese well. Maybe take Fedorenko? We must provide them all with a good salary.

The Ideological Commission should help raise the print propaganda of Marxism. The Bolshevik magazine should become the basis for the work of this commission. The journal is poorly, trivially. It is necessary to put it in such a way that other magazines take an example from it. It is necessary to revise the composition of the editorial board of the journal. Why do we need Ilyichev? You can even have two editors there.

In "Bolshevik" it is necessary to provide reviews and critical articles on local magazines, to bombard them, to help them improve their work. The commission should take under its supervision the work of the journals Voprosy filosofii, Voprosy ekonomiki, Voprosy istorii and, perhaps, some other journals. It is time to put an end to the shameful practice of reprinting various resolutions of the party and government in theoretical journals, because this means trailing behind events.

We must seriously put the propaganda of political economy and philosophy. Just do not get carried away with the unity of opposites, this is Hegelian terminology.

The Americans refute Marxism, slander us, and try to discredit us. We must expose them. It is necessary to acquaint people with the ideology of enemies, to criticize this ideology, and this will arm our cadres.

We are now pursuing not only a national policy, but also a world policy.

Americans want to subjugate everything. But America is not respected in any capital.

It is necessary in Pravda and party magazines to broaden the horizons of our people, to take a broader horizon, we are a world power.

Do not rummage through small issues. In our country they are afraid to write on foreign policy issues, they are waiting for orders from above.

Looking for popular brochures on different topics. In the old days there were brochures: "Who lives what?" or "What does every worker need to know?" Many workers began their political and economic education with this brochure. Now we need brochures that are more serious, deeper, but such popular brochures are needed. [c. 589]

Our lectures have little depth, but they give something. Sometimes it is necessary to go to the places for lectures. In general, for ideological work you have to go to the field, for two weeks.

Questions of history. 1998. No. 7. P. 33–34 .