Anti-Sovietism
Encyclopedia
Anti-Sovietism and Anti-Soviet refer to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union
or government power within the Soviet Union.
Three different flavors of the usage of the term may be distinguished.
"antisoviet" was synonym
ous with "counter-revolutionary". The noun "antisovietism" was rarely used and the noun "antisovietist" was used in a derogatory sense.
During the Russian Civil War
that followed the October Revolution
of 1917, the anti-Soviet side was the White movement
. Between the wars, some resistance movement, particularly in the 1920s, was cultivated by Polish intelligence in the form of the Promethean project
. During the Second World War, anti-Soviet forces were created and led primarily by Nazi Germany
(see Russian Liberation Movement
).
Whole categories of people, such as clergy, kulak
s, former Imperial Russian police, etc. were automatically considered anti-Soviet. More categories are listed in the article "Enemy of the people
".
Being anti-Soviet was a criminal offense in the Soviet Union. Anti-Soviet agitation and activities were political crime
s handled by the Article 58 of the RSFSR penal code and similar articles in other Soviet republic
s.
For many people the major evidence of their guilt was their social status rather than actual deeds. Martin Latsis
, chief of the Ukrainian Cheka
, explained in a newspaper:
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
or government power within the Soviet Union.
Three different flavors of the usage of the term may be distinguished.
- Anti-Sovietism in international politics, such as United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
opposition to the Soviet Union during the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. - Anti-Soviet opponents of BolshevikBolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s shortly after the Russian RevolutionOctober RevolutionThe October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and during the Russian Civil WarRussian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. - As applied to Soviet citizens involved or allegedly involved in anti-government activities.
Soviet Union
In the USSR, the epithetEpithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
"antisoviet" was synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
ous with "counter-revolutionary". The noun "antisovietism" was rarely used and the noun "antisovietist" was used in a derogatory sense.
During the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
that followed the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917, the anti-Soviet side was the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
. Between the wars, some resistance movement, particularly in the 1920s, was cultivated by Polish intelligence in the form of the Promethean project
Prometheism
Prometheism or Prometheanism was a political project initiated by Poland's Józef Piłsudski. Its aim was to weaken the Russian Empire and its successor states, including the Soviet Union, by supporting nationalist independence movements among the major non-Russian peoples that lived within the...
. During the Second World War, anti-Soviet forces were created and led primarily by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
(see Russian Liberation Movement
Russian Liberation Movement
Russian Liberation Movement is a term used to describe Russians during World War II who tried to create an anti-communist armed force which would topple the regime of Joseph Stalin...
).
Whole categories of people, such as clergy, kulak
Kulak
Kulaks were a category of relatively affluent peasants in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union...
s, former Imperial Russian police, etc. were automatically considered anti-Soviet. More categories are listed in the article "Enemy of the people
Enemy of the people
The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
".
Being anti-Soviet was a criminal offense in the Soviet Union. Anti-Soviet agitation and activities were political crime
Political crime
In criminology, a political crime is an offence involving overt acts or omissions , which prejudice the interests of the state, its government or the political system...
s handled by the Article 58 of the RSFSR penal code and similar articles in other Soviet republic
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
s.
For many people the major evidence of their guilt was their social status rather than actual deeds. Martin Latsis
Martin Latsis
Martin Ivanovich Latsis was a Latvian-born Soviet politician, revolutionary and state security high officer...
, chief of the Ukrainian Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, explained in a newspaper:
- "Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which classSocial classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
he belongs, what is his background, his educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, his professionProfessionA profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....
. These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused."
See also
- Enemy of the peopleEnemy of the peopleThe term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
- Anti-communismAnti-communismAnti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
- Anti-Stalinist leftAnti-Stalinist leftThe anti-Stalinist left is an element of left-wing politics that is critical of Joseph Stalin's policies and the political system that developed in the Soviet Union under his rule...
- Criticisms of Communist party ruleCriticisms of Communist party ruleCriticisms of communist party rule have been known since the first days of the first communist government in Soviet Russia, established after the October Revolution of 1917.-Background:...
- Timeline of events in the Cold WarTimeline of events in the Cold War-1945:*February 4: The Yalta Conference occurs, deciding the post-war status of Germany. The Allies of World War II divide Germany into four occupation zones. The Allied nations agree that free elections are to be held in all countries occupied by Nazi Germany...
- Sovdepiya
- Anti-AmericanismAnti-AmericanismThe term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
- similar concept to anti-Sovietism - RussophobiaRussophobiaRussophobia refers to a diverse spectrum of prejudices, dislikes or fears of Russia, Russians, or Russian culture. Its opposite is Russophilia....