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Agitprop
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{{Short description|Promotion of ideas through culture}} {{Other uses}} [[File:Plakat mayakowski gross.jpg|thumb|right|Agitprop poster by [[Vladimir Mayakovsky]] titled: "Want it? Join" <br>"1. You want to overcome cold?<br>2. You want to overcome hunger?<br>3. You want to eat?<br>4. You want to drink?<br>Hasten to join [[Udarnik|shock brigades]] of exemplary labor!"]] '''Agitprop''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|dʒ|ɪ|t|p|r|ɒ|p}};<ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref><ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|agitprop|access-date=26 July 2020}}</ref> from {{langx|ru|агитпроп|agitpróp}}, [[portmanteau]] of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "[[propaganda]]")<ref>{{cite web|title=agitprop(n.)|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/agitprop|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the [[Soviet Union]] where it referred to popular media, such as literature, plays, [[pamphlet]]s, films, and other art forms, with an explicitly political message in favor of [[communism]].<ref>{{cite web|author=((The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica))|title=agitprop|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|date=July 11, 2002|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/agitprop|access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref> The term originated in the Soviet Union as a shortened name for the Department for Agitation and Propaganda ({{lang|ru|отдел агитации и пропаганды}}, ''{{Transliteration|ru|otdel agitatsii i propagandy}}''), which was part of the central and regional committees of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Agitprop|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/agitprop|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> Within the party apparatus, both agitation (work among people who were not Communists) and propaganda (political work among party members) were the responsibility of the ''agitpropotdel'', or APPO. Its head was a member of the MK secretariat, although they ranked second to the head of the ''orgraspredotdel''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Merridale|first1=Catherine|title=Moscow Politics and the Rise of Stalin|date=1990|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=London|isbn=978-1-349-21044-2|page=142|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-21042-8_8 }}</ref> Typically Russian agitprop explained the ideology and policies of the Communist Party and attempted to persuade the general public to support and join the party and share its ideals. Agitprop was also used for dissemination of information and knowledge to the people, like new methods of agriculture. After the [[October Revolution]] of 1917, an agitprop train toured the country, with artists and actors performing simple plays and broadcasting propaganda.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ck-7wqD2Zf0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20091114052322/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-7wqD2Zf0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Agitprop Train|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-7wqD2Zf0|publisher=YouTube|date=2007-06-15|access-date=2009-05-09}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It had a printing press on board the train to allow posters to be reproduced and thrown out of the windows as it passed through villages.<ref>Paul A. Smith, ''On Political War'', p. 124, National Defense University Press, 1989</ref> The first head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the Communist Party (b) was [[Yevgeni Preobrazhensky|Evgeny Preobrazhensky]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Departments, commissions and institutions of the Central Committee of RCP (b) - VKP (b) - CPSU|url=http://www.knowbysight.info/2_KPSS/03499.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525135813/http://www.knowbysight.info/2_KPSS/03499.asp|archive-date=2019-05-25}}</ref> It gave rise to [[agitprop theatre]], a highly politicized theatre that originated in 1920s Europe and spread to the United States; the plays of [[Bertolt Brecht]] are a notable example.<ref>Richard Bodek (1998) "Proletarian Performance in Weimar Berlin: Agitprop, Chorus, and Brecht", {{ISBN|1-57113-126-4}}</ref> Russian agitprop theater was noted for its cardboard characters of perfect virtue and complete evil, and its coarse ridicule.<ref>[[Richard Pipes]], ''Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime'', p. 303, {{ISBN|978-0-394-50242-7}}</ref> Gradually, the term ''agitprop'' came to describe any kind of highly politicized art.
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