Pravda<\/em>\u2019s first post-Revolutionary issue that came out on New Year\u2019s Day was in 1919. The front page featured an article titled \u201cNew Year, New Fight, New Happiness,\u201d discussing the drastic revolutionary changes. The article admitted that occasional regional rebelling under the influence of the white guards and the existing problems within the Soviet government were deplorable, \u201cbut this only casts a shadow on [the fact that] the Soviet authority has become a genuine authority<\/em>\u2026\u201d[1]<\/a> Written in the midst of the Civil War, the article discarded the fact of the war as rebellions under the white guards\u2019 influence. Of course, the Whites would disagree (see a 1919 piece of the White Army propaganda optimistic about the Whites\u2019 winning the war https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/havighurst\/2018\/10\/22\/who-is-kolchak\/<\/a>). The article ended with a note, celebrating \u201cthe new happiness, bright, beautiful happiness of the liberated humankind.\u201d Another article in the issue, \u201cNew Year\u2019s Wishes\u201d campaigned for workers\u2019 unity and success.[2]<\/a> In 1919, Pravda <\/em>used the New Year\u2019s theme to disseminate its views to the readers while acknowledging the holiday.<\/p>\n In 1920, the New Year Day\u2019s issue of Pravda <\/em>was not as optimistic as that of the previous year: there were no articles dedicated specifically to holiday wishes. The front-page article \u201cThe Year 1919\u201d informed its readers about difficulties that had arisen due to the unstable situation at the front. It mentioned the hope that the New Year would be \u201cthe year of our decisive victory\u201d and \u201cthe beginning of peaceful work.\u201d[3]<\/a> Here, the Party\u2019s anxiety over the uncertain future overshadowed any theme of festivities.<\/p>\n In 1921, the front-page article \u201cThe Party on the Occasion of the New Year\u201d (Partiya k Novomu godu<\/em>) proclaimed that \u201cIt is not with wishes of nonchalant petty bourgeois (meshchanskoye<\/em>) happiness that we address all our Party comrades.\u201d Indeed, their address emphasized combat, but of a different type than did the previous two years\u2019 addresses \u2013 the \u201ccombat at the economic (khozyaystvenniy<\/em>) front.\u201d The next page featured a poem dedicated to the year 1921 and the spirit of the revolution.[4]<\/a> As the Civil War was coming to an end, the Party newspaper directed its attention away from winning power to motivating people to work for <\/em>their power for the benefit of the country.<\/p>\n In 1922, the New Year\u2019s spirit was present in the newspaper\u2019s illustration combining the holiday theme and Soviet propaganda. Titled \u201c\u2018Freezing Boys,\u201d the image depicts the commanders of the Anti-Bolshevik movements: Pyotr Wrangel, Semyon Petliura, Nestor Makhno and Boris Savinkov. They are freezing under the pine tree (since 1922, the \u201cRed tree\u201d (krasnaya yolka<\/em>), which substituted for the Christmas tree until 1927, when it was deemed unfit for Soviet revelers) on a snowy (presumably) New Year\u2019s night. [5]<\/a><\/p>\n Image on the front page of Pravda, January 1, 1922<\/p>\n Besides the image, the front page featured an address printed in the large font and immediately catching the reader\u2019s attention: \u201cRemember, comrades: New Year \u2013 new graves in Povolzhye [region], if the giving hand of workers and peasants becomes scanty. Our New Year\u2019s wishes: victory over famine, recovery of industry, good harvest, good proletarian revolution in the whole world.\u201d The theme of restoring the devastated country ran through the article titled \u201cNew Year,\u201d proclaiming \u201cless noise \u2013 more work\u201d (men\u2019she shumu \u2013 bol\u2019she dela<\/em>). Additionally, Pravda<\/em>\u2019s \u201cNew Year\u201d and \u201cNew Year\u2019s Thoughts\u201d on the following page dedicated much attention to discussing the failures of capitalist counties. As in the previous year, the 1922 issue featured a New Year\u2019s poem inspiring people to embark on a \u201clabor journey.\u201d[6]<\/a> By discussing capitalist countries\u2019 misfortunes, the newspaper emphasized that the situation was not grave in the Soviet Union by comparison and that hard work would help the country overcome its misfortunes.<\/p>\n In 1923, the first issue of Pravda <\/em>came out on January 3, featuring a half-page illustration demonstrating the different stages the Soviet proletarian had supposedly underwent since 1916: from being downtrodden to triumphing over their oppressors in 1922 to lifting up the world in 1923. The \u201cNew Year\u2019s\u201d (Novye gody<\/em>) article discussed the arrival of the new time, \u201cyears that will be remembered by our descendants as the most glorious, most heroic time in human history.\u201d As opposed to the years between 1919 and 1922, the New Year\u2019s address emphasized that the battle against the wealthy oppressors of the proletariat is destined to be triumphant.[7]<\/a> Interestingly, the first issue of 1923 featured \u201cComrade [Lev] Trotsky\u2019s New Year\u2019s Wishes to the Japanese Nation,\u201d which nonetheless focused on Russia\u2019s efforts to reduce worldwide militarism and only superficially mentioned Japan and \u201call other nations\u201d in the short actual wishes of success in the coming year.[8]<\/a> Congruent with the front-page illustration, the party\u2019s voice was more confident in 1923 than in had been just a few years before.<\/p>\n Image on the front page of Pravda, January 3, 1923<\/p>\n A similar theme is present on the front page of the year 1924: the article \u201cTen Years\u201d proclaimed that \u201cten years ago, the \u2018normal,\u2019 \u2018peaceful,\u2019 \u2018prewar\u2019 capitalism passed into oblivion.\u201d \u201cA period of revolutionary rebirth of society\u201d would bring back the peaceful state, but \u201cit will be not capitalist society; it will be the society of a liberated proletariat.\u201d Alongside these pronouncements, an article by Mikhail Koltsov entitled \u201cNew Year\u2019s Toasts\u201d published Aristarkh Petrovich\u2019s toasts from the past years, starting in 1913.[9]<\/a> The theme of making history and its very fast movement grew stronger as the Soviet Union established its foundations.<\/p>\n Pravda<\/em>\u2019s first issue of 1925 featured an article \u201cHappy New Year\u201d (S novym godom<\/em>) where instead of delivering the celebratory wishes suggested by the title, the author discussed his hopes that soon, the years would be counted from November 7, the birthday of \u201csocial justice.\u201d Until then, the author conceded, January 1\u2019s New Year could be celebrated conditionally.<\/p>\n The theme of fast movement in the image from the front page of Pravda, January 1, 1925<\/p>\n Between years 1926 and 1928, the front page of the first issue of the year avoided using the words \u201cNew Year,\u201d except to mock bourgeois countries. Between the years 1925 and 1928, Pravda<\/em> focused on summarizing what had been done and how much there was to do. Instead of New Year\u2019s wishes, the newspaper published articles, \u201cFinancial Objectives of 1925,\u201d \u201cWe Demand\u201d in 1927, \u201cGoals of the Election Campaign\u201d in 1928 or not deeming the holiday front-page worthy altogether in 1926. It is only in 1929 that the words \u201cNew Year\u2019s\u201d (Novogodnyee<\/em>) appeared again on the front page, even if in quotation marks.<\/p>\n The newspaper\u2019s first issue of the year gradually evolved from New Year\u2019s wishes of stabilizing the situation to new year\u2019s goals for the established new state. In both cases, the first issue of the year directly reflected the country\u2019s situation, from the ongoing war and famine to the needs of a developing new country. By looking at the New Year\u2019s addresses, we can trace the new country\u2019s shifts in its power and its gradual shedding of the holiday spirit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bibliography<\/p>\n Makarova, Yulia Vladimirovna. “\u0410\u043d\u0442\u0438\u0440\u0435\u043b\u0438\u0433\u0438\u043e\u0437\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u043e\u0441\u043f\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u0438\u043e\u043d\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0432 \u0412 1920-\u0445 \u0433\u0433. \u0432 \u0421\u0421\u0421\u0420 [Anti-Religious Education of Pioneers in 1920s in the USSR].” \u041f\u0440\u0435\u043f\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0432\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c XXI <\/em>\u0432\u0435\u043a [Teacher XXI Century] <\/em>3 (2015).<\/p>\n Pravda<\/em>: January 1, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929. January 3, 1923.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Pravda<\/em>, January 1, 1919: 1.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid., 1-2.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Pravda<\/em>, January 1, 1920: 1.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Pravda<\/em>, January 1, 1921: 1-2.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Yulia Vladimirovna Makarova, “\u0410\u043d\u0442\u0438\u0440\u0435\u043b\u0438\u0433\u0438\u043e\u0437\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u043e\u0441\u043f\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u0438\u043e\u043d\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0432 \u0412 1920-\u0445 \u0433\u0433. \u0432 \u0421\u0421\u0421\u0420 [Anti-Religious Education of Pioneers in 1920s in the USSR],” \u041f\u0440\u0435\u043f\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0432\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c XXI <\/em>\u0432\u0435\u043a [Teacher XXI Century] <\/em>3 (2015): 4.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Pravda<\/em>, January 1, 1922: 1-2.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Pravda<\/em>, January 3, 1923: 1.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Ibid., 2.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Pravda<\/em>, January 1, 1924: 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Zinaida Osipova In the holiday month of December, while many Americans celebrate Christmas, Russians decorate their trees for New Year\u2019s Eve. The reason for the difference goes back to the Soviet ideology that strongly antagonized religion and thus disfavored … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/havighurst\/files\/2018\/12\/Osipova_pravda1-221x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/havighurst\/files\/2018\/12\/osipova_pravda2-300x193.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/havighurst\/files\/2018\/12\/osipova_pravda3-243x300.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n