Images of Power in the Early Soviet Society: Evolution of Official Representations, Sources and Mechanisms of Their Construction

Abstract

The article discusses creation and evolution of the official image of Soviet state power between 1917 and the 1930s. This image was deliberately constructed and included symbols of statehood (national coat of arms; motto; flag; and anthem); institutions that embodied characteristics of power organization; leaders as personification of power; the state myth; rituals; and sites of memory. Throughout the early Soviet period, the evolving image of power reflected the changes in the government’s self-understanding. Regarding the structure and the ideological content of the image of power, we can point out three successive variations: revolutionary, people’s (workers and peasants), and Party-state. The article describes the structure of these variations and the factors that shaped their development.