RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The fight for peace

Peace has always been a favourite theme in communist propaganda.

The fight for peace
The fight for peace

, 01.04.2019, 12:40


Peace has always been a favourite theme in communist propaganda, which often described it in stark contrast to the “war-mongering” capitalism. The champions of Marxism and Leninism often postulated that the oppressed proletariat was peaceful, while the oppressing bourgeoisie favoured conflict in all its forms. The underpinning tenets of Marxism were simple and yet confusing. Even when it fostered the global revolution of the working class that would change the world, the proletariat used violent means to take out the bourgeoisie with the purpose of instating ever-lasting peace once they seized power. The Bolshevik victory of 1917 did not bring peace, quite the contrary. The Soviet Union did everything in its power to stir violent uprisings and chaos both in its vicinity and worldwide. In fact, communism thrived from conflict as much as any other regime and used peace as a means to deceive the people more easily. Therefore Soviet propaganda coined the so-called “fight for peace” slogan, which was not just a blatant nonsense, but also a gross disregard for reality.



In Romania, the concept of the fight for peace entered the collective consciousness starting with the Soviet occupation of 1944 and became irrelevant with the demise of communism in 1989. In the 1950s, the widespread joke was “we will fight for peace until we tear the whole world down, brick by brick”. The joke was indicative of the slogans inconsistence and was a sign that everyone using the slogan was doing it to obtain personal benefits and climb the party ladder. Peace was one of the main pillars of communist propaganda, even bordering on the grotesque during the regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was portrayed as a “hero of peace”.



Engineer Stefan Barlea was an important communist activist for the youth rights over 1950-1960. In an interview for the Oral History Centre of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation he gave in 2002, he recalled the year 1955 and what it meant for the people:



“Practically, 1955 was significant in several ways. First of all, Patriarch Justinian published a pastoral letter which we knew of and received very positively. It was the first and only manifesto, at least as far as I know within the Orthodox Church, calling for nuclear disarmament. It was an act of political participation from the Orthodox Church, probably ordered by the state, I dont know for sure. The Lords ways are higher and more mysterious. Everything resulted in a powerful pacifist movement, encouraged and led by the Soviet Union. It started in 1949 and the movement gradually evolved until the World Assembly for Peace was staged in 1955”.



After the Second World War, it was logical for mankind to want peace. But the Soviet Union had other interests and was promoting ideological peace. Stefan Barlea said his task was to hold public events to this effect:



“I used to organise youth rallies, two or three every month. In 1950 the second peace congress was held in Warsaw, a world council was established, and, among the official participants, apart from the delegations of the different countries, there were also two youth organisations, the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the International Union of Students. Both had their own councils, one in Prague and the other somewhere in Poland. These organisations, which represented the pacifist movement as rightful members of the World Peace Council, asked national youth and student organisations to organise youth events in the spirit of peace. Thats how we ended up organising a series of very large rallies here in Herastrau, in Pavilion H, in the Floreasca Hall. A rally was also held at some point outdoors.”



Mobilising speeches were held at these rallies. Stefan Barlea remembers how these public events used to be organised:



“The agenda was set by the Central Committee of the Youth Workers Union and later the Council of Student Associations in keeping with the recommendations of the international councils of these organisations. The speeches were held either by a representative of international youth organisations, in which case this would be a big event and attended by our leadership as well, or by someone local. We held these events in all university centres and all cities, and the only speakers were the activists of the organisation. Maurer, for example, once gave a speech about peace when he was the juridical director of the Academy. The propaganda machine, which was the main instrument by which the new ideology spread across the country, saw to it that there were always materials available to help you write your own speech, and such materials were in high demand among the people. Like all performances, because these were all in effect political performances, these events were staged, and their staging had to respect a few elements. If, for example, the party leadership attended the events, we had someone who choreographed the whole event. There were a few with whom we worked most frequently, such as Hero Lupescu, who used to stage performances for the opera, and also others.”



The fight for peace disappeared with communism. In order to be achieved, an ideal like peace must not only be invoked, but embraced and applied by everyone and all political regimes.




The Centennial of the Romanian Chess Federation
The History Show Monday, 20 January 2025

The Centennial of the Romanian Chess Federation

Considered a “sport of the mind” due to its high degree of complexity, anticipation of the opponent’s strategy, speed in...

The Centennial of the Romanian Chess Federation
Romania – FRG diplomatic relations
The History Show Monday, 13 January 2025

Romania – FRG diplomatic relations

  The fact that, after 1945, there were two German states on Europe s map, was the effect of deep divergences between the US, Great Britain and...

Romania – FRG diplomatic relations
The Romanian Revolution – 35
The History Show Monday, 06 January 2025

The Romanian Revolution – 35

  We often talk about big resets when a type of leader wins the elections in a country with a major global influence, as was Donald...

The Romanian Revolution – 35
The History Show
The History Show Monday, 30 December 2024

The Romanian Revolution Narrated to Young People

  December is the month when, since 1989, Romanians have commemorated the fall of the communist regime, a regime that had trampled their rights,...

The Romanian Revolution Narrated to Young People
The History Show Monday, 23 December 2024

The 35th anniversary of the Romanian revolution

A small protest began on December 16, 1989 in Timișoara that would lead to an avalanche of demonstrations across the country. This will result, on...

The 35th anniversary of the Romanian revolution
The History Show Monday, 16 December 2024

The Mathematics Journal

  In its almost 250-year long history, the Romanian print media records the longest uninterrupted publication of a magazine: “Gazeta...

The Mathematics Journal
The History Show Monday, 25 November 2024

Soviet prisoners in Romania

Romania took sides with Germany in World War Two. On June 22nd, 1941, jointly with Germany, Romania began military operations against the Soviet...

Soviet prisoners in Romania
The History Show Monday, 11 November 2024

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians

The Romanian political elites of 1848 were influenced by the ideas of the Italian Giuseppe...

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company