Those citizens who studied during the Soviet Union remember V. Ivanov's painting “V. I. Lenin on a subbotnik with a log in the Kremlin. More than one thousand school essays were written on this topic, expressing approval of the wise grandfather Ilyich, a friend of all children and workers, who, by his own example, proved that he was not afraid of physical labor. However, many of these children, having become adults, never wondered where and where Lenin was dragging the log, and why he was doing it in general. In our article we will try to highlight this issue.
Lenin with a log
The painting by V. Ivanov is not the only one in which Vladimir Ilyich, the leader of the world proletariat and a friend of all peoples, does hard work. In total, several canvases were painted, which depict Lenin with a log (photo), or performing hard physical work as a simple worker:
- D. Borovsky and M. Klionsky "May 1, 1920 (Lenin on a subbotnik)".
- M. Sokolov “V. I. Lenin at the All-Russian subbotnik on May 1, 1920.
- N. Sysoev "Lenin at the subbotnik in the Kremlin".
- E. Shatov "Lenin and the Bolsheviks at the construction of slalom canals".
Perhaps there were many more unknown authors who portrayed Ilyich as a hard worker. We have listed the most famous works that many Soviet schoolchildren knew about. What did the pictures that depicted Lenin with a log mean for that time? Let's try to figure it out further.
Where are the logs in the Kremlin from?
The first question that immediately comes to mind when you see pictures of Lenin with a log, where did the logs come from in the Kremlin?
Various garbage and building materials remained on Red Square after the devastation of the revolution. They were scattered by the junkers, who were building barricades just out of logs. In addition, there were dirt, debris, traces of fires and ashes everywhere. All this is a natural consequence of armed confrontations. Therefore, there was a need to clean up not only on Red Square, but throughout the country.
Political PR campaign
Many researchers are sure that Lenin with a log was depicted not just to show his diligence - it was a real political PR campaign that pursued something completely different.
The fact is that the "hard-working" Ilyich walked with a log across the territory of the Moscow Kremlin from the Armory to Tsar Cannon - a distance of only a few hundred meters. After this leader of the worldno one saw the proletariat at physical labor. However, pictures from this historic event have been accumulated for every school, plant and factory. What was it for? We will express one of the points of view later in the article.
Three locomotives a night
When our state no longer knows what else to come up with for our people, so that, as they say in one catchphrase, "life does not seem like honey", then the citizens themselves come to the rescue, suggesting the right decision.
In the spring of 1919, Soviet Russia was in a difficult economic situation, which was caused by the consequences of the revolution and the Civil War. One of the serious problems of that time was the poor performance of the railways, in particular the acute shortage of steam locomotives.
Then the workers of the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya depot of the Moscow-Kazan railway voluntarily decided on additional free work after the work shift. This event took place on the night of April 11-12, 1919 on Saturday. In one night, 15 workers repaired 3 locomotives.
Voluntary slavery
Naturally, such a desire of the working people should have been encouraged. After that, the entire plant decided to voluntarily carry out similar actions on a weekly basis until the complete victory over Kolchak. It was this event that gave birth to such a concept of socialist achievement as a "subbotnik" - i.e. free volunteer labor for a “bright future.”
A broad initiative of caring peopleimmediately attracted the attention of the state apparatus. On May 10, 1919, 205 people took part in a similar action. Naturally, state journalists and politicians could not pass such an event. Mass propaganda of voluntary free labor began.
The Great Beginning
It would seem, what do the above events have to do with the pictures in which Lenin carries a log? Actually - straight.
After the subbotnik on May 10, 1919, the leader of the world proletariat wrote his article "The Great Initiative". In it, he ideologically justified the new movement of voluntary free labor. Thus, the sincere desire to help the revolution of ordinary workers, perhaps, and the usual desire to curry favor with the new government created a historical precedent, which was subsequently used by the authorities to introduce universal and widespread "voluntary" free labor on Saturdays. The story is somewhat reminiscent of the famous "Stakhanovite movement", when many workers performed "labor feats", increasing the volume of output several times higher than the norm.
The problem for the rest was that their exploits became the norm for everyone else in the future, so the "Stakhanovites" were treated as enemies of the common people. Something similar was observed here: the initiative of 15 workers turned into a mass propaganda of free labor throughout the country. And such actions were voluntary only on paper. Many were later even fired from their jobs for absenteeism simply because they refused to “voluntarily” take part insubbotniks.
When switching to a six-day work week in 1940, a new term appeared - "Sundays", as the usual subbotniks have lost their relevance. This continued until the 22nd Congress of the CPSU (March 29 - March 8, 1966), at which it was decided to restore the five-day working week. At the same time, the concept of "subbotniks" again entered the familiar lexicon of Soviet citizens.
Lenin with a log as propaganda of universal free labor
The state, of course, liked the "initiative from below" with free mass labor. Now it was necessary to introduce this idea throughout the country. The usual initiative of even a whole plant is not the argument that could make everyone else give up their own day off and go to work for free. We needed a political PR-action. That is why on May 1, 1920, Lenin took a log, carried it several meters, and then many artists depicted this in their works.
Further, copies of these paintings scatter to all corners of our country. The meaning, we think, is understandable to everyone: the great leader himself goes to subbotniks in order to make our world a better place. And why is each of us better that does not go to free work in the name of a brighter future? Thus, Lenin with a log became a call for free mass labor throughout the country. Something similar can be observed in modern news reports, such as, for example, some governor planted a tree or went on a community work day to clean up the territory, or some celebrity refused to go tocar for the sake of preserving the environment, etc.
From that time on, mass free compulsory labor was presented not as “cruel exploitation”, but as “transition to a new labor discipline”. What they fought for, as they say, they ran into something.
Pictures as a medium of mass propaganda
The Bolsheviks first used the works of artists for propaganda purposes. The benefits are clear: newspapers and radio news are quickly forgotten. No one cuts pictures out of newspapers and sticks them on the walls. With paintings, however, the situation is different: they are hung in canteens at enterprises, school essays are written on them, they hang in the most prominent places. Lenin with a log calling for free mass labor could be seen at every Soviet enterprise.
You cannot apply the phrase "outdated news" to the painting, as it is a work of art, not news reports, so free work on Saturdays was always relevant.
