Soviet Domestic Loans 1946–1957 in Political Discourse and the Press

Abstract

Introduction. For a significant historical period, an integral part of the Soviet social realities was the state internal loans, so the problems of studying the ideological and propaganda tools of their implementation is an actual area of research. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the research is the modernization historical paradigm. The source basis of the research was the texts of government resolutions concerning the subject of loans, statistical materials, publications of the Soviet press of various levels (magazines, central, regional, factory newspapers). To achieve the objectives of the study, a qualitative and quantitative method (content analysis) was used, which allows us to identify the quantitative expression of individual lexical units in the texts of government resolutions and press materials. Results and Discussion. The paper analyzes the texts of government resolutions concerning post-war government loans (winning and subscription-based), analyzes the information campaigns in the print media that accompany the issuance of loans. It was revealed that the declared winnings of citizens on loans (the amount, the number of winners) it decreased during the study period. The intensity of propaganda campaigns in the press concerning mass loans, as well as the intensity of advertising support for winning loans by the media, decreased. Conclusion. The revealed tendency to weaken the material incentives for subscribing to loans (winnings), as well as the intensity of the propaganda campaigns, indicates the gradual abandonment of the authorities in the mid-1950s of mobilization tools in the implementation of socio-economic policy.