ABSTRACT
Two features distinguished Communist propaganda during NEP. The first was the persistence of elements of civil society. Even though there were no longer opposition party newspapers, multiparty elections, or free unions, private printing houses, clubs, and theater groups remained. Independent cultural and literary journals espoused views and values that were distinctly non-Bolshevik. Private enterprise had been legalized for the time being as capitalism and bourgeois culture had deep roots. The Bolsheviks found themselves on the defensive on the ideological front. Therefore, the task was to redouble efforts in preaching Communist ideals among the masses.
