This study sets its goal to establish, on the basis of documents in the Russian archives that have been made accessible, that in the Soviet society of the 1960s a new concept was expressed about the possible development of the USSR. It was took shape in the milieu of the scientific, technical, and artistic intelligentsia and it emerged from an understanding of the social significance of the global changes that accompanied the transformation of industrially advanced countries into the new postindustrial period. The conception of potentially asserting a greater degree of freedom in public life predominated. The so-called “science cities” became the centers of these activities in the USSR. These towns had been built in various parts of the country and were equipped with top-of-the-line technical facilities and above- standard living and working conditions for the Soviet scientific elite.
The Stalinist Soviet Union integrated Hungary – and the nations of Central Europe – by 1949 forcing the Soviet-style political dictatorship and economic system to these societies and emphasizing the importance of the Soviet example in the modernization of all spheres from automation through cotton harvesting to public libraries. Stalinized publicity was saturated with information on the Soviet Union. After March 1953, it became clear that a different, more effective Soviet Union propaganda was necessary; however the first delegation of writers and journalists could only enter the Soviet Union in late 1955. December 1955 was the exact date of the launching of the first organized Hungarian tourist groups to Kiev, Leningrad and Moscow as well – after the ‘years of delegations’. The revolution of 1956 brought another twist in this regard and efforts were made to shape a renewed friendly image of Khrushchev’s empire. Emphasis within modernization changed in this period – but the main goal of modernizing and overtaking the ‘capitalist world’ did not. The paper strives to reveal and analyse these changing attitudes and motives in depicting the Soviet Union as a modern empire. It thrives to explore the different threads in the de-Stalinization process – what changes stemmed from changing politics and policies, technical development and where we can grab the de-Stalinization of journalism and publicity.
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