Abstract
An official campaign to promote a positive image of Ivan the Terrible was launched in the winter of 1940–1, with the commissioning of a play from Aleksei Tolstoi and a film from Sergei Eisenstein. Significantly, the main instruments of Ivan’s rehabilitation were to be literary and artistic works rather than historical studies.1 In this choice, Stalin may have been influenced by the success of earlier patriotic plays and films on historical themes: Zhdanov told Eisenstein that ‘the images of Alexander Nevskii and Peter had been resolved in the cinema, but Groznyi had had no luck’.2 And Aleksei Tolstoi’s ‘Peter’ play was obviously the model for his ‘Ivan’ commission.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2001 Maureen Perrie
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Perrie, M. (2001). Wartime and Postwar Historiography, 1940–53. In: The Cult of Ivan the Terrible in Stalin’s Russia. Studies in Russian and East European History and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403919694_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403919694_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39741-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-1969-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)