A Little Boy or a Pine Cone: The Portrayal of Nicholas II in the Russian Satirical Journals of 1905-1906

• In Event: Surveillance, Censorship, and Political Repression in Imperial Russia

Abstract

This paper analyzes the portrayal of Nicholas II in the Russian satirical journals of 1905-1906 in order to examine the symbiotic relationship between censorship and the satirical press. In the course of the 1905 Revolution, attacks on the tsar in the Russian satirical journals directly corresponded to the weakening of censorship but also provoked new ways of controlling the press on the part of the authorities. In this paper, I will investigate visual and literary depictions of the tsar in conjunction with legal restrictions and demonstrate how appropriating the image of the tsar became one of the deciding factors in the press’ battle for freedom of speech.

Author

• Natalia V Dame, U of Southern California