socialism and reject Western, particularly bourgeois or individualist, influences. All forms of creative expression had to follow the principles of socialist realism, glorifying the state, the working class, and communist values. The policy led to widespread censorship, suppression of artistic freedom, and condemnation of prominent figures in the arts and academia.

The campaign continued after the death of Zhdanov. In 1948, his successor, Georgy Aleksandrov, published an article denouncing early