The first edition of the 'Great Soviet Encyclopedia' began publication in Moscow, Soviet Union, following a official decree by the Communist Party. This massive state-controlled reference project aimed to systematically reorder all human history, science, and art through the analytical lens of Marxist-Leninist philosophy and dialectical materialism. Every entry was strictly vetted to ensure complete alignment with Soviet political goals and state ideology.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia formalized Socialist Realism as the only acceptable aesthetic framework for literature, directly affecting Soviet poets like Vladimir Mayakovsky and Boris Pasternak. It codified an official vocabulary for state-approved revolutionary poetry while suppressing avant-garde experimentation.