Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera was influenced by the wars in the early 1900s that paved the way for a Bolshevik culture rooted in the principles of communism. For example, Russia's Soviet Montage Era in the 1920s dissuaded producers from the conventional ways of making films and encouraged the development of experimental filming techniques. Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera contained many elements drawing from the Soviet Montage Era. The film came out in 1929 and was heavily influenced by the historical events that pre-dated it during the early 1900s. The film made numerous references to the backward nature of Russia and a desire to catch up with to Western countries. At the time, Russia lagged economically behind European countries as a direct result of World War I from 1914-1918 and the Russian Civil War from 1917-1922. The Russian provisional government was put into place after the long Tsarist regime in 1917, but was ousted after only eight months, once the Bolsheviks took power after the October Revolution. These new leaders preached communism which changed the societal culture throughout Russia; however, many Russian peasants were hesitant toward the new government ideas and policies. The government took advantage of the film industry and used propaganda as a way to spread communism to the Russians. World War I and the Russian Civil War led to the establishment of a Communist government in Russia, which leveraged its tight control on the film industry in order to forge unity amongst all social classes. This was publicized in Vertov's Man with Movie Camera.
World War I, one of the most influential events in Russian history, ended in 1918 with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This treaty, signed in current day Brest, Belarus, between Russia and the Central Powers, allowed Russia to exit World War I at the expense of giving independence to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine.
