Communism? Easy!

Lenin and electrification
Shass - Kobelev, 1925

“The economic historian Paul A. David […] noted that while the lightbulb was invented in 1879, it took several decades for electrification to kick in and have a big economic and productivity impact. Why? Because it was not enough just to install electric motors and scrap the old technology -- steam engines. The whole way of doing manufacturing had to be reconfigured”

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

Another cool poster created after the Civil War was over. It says at the top: “Lenin plus Electrification of the Country”. The footer goes even more radical: “Communism is Power of the Soviets plus Electrification”. In the middle there is a call for Volkhovskaya hydroelectrical station to make the current. Volkhovskaya hydroelectrical station was the first power station build in the Soviet Union. The whole plan of electrical development of the country was called GOELRO (State Elecrificational Commission of Russia) and was considered to pave way for the economical development of the country. It implied not only building of power stations and lines, but also the plants and factories, which could use the power. Later it would be changed by Stalin and become the basis for the Five Year plans. But meanwhile as the country’s main goal was building of communism and the Soviets already took the power, the last obstacle was considered to be the underdevelopment. Hence the slogan: “Communism is Power of the Soviets plus Electrification of the Country”.

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That’s the way to shoot

That’s the way to shoot – every shell is a foe.
V. Koretsky, 1943

This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of my enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen.

US Marine Corps Rifle Creed (Full Metal Jacket)

Amazingly this poster features a real person – this is Vasiliy Zaytsev, a Russian sniper, who made 242 verified kills including 11 snipers between October 1942 and January 1943 during the battle of Stalingrad. He is the protagonist of famous Enemy at the Gates film.

He was born in Siberia, where hunting had always been one of the main sources of food. Since the age of four he accompanied his grandfather during his trips to taiga. His main weapon was a bow which he used to shoot squirrels for its fur. Short firing range and targets’ natural agility required excellent composure, persistence and a quick eye. At the age of 12 he was given his first rifle as a present. The shells were scarce so every shot had to be accurate. These two things – extensive bow shooting experience and lack of ammunition were the keys to Vasiliy’s excellent sharp shooting skills. In the beginning of WW2 he served in the Navy, but soon volunteered for front-line duty. There he gained fame as a perfect sniper and received order to establish a sniper school. Very soon the Germans got seriously annoyed by the sniper success, and sent a famous German sniper to stop Zaytsev. This very duel was portrayed in Enemy in the Gates. It took four days and lots of cunning and persistence of Zaytsev and his fellows to define the hideout of the German sniper and make the final shot.

In 1943 his eyes were seriously injured by a landmine blow. He got blind, but after several surgeries carried out by famous Russian medic Antonine Filatov he recovered and returned to the battlefield. He managed to survive the War and died peacefully in 1991. He was awarded a Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his courage.

On the poster Vasiliy Zaytsev is pictured with SVT-40 rifle in sniper version which replaced his famous Mosin-Nagant. Vasiliy is dressed in a camouflage cloak, which is a standard uniform for winter warfare. In his hand there are several empty shells. In the background the graves of German soldiers are marked with crosses and helmets.

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Beep...beep...beep...beep...

Glory to the Soviet Science!
Unknown artist, 1957

The United States now sleeps under a Soviet moon.
Nikita Khrushchyov - the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin

50 years ago on October 4 1957 Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into geocentric orbit of the Earth. This ended Sputnik Race between USSR and the USA. In 1955 U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower announced that the USA would launch its satellite in 1957. The Soviet officials picked up the gauntlet and gave green light to the Soviet Sputnik Program. The main inspirer of sputnik launch was Sergei Korolev – the father of all soviet space missions. He proposed soviet ballistic missile R7 as a rocket carrier. R7 was developed in 1953-1957 with its first successful launch on August 21, 1957 only a month and a half before the version with Sputnik on board. So Sputnik-1 turned out to be another by-product of military science.

R7 – a 34 m long, 280 ton two stage rocket managed to carry the 83 kg Sputnik-1 to the orbit with apoapsis of 940 km above surface. Not a particularly hard task for a rocket with a payload of 5.300 kg. Nevertheless the sputnik itself caused a great stir in the world. Especially this hurt the USA: during the Cold war Soviet science was always portrayed as inferior and undeveloped, and the launch proved quite the opposite. Also this was a direct threat to USA’s security as there was a soviet object flying over the American territory beyond the reach of the USA. But this was a purely physiological threat as Sputnik-1 carried only radio transmitters on board. It was a 585mm diameter sphere, made of 2mm polished aluminum alloy, so that the glitter could be observed from the ground. He had four antennas between 2.4 and 2.9 meters, which were transmitting recurring radio-signal. The frequency was deliberately chosen so that radio hams around the world could pick it up – resulting in stronger reaction.

Listen to the signal record here:

The Soviet Sputnik-1 was a remarkable achievement. United States managed to launch their first satellite “Explorer-1” only in 1958, with weight six times less than the Sputnik’s. But although the Sputnik Race was won, the Cold War was in full swing and both countries were doing its best to slap the opponent in the face. The climax was reached in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis when the world was on the brink of the nuclear war, which could be fought with the same missiles that transported the first artificial object in space – Sputnik-1.

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No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings

Glory to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War! Glory to the Stalin’s falcons!
P. Vandyshev, L. Torich, 1941

This airforce poster was created in 1941 - right after Soviet Union entered World War 2.

In the foreground there is an aircraft gunner who operates ShKAS – a 7.62 mm rapid fire machine gun, which was designed in the thirties and entered production in 1934. It had a firing rate of 1,800 rounds/min for wing or turret-mounted versions, and was significantly more powerful than all its rivals, which could reach only 1.100 rounds/min rate for the best ones like MG-17 (Germany). In 1936 ShKAS was first used in Spain Civil War where Spanish Republic forces received aid from USSR opposing the General Franco’s regime, backed by Nazi Germany and Italy.

1936 Spain Civil War was also a first experience under fire for the aircraft in the background of this poster – the Polikarpov I-16. This was an advanced monoplane fighter with cutting-edge innovations such as retractable landing gear and a fully enclosed cockpit. Although being built from plywood (fuselage) and duralumin only in wings it was designed for speed: with 900 horsepower it could reach 462 km/h at optimal altitude. But it wasn’t the speed that made it a real pre-war champion-killer. The short plane had superb horizontal maneuverability although requiring special skills to fly. Even when the army started receiving new advanced aircrafts some pilots managed to fight the generally superior Messerschmitt Bf 109s on their “Donkeys” – the nickname of I-16 (“donkey” in Russian is “Ishak” which is similar in pronunciation to the “I-16”). And like real donkeys I-16s were very reliable as half of those plains not hit yet were still operational in 1943. I-16 could have up to 4 ShKASes in his wings – obtaining an outstanding firing density.

These two Soviet weapons got together on this poster in order to strengthen the morale of the Soviet people and show the fighting potential the country was capable of. Unfortunately it took another year to put this potential in practice – and finally stop the German offensive at the Battle of Moscow in the early 1942.

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In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it

The best grape wine - The Soviet Champagne
N. Martynov, 1952

“Soviet Champagne” has always been a part of every Soviet holiday and anniversary feast. It was the one and only brand available for the people.

The “Soviet Champagne” brand was created in 1928 after the Government ordered the soviet wineries to produce the sparkling wine affordable for the soviet workers. The original Méthode Champenoise was quite complicated and therefore expensive, as it implied fermentation in bottles for 1.5 years for the wine to fully develop its flavor. After that the lees settled in the neck of the bottle, got frozen and removed. Then the bottle was finally corked.

The Russian wine-maker Anton Frolov-Bagreev (1877-1953) managed to speed up the process and simplify the technology. Now the secondary fermentation of wine was induced in special champagne-fermenting water-cooled tanks of large capacity. This cut down the production time from 1.5 years to a month, and made removing of lees obsolete.

In 1936 the Soviet Government decided to build a number of champagne wineries across the Soviet Union as it was much cheaper to transport wine-materials than the final products. Several wineries were built and in 1942 Frolov-Bagreev was awarded the Stalin’s prize for his inventions. Reportedly before signing the list with nominees Joseph Stalin tasted the Soviet Champagne and did not liked it – as it was brut which seemed to be too dry to him. Another bottle with semi-sweet was brought in, and the Frolov-Bagreev finally got his prize. But this is probably the reason why nowadays Russians prefer semi-sweet wines over the brut which is popular in the world.

Still on duty

Our forces are innumerable
V. Koretsky, 1941

Victor Koretsky is the author of this poster. He is one of the most noted Soviet poster artists. His trademark technique was combination of black and white photos with pencil graphics and bright gouache fillings. This highly impressive technique was also quite practical in printing.

This poster was created in 1941, when the German forces were rapidly moving on the Soviet territory to capture Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev according to the “Barbarossa” Operation devised by Hitler’s generals. The situation was critical so all resources had to be combined to stop the offensive.

The poster was aimed at strengthening of morale of the citizens and soldiers, as the news they were hearing on the radio at that time were mostly cheerless.

In the foreground there is a soviet soldier – a private or most likely a partisan as his uniform is not buttoned up and he has got a beard. In his hand he is holding a 7.62 mm Mosin-Nagant magazine rifle, which was a standard issue weapon to Soviet troops due to its sturdiness and manufacturability. The man’s stare is full of determination and courage, but it’s the monument in the background which gives the poster gravity.

This is the monument which commemorates the deeds of trader Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who were heroes of the Polish-Muscovite War (1605–1618). In 1611 Minin organized a fund collection among the people of Nizhniy Novgorod and together with Prince Pozharsky led the militia to Moscow kicking out the Poles.

It was Minin’s personal cunning and charisma which allowed him to unite Russians in order to free the country from invaders. And like always it was no holds barred event: all citizens were to give away one third of their property, otherwise all the belongings were confiscated and people with their families became bond slaves. Reportedly Minin gave all he had.

Minin’s words were: “We’d like to help the Moscow State, so no property should be spared, nothing should be spared – sell houses, pledge wives and children, and bless the one, who’s going to fight for the saint Orthodox church and would lead us!”

Minin and Pozharsky monument was set up in Moscow in 1818. Now it is situated on the Red Square right near the most beautiful Saint Basil's Cathedral (see it on Google Maps). On the pedestal there are words: “To citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky. Grateful Russia. 1818”. And Russia is grateful indeed as even 300 years after his life Minin did not resign from being an inspirer for those protecting the country.

If we don't end war, war will end us

Victory!
O. Savostjuk, B. Uspenskiy, 1969

This poster was created in naive manner which resembled children’s drawings. Hammer and Sickle on the red flag above celebrates the victory over the fascist regime in a form of thrown down black German banners at the bottom of the poster. The soldier holds his hand high in a gesture of joy because the long lasting War is finally over. He is not an ordinary private – on his chest there is a Hero of the Soviet Union star medal meaning that he obtained the highest honorary title after performing a truly heroic deed. Also he is holding a sub-machine gun PPSh-41 – the predecessor of AK-47. The famous war slogans and mottos written in chalk form the five-pointed Red Star – a symbol of communism. During the War people were often putting chalked notes and slogans on walls of the places they were passing by.

The slogans say (counter clock-wise, starting from 5 o’clock): “Have gone from Moscow to Berlin” (the Germans managed to get 30 km near Moscow and only after the Battle of Moscow in 1942 were thrown back), “The war way from Leningrad was complete on May 9, 1945” (The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade of 1941-1944 is one of the most dreadful events of the WW2, with more than 1.2 mln of Leningraders starving to death there), “Kursk-Berlin” (The Great Battle of Kursk in 1943 won by Soviets despite the outnumbering Germans and leading to the final counteroffensive), “1945 – we have won”, “From Volga to Berlin” (The Battle of Stalingrad on Volga River, which being the bloodiest battle in human history exhausted the Germans and led to the Victory) . The soldier’s head is crowned with “Hurrah! Victory” words. And the last phrase to the right is written with no inclination and is actually the message of the poster: “Be free and happy – forever”.