Down with scamps, who harass women!

Down with scamps, who harass women!
K. Rotov, 1930

Dictatorships do cut down on rape, and pillage, not to mention sexual harassment, by the simple expedient of sending people to labor camps for life or cutting off their hands without a trial.
Barbara Amiel

In the thirties industrialization required lots of labor force. Women were working with men side by side at heavy industry factories and works, where they could rarely be seen before the Revolution. There morals and manners were rough, so harassment of women at work became frequent.

The verse for this poster was written by Vladimir Mayakovsky:

Down with scamps, who harass women!
We will tighten up these studs with discipline!

This poster shows a bunch of hooligans who attacks a communist woman. She is pictured red (signifying here positiveness) as well as the giant hand, which protects her by squeezing the attackers in giant tongs of discipline. This is an illustration that it was the hard work that was not only building industry in the country, but also making people equal.

Buy workers’ prints at allposters!

Can't reach Germany? Yeah, right.

Long live the mighty aviation of the socialism country!
V. Dobrovolsky, 1939

No enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr. If one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Goering. You may call me Meyer.

Hermann Goering addressing the Luftwaffe (September 1939) as quoted in August 1939: The Last Days of Peace (1979) by Nicholas Fleming, p. 171; "Meyer" (or "Meier") is a common name in Germany. This statement would come back to haunt him as Allied bombers devastated Germany; many ordinary Germans, especially in Berlin, took to calling him "Meier". It is said that he once himself introduced himself as "Meier" when taking refuge in an air-raid shelter in Berlin.

Another cool aviation poster of the thirties. Here we can see the parade on the Red Square in the center of Moscow. The name “Red Square” has nothing to do with communism symbols, as in the Old Russian “red” meant “beautiful”. To the left there is a Kremlin Wall, to the right there is GUM (State Universal Store - see a GUM-poster here). The big red building with small towers in front is the State Historical Museum – one of the most beautiful and interesting museums of Russia. Before the Revolution the right gate to the Red Square was occupied by Iberian Gate and Chapel but in 1931 it was demolished in order to make room for heavy military vehicles driving through Red Square during military parades. Both the Iberian Gate and Chapel were completely rebuilt in 1996. See the Red Square and its surroundings on the interactive Wikimapia here).

Down on the Red Square there are hordes of marchers carrying red flags and communist slogans. In the center there is a large portrait of Joseph Stalin. And above there fly the pride and joy of Soviet Aviation – the red Polikarpov I-16 monoplane single engine fighter (also seen on this poster) and the dark-green Ilyushin DB-3 bomber.

DB-3 was a twin-engine low wing monoplane, which first flew in 1935. With 400 km/h maximum speed and 3500 km flying range it became one of the most successful flying machines of the Soviet Union. And it was its later deep modification Il-4, which in 1941 started first bombings of Berlin.

Buy those excellent WW2 bomber posters at allposters:

Diarrhea, cha cha cha!

Our children must not have diarrhea!
G. Shubina, 1940

It is still just unbelievable to us that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of child deaths in the world.
Melinda Gates

The poster says: “Our children must not have diarrhea!” The text at the bottom gives direct instructions to prevent the illness: “Until 6 months age feed the baby with breast milk only. Then add supplemental feeding under medical supervision. Do not wean the baby in summer. In summer dress the baby in suitable light clothes. In summer while outdoors the baby should be in a shady place. Wash baby’s toys, plates and dishes and your own hands thoroughly. Protect the baby and its food from flies. Visit children clinics in time”.

The merry baby on this poster is holding a rattle in his hand. The blossoming branches indicate spring time. A good example of socialist realism it is, where the baby’s face expression quite resembles the one found on posters and paintings devoted to building of new Soviet factories or gathering an ample harvest.

Buy Realism paintings on allposters:

No escape from the people’s revenge!

No escape from the people’s revenge!
I. Rabichev, 1941

In fighting against a guerilla warfare, the ratio is nine versus one or ten versus one.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - an Indonesian retired military general and statesman and the sixth President of Indonesia

In 1941 German forces were rapidly moving on the territory of the Soviet Union. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens were in the zone of occupation. In July 1941 the Communist Party issued a directive which was organizing and regulating the partisan movement.

And it was organized well: the discipline was similar to the regular Red Army’s, all partisans swore partisan oath, the arms’ and ammunition supplies from the battlefront became regular starting from 1942. And of course the orders were given from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s (Joseph Stalin) headquarters.

Its goal of partisans was simple: to disrupt logistics of the German forces, to destroy valuable resources and to kill personnel and soldiers of the enemy. Their advantages were hard to beat as diversionist groups were formed of locals who knew the area well and were always supported by the civilians. Also partisan regiments were usually small and next to impossible to find and eliminate even with ample forces.

But one the keys to partisan's self-sacrifice and courage was the fact that very many of them had nothing to lose – as the occupation forces had left no roof over their heads and no relatives alive. This is why the partisan old man on the poster above stands in front of burning village houses and a gallows.

Buy WW2 posters at allposters:

The power of ideas

The pipe of Stalin
V. Deni, 1930

Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don't allow our enemies to have guns, why should we allow them to have ideas?

Joseph Stalin

Stalin was an avid smoker. But unlike Winston Churchill who was a cigar man, Stalin liked pipes. They say he was not fond of the special pipe tobacco, but was filling his pipe with contents of “Gertsegovina Flor” cigarettes. Apparently these cigarettes were very different from those available for general public, so the overall quality of the Stalin’s tobacco was quite good.

On this poster tobacco smoke has another function besides pleasing Joseph Stalin. Used as a metaphor it blows away those who according to the official position were harming the development of the soviet society and state. The first one is the Saboteur, who slows down the fulfillment of the First Five Year Plan. Joseph Stalin upon seeing the draft of the First Five Year Plan (which already was an overestimation of the Soviet capabilities of the time) ordered to complete it in four years instead of five. Not only this could intensify the development, but also gave him a good excuse to punish for deliberately poor results.

The other one is Nepach or Red Merchant or NEPman. New Economic Policy launched by Lenin in an attempt to revive the economy implied permission of small businesses. But NEP was a forced temporary measure needed only to restore the country after the Civil War and the WW1. In the thirties NEP was already cancelled as “NEP contradicted with the communism values”.

And the last one is “Kulak” – an independent peasant who was “exploiting poorer peasants”. The policy of dekulakization (raskulachivanie) was one of the measures to strip the agriculture in order to fund the industrial development.

Stalin is portrayed as a stern leader with a piercing stare, who looks for those, who hinder the arrival of communism.

Buy Stalin posters at allposters:

Down with kitchen slavery!

Down with kitchen slavery! Let there be new household life!
G. Shegal, 1931

In 1917 the majority of laws of Russian Empire were repealed. Instead the first Soviet Constitution of 1918 declared full rights of women in divorcements, private property, children wardship, work and profession opportunities, choosing of place of living, education and suffrage. A decree which was stating the equal payment for men and women was also issued that year. Finally woman has got the same rights as men. The flip side of the coin was that woman had to work as hard as men as well.

At the same time the reforms of the economy were hampered no only by the Civil War but also by the runaway inflation. To give payment to the workers the Government had to print more money, which only made the situation worse. So the commodity-money relations were partly abolished: instead of wages workers were receiving rations, necessities, canteen coupons. Rent and transport fares were cancelled as well as payments for other public utilities. Free trade of food and goods was prohibited. The state was mobilizing the workers and was giving them full allowance (sort of).

The thirties perfectly utilized this experience. The country needed as much workforce as possible to complete the first Five Year plan, so women who were nursing children at home and did the cooking seemed to be a waste of resources. A great many of day nurseries, large-scale mechanized canteens, kindergartens were being built to free soviet woman from household routine and make them work on the machines instead. For many of soviet woman who had just arrived from the country this was a significant step forward, as it implied getting certain education and hopes of better living in future.

The poster above is an illustration of this trend. The woman dressed in red working overalls and a kerchief opens a large window showing a woman exhausted by laundry a bright perspective with new modern buildings with signs saying: “Club”, “Mechanized Canteen”, “Nursery”.

Buy Vintage Women posters at allposters:

Another brave new world

Let Pluralism Live Long!
Author unknown, Eighties

Those who hope that we shall move away from the socialist path will be greatly disappointed. Every part of our program of perestroika […] is fully based on the principle of more socialism and more democracy.

“Perestroika - New Thinking for Our Country and the World”, Mikhail Gorbachev, 1988

“Pluralism of opinions” was one of the main slogans in the “Glasnost” campaign, which took place in Russia in the eighties. After the WW2 the internal contradictions in political life, social life and economy kept piling up for years. Stalin was cutting the knot with force, Khruzchev was improvising, but with no significant long-term effect, Brezhnev’s rule was called “Stagnation”, Andropov and Chernenko were too old not only to make any changes, but to live at all (Andropov – 68, Chernenko – 72, when elected), so only the relatively young Gorbachev admitted that the Soviet Union has got so many problems, which had to be solved.

But unfortunately no one knew what to do to solve the problems right. Anyway, the process was called “Perestroika” – “Restructuring”, and implied “Uskorenie” – “Speed up” in economy, “Glastnost” – “Openness” in politics and “Pluralism” in social life. “Pluralism” was to give the citizens freedom of speech and opportunities to express their own point of view, even if it contradicted with the “official” position, or positions of other citizens.

This poster is a brilliant illustration of this principle. It shows the four “Hammer and Sickle” icons which form the word “СССР” – USSR in Russian. The last “Hammer and Sickle” is inverted forming the Russian letter “Р” (and Latin letter “R” at the same time!). This creates the desired effect, as if one person (“Р”) opposes the majority (“CCC”). The slogan says: “Let Pluralism Live Long”. The choice of words is also deliberate – a great many of the communist slogans began with “Long Live…”, and this slogan although similar in meaning sounded fresh due to simple replacing of a word in it.

This poster gives an idea, that it is possible to improve the old regime and change the life of people for the better. Unfortunately, due to many reasons including incompetence of the leaders, painless switch to capitalism never happened and the initial enthusiasm died in a flow of social and economical distress of the nineties.

Check Perestroyka posters at allposters: