Spiritual leaders of the Soviets!

Courageously and irresistibly we fight and stab,
We are Suvorov’s grandchildren and Chapaev’s sons.
Kukryniksy, 1941

Here is a good one. This poster is dated 1941, when the Fascist Germany was attacking Soviet Union, and the Russians could hardly stop the offensive.

Joseph Stalin quickly realized the propaganda potential of cinema. He personally supervised all the movies, which were produced in the country. In the late thirties the chances of war were high and Stalin ordered a number of large-scale movies based on historical events to be filmed. Among them there were three keystone biopics, which rapidly became part of Russian culture.

“Alexander Nevsky” (1938) - a masterpiece created by Sergei Eisenstein (a revolutionary Soviet film director and film theorist) was about Alexander Nevsky - a talented medieval Russian military leader and politician, who managed to smash well equipped German invaders in 1242 at The Battle of the Ice.

“Suvorov” (1941) depicted life of Alexander Suvorov (1729-1800) who was a brilliant Russian general and strategist, reportedly not loosing a single battle.

“Chapaev” (1934) was about Vasily Chapayev – a hero of Russian Civil War, who did a great job of defeating the Whites. Due to this film Chapaev became a cultural phenomenon and a hero of thousands of jokes, which are still popular in Russia.

You can see these three historical figures in red inspiriting soviet soldiers on the poster.

Of course all these historical events were heavily edited to bring forward the main idea: Russian army is truly invincible, guided by “the great helmsman” Joseph Stalin.

The poster was created by a caricaturist group “Kukriniksy”, which were extremely popular in the Soviet Union. “Kukriniksy” is a collective name of three artists – Mikhail Kupriayanov, Porfiri Krylov and Nikolai Sokolov. Their satirical works bashing fascist leaders received international acclaim during the WW2.

P.S. I have just started another poster blog: Posters of Cuba - The Crimson Dawn Island. It will be updated 2 or 3 times a week. You can subscribe here. Cuban posters are not as known as the Soviet or, say, German propaganda, but in no way they are less inspiring. They are bright, colorful, energetic. I am sure you'll like Posters of Cuba project.

And many thanks for coming! It is a pleasure that you all like this beautiful poster art! ;)

Here we come again!

Come along with us to the new lands!
Seleznev V. P., 1954

In 1953 Stalin died. After a short race Nikita Khrushchev came to power. By 1954 the country was an industrial state with 70% of all population working in heavy industry. Agriculture on the other hand was in rather poor shape. So Khrushchev proposed developing of new virgin lands as the main means of boosting the agriculture of the Soviet Union. As always the great plans were implemented by the heroic work of soviet people.

In 1954 30 000 of party members and 120 000 of farmhands were sent to the virgin and wild lands. And it took more than 5 years to develop 42 mln hectares of land, resulting in 34% increase in agricultural production.

So hard to break apart

People and the party are undivided.
Luk'janov M. V., Karakashev V. S., 1978

“People and the party are undivided” – this is a famous soviet slogan. It appeared in “Pravda” on the 8th of March, 1953, 3 days after Joseph Stalin’s death. Later it was widely used in propaganda. This is probably the most creative illustration of this phrase. The face of Lenin shows through the rows of banners, carried by soviet citizens who take part in a march or a parade. No matter what you do, Lenin’s maxims and ideology exert influence on you.

But this poster was created in 1978, when stagnation was in every part of the soviet life. Brezhnev’s was 73 already and not in best shape, planned economy exhausted itself, the iron curtain was preventing information exchange with the western countries.

So, common folk used to joke like “People and the party are undivided indeed, except for the things they eat” implying that many goods were in shortage and the party officials could get them in special stores without problems.

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Welcome to Soviet Marlboro Country!

Smoke Captain’s Cigars!
Sakharov S. G., 1939

This is another distinctive tobacco poster. Dated 1939, right before the WW2, it promotes smoking of “Glavtabak” tobacco products. By this time all separate tobacco factories got consolidated under the “NarkomPischeProm” Ministry (National Food Industry Ministry), which was forming state orders to produce certain quantities of goods. It were the governmental officials, who were defining what soviet citizens could eat, drink, wear and smoke.

In 1935 Stalin declared that “It is people who are the most valuable asset”. This give way to the petty-bourgeois pleasures, like dancings, jazz, flowers on streets. Several recreational parks were opened, with the Gorky Park (named after famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky) in the center of Moscow. They were called “Parks of Culture and Recreation”, reminding that they are not about recreation only.

Nevertheless, the soviet society was heavily stratified. The majority was working in kolkhozy and on factories for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for the wages which weren’t enough to buy ample food and to get rid of shabby clothes. On the other hands, the officials, trusted folk and young professionals were allowed to get goods at low prices or for free and visit resorts.

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Liberation War

Soldier of the Soviet Army, save us!
Koretsky V. B., 1942

This is a very famous poster by Victor Koretskij. It captured the soviet people’s attitude to the Fascist aggressors after the start of WW2.

In June 1940 Nazis started developing the Operation Barbarossa plan. It was based on Blitzkrieg doctrine (also called Lightning war or flash war). According to Operation Barbarossa, Russians were to be caught by surprise, its main economical and political centers captured within 4-6 weeks from the start of the operation. This was a very ambitious plan, which was altered by the heroic actions of the Soviet Army.

Soviet soldiers did have something to fight for. German Generalplan “Ost” implied not only making the country a German economical colony, but also ethnical cleansing of the population. According to the Generalplan “Ost” more than 120 mln of Russians, Ukrainians, Poles and Lithuanians were subject to resettlement and genocide.

Run, Forrest, Run!

The finishing ribbon says: all world records must to be ours.
Govorkov V. I., 1935

In the thirties Russia finally became a totalitarian state. The Communist Party was imposing regulations on all the political, social, cultural aspects of life.

One of the main means of soviet citizen’s unification was creation of numerous public organizations. People were guided from childhood to the old age by consecutively enrolling in Pioneer organization, Komsomol, Communist Party.

Trade unions played significant role in the ideological education of the soviet people. Everybody had to work, and every worker had to be a member of a trade union, which did not bother representing his rights, but was organizing various activities and providing political education instead. This was obligatory, of course.

This poster announces the Second Soviet Trade Union Sports Event. Joseph Stalin initiated building of sports training organizations and clubs all over the country, making sports extremely popular among the soviet people. Athletes, record holders, football players all were heroes of the time.

These sports clubs were an excellent selection system for sportsmen, which were to represent the country in international events. In 1936 there were held XI Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Because of the increasing tension between Soviet Union and the Fascist Germany (War in Spain of 1936) Russian sportsmen boycotted the Games. Instead, in 1937 in Antwerp the III World Workers Olympic Games started. The antifascists were arriving from 15 countries, with about a 100 of sportsmen only from the Soviet Union. No wonder, this was a triumph of the soviet sports training system, with a number of world records set during the event.

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Fast train coming!

The train goes from the Socialism Station to the Communism Station

Sokolov-Skalja P. P., 1939

Powerful allegories are a distinctive feature of the poster art. This poster is aimed at general audience including the most down-to-earth people.

The header says “The train goes from the Socialism Station to the Communism Station”. Below there is a slogan “The experienced driver of the Revolutionary Engine – Comrade Stalin”. On the left margin there is a schedule of the Bolshevist Train with stations passed though: Iskra (official newspaper of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, established in 1900), Russian Revolution of 1905, Pravda (the chief newspaper of the Soviet Union, established in 1912, note that the name is written in the same font as the original newspaper’s header), the October Revolution of 1917 and Socialism – no year specified. To the right there is another schedule showing the way the train is currently covering – moving from Socialism to Communism stations.

The interpretation of original Marxism and works of Vladimir Lenin have been altered by every political leader of the Soviet Union. This was due to the impossibility of carrying out the main Communism principles. In the Soviet times the country was living in two dimensions – the real one, where people were working hard, making industrialization a reality, and the fiction other – where the bright future life has almost worked out well. This is why the Socialism and the Communism stations on the poster have no year of arrival. No one dared asking about the exact time, because the goal was still far ahead.

This logical dissonance was well masked by the train itself. This is a famous JS-series (IS) train, named after Joseph Stalin. This was a powerful and fast engine with 3500 horsepower and cruising speed of 115 km/h. In 1932-1942 642 of these gorgeous machines were built. In 1938 an experimental aerodynamic train based on JS-model reached 155 km/h speed mark.

The fast-moving train on the poster not only showed the progress the country had made, but also promised great achievements to come. And according to the soviet propaganda it was the only man who could guide the country forward - Joseph Stalin, along with the great theorists of Communism - Lenin, Engels and Marx (pictured on the red flag).

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Free love - and the communists too.

Emancipated woman – build up socialism!
Strakhov-Braslavskij A. I., 1926

In the Romanov’s times Russian Orthodox Church was part of the state, not only being one of the biggest landlords of the country, but also imposing various restrictions and customs on the everyday life. In 1918 Lenin signed a decree, which declared state independence from the Church. This resulted in drastic changes in the society, especially for the those, whose rights were traditionally limited. Besides gaining the right to vote, women took advantage of the civil marriage institution, because in the monarchy times the Church allowed divorces only in extreme cases.

The early Bolsheviks tended to taking all new ideas to the extreme. A popular theory called “Glass of Water Theory” completely denied the marriage institution and proclaimed that a communist woman should throw off all the traditional gender relations, killing uncontrolled emotions, but promoting free love and sexuality based on mutual respect both to the woman’s and men’s needs and desires. This was a complicated concept, which implied serious changes in mentality, and of course the common folk simplified the whole thing, taking out the only idea, that in the communist times having sex would be as easy as taking a glass of water. Hence the “Glass of Water” Theory.

Later after Lenin’s death in 1924, all the social experiments were cut down. Joseph Stalin was a far more pragmatic person and got rid of all the utopians and theorists. Every soviet woman’s goal was to be the same as the men’s: to make communism a reality, to build factories, refineries and shipyards.

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Shine on, you crazy diamond!

Exhibition of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Works
Alexei Gan, 1931

I shine with all my might -
and once more day is trumpeted.
Shine all the time,
forever shine.
the last days' depths to plumb,
to shine - !
spite every hell combined!
So runs my slogan -
and the sun's!

An Extraordinary Adventure by Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Vladimir Mayakovsky (pictured on the poster) is one of the most notable Russian poets of the yearly 20th century. He was a member of Russian Futurism movement and was constantly exploring the boundaries of poetry. His famous works include “Listen!”, “A Cloud in Trousers”, “My Soviet Passport”, “Left March!”, "Conversation with Comrade Lenin", “But could you?”.

The October revolution brought new trends not only in politics but also in art. Many artists worshiped Communism ideology, as it was so fresh and new, compared to contemporary art of the past. Very soon Mayakovsky became the poet of the revolution. His distinctive style was based on brisk and energetic verses which were ideal for propaganda.

In the twenties Mayakovsky was one of the few soviet artists who were allowed to travel freely, so his voyage across the world, including a trip to the USA, was a great inspiration for him. However in the late twenties Mayakovsky’s disappointment grew as the avant-garde movements in art were moved aside by socialist realism and Joseph Stalin’s cult of personality. The revolutionary values got buried under bureaucracy and formalism. All this along with a series of failures in his personal life led him to shooting himself in 1930. Later speculations arised that Mayakovsky was in fact murdered by Stalin’s order.

Mayakovsky’s poems were full of catch phrases which quickly became widely used. Even now almost 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union everybody recognizes his: “Say your word, comrade Mauser” (meaning shooting of a mauser gun) and “I pull out of my wide trouser-pockets duplicate of a priceless cargo. You know: read this and envy, I'm a citizen of the Soviet Union!” (people always modify the first verse like “I pull out something resembling a long cannon barrel.”)

During the soviet times popularity of Mayakovsky’s works was skyrocketing. In 1935 Stalin said: “Mayakovsky has always been the best, the most talented poet of the soviet era. It’s the indifference to his works and heritage, which is a crime.” This canonized Mayakovsky, entering his poems in all the school books of the country. And children still study his poems, because despite the communist propaganda, Mayakovsky’s works are bursting with energy and life.

This poster was created by Alexei Gan, a close friend of constructivism classic Alexander Rodchenko. In fact Alexei Gan was the man who introduced the term itself by publishing his book “Constructivism” in 1922. Gan’s life turned out to be as tragic as Mayakovsky’s. Although he was not subjected to Stalin’s repressions, the drinking habits which he desperately fought during his lifetime, finally undermined his health and brought him to the grave in 1940.

You don’t smoke or drink – oh my! Do you think, you'll never die?

Everyone smokes!
Unknown artist, 1923

In Russia tobacco and alcohol has always been quite popular, being one of the main sources for state treasury income. Tobacco was brought to Russia in the 16^th century during the reign of Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. Later smoking was strictly prohibited, as it supposedly caused a vicious fire which burned down Moscow in 1634. Infringers were subject to chopping of their noses. During the next 50 years Russian rulers were prohibiting and legalizing tobacco, until realizing that monopolization of the tobacco market could result in fantastical profits.

After the WW1 the Bolshevics were in financial trouble, as the country economy struggled to survive the nationalizing and planned economy measures. Tobacco and alcohol were the most significant financial drivers for the young soviet government, so massive advertising campaigns started – promoting tobacco and smoking. Although nationalized some factories were still operating under old brands.

This poster says: “Everyone smokes! Donskaya State Tobacco Factory (fomer Asmolov and Co)”. And this was sad but true – more than 90% of the adult population were smoking tobacco in the twenties. Later, this figure went down, albeit slowly, resulting in 70% of smokers among the adult male population nowadays.

Lenin forever!

Lenin
V. Briskin, 1970

The author of this poster is Veneamin Briskin - a brilliant illustrator and a graphic artist, whose best works included Maxim Gorky and Mark Twain books. He created a series of posters called “Europe after the War” and illustrations to “Vasili Tyorkin” – poem about a soviet soldier by famous poet Aleksandr Tvardovsky.

This poster was created for international exhibition “Satire Fighting for Peace”, held in 1971 in Moscow. In the early seventies War in Vietnam was raging and the relations between USSR and USA was tense, so Soviet Union kept propagating positive image of the Soviet Union. One of the means was taking part and organizing of various events, which despite being politically biased, did exhibit many modern works of art.

The poster’s style is laconic. It was designed for European audience, bearing no slogans or sayings by soviet leaders. The red word «Lenin» refers to the first leader of Soviet Socialist Republic – Vladimir Lenin, whose ideas and works formed the basis for communist ideology in Russia.

Never step back!

Motherland is calling!
Irakli Toidze, 1941

This is undoubtedly the most significant graphical work of the twentieth century Russia – “The Motherland is Calling!” poster.

It was created in July 1941 during the first days of Great Patriotic War between Nazi Gemany and Soviet Union. Since then the poster has been printed millions of times becoming the ultimate symbol of Russian liberation fight. It also influenced many aspects of Soviet live, inspiring artists and sculptors to design memorials like “The Motherland” – an 85 meter 8 000 ton sculpture (Google map).

The poster was created by Irakli Toidze, who was one of the most famous socialist realism artists of the time, personally noted by Joseph Stalin. In the early thirties he portrayed him on a large painting “Joseph Stalin is reciting a poem by Shota Rustavelly “The Knight in the Panther's Skin”, which became a nice contribution to the Stalin’s cult of personality.

Irakli created “The Motherland is Calling!” on the spot. After hearing radio-announcement his wife Tamara rushed into the studio, crying out “War!” Irakli asked her to freeze and stay still. Her distinctive posture is now on the poster.

Tamara says: “When the War was declared, I got mortally feared for my children. I ran into Irakli’s studio… I should have had such a face, that Irakli commanded to stop where I was – and immediately got down to sketching”.

Alexander Toidze, their son: “Woman’s image on the poster has been generalized in many ways. My mother was stunningly beautiful, so father simplified it, made it intimate and comprehensible for everyone”.

Joseph Stalin knew all too well that propaganda was vitally important for boosting morale of the soviet troops. He was personally ratifying every graphical work, every theatrical play and song released in the country. Upon seeing the “The Motherland is Calling!” poster, he immediately ordered printing of 5 thousand of copies and sending them to every commandant’s office and recruiting station in the Soviet Union.

And the poster is magnetic indeed. This is the mother of every soldier standing in front of the bayonet wall, ready to lead her children into the liberating battle. Soldiers were holding cards with “The Motherland” in his chest pockets along with the photos of their families and their Communist Party Membership cards. When retreating, they often took the posters with them, protecting from the enemy like military flags. After the War this poster was frequently displayed in official places near images of Lenin and Stalin.

The document in Mother-land’s hand is the Soviet military oath (1939-1947). Every soldier had to swear allegiance to the nation, Soviet Motherland and Workers’ and Peasants’ Government. They were swearing to protect the country, whatever the cost. And millions of Soviet people did have to pay with their lives for that.

ABC for everyone!

Do you help to eliminate illiteracy? Join “Down with illiteracy” Society!

Unknown artist, 1925

Russia has always been an agricultural state - before the October Revolution is was one of the biggest grain suppliers in the world. The landlords were not interested in educating of its peasants, because it would result in flow-outs to the cities.

So illiteracy was everywhere, and it were the Bolsheviks, who started global educational programs after the October Revolution. In 1919 the “Elimination of Illiteracy” decree was signed by Vladimir Lenin. The payment for education was abolished once and for all, and those refusing to enter the elementary schools were subject to prosecution. Everyone from 8 to 50 years old had to learn reading and writing either in Russian or in their native language. Lenin knew, that his revolutionary ideas could be understood only by educated people, so elemental education became obligatory for every soviet citizen.

In 1923 the society “Down with illiteracy” was founded. The funding was ample, so general census of 1926 showed twofold increase in literate population – up to 60% of the soviet nation. And by the census of 1939 the literate population reached 90%, which was a great achievement, indeed.

The poster above is dated 1925. It asks rhetorical question “Do you help to eliminate illiteracy?” and invites people to join the “Down with illiteracy” Society. The left margin contains one of the Vladimir Lenin’s maxims: “We should celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the October Revolution with final victory over illiteracy”.

Dummies for all ages!

Never ever better dummies one can hold
Gonna suck them till I’m old.

Sold everywhere.
Resintrust.

Mayakovsky V. V., Rodchenko A. M., 1923

This is one of the masterpieces of the era – The Dummies Poster. It was created by Alexander Rodchenko, a brilliant photographer and graphic designer. He is most famous for being one of the founders and apologists of constructivism – an avant-garde art and architecture movement, which denies art for art’s sake and proclaims manufacturing practicability as the basis for creation.

The text was written by Vladimir Mayakovsky – a talented Russian poet, who was one of the most notable representatives of early Futurism. Futurism is all about future – denying past and present, worshiping shoots of aftertime in our lives. Futurists of the early 20^th century were discovering new means of self-expression, new techniques and methods to impress, to strike, to startle. In Russian the verse on the poster sounds vigorously and brisk – an unusual way to advertise baby products.

Those two talents worked together in 1923-1928 when Soviet Republic was recovering from WW1 and the Civil War. That period of history was very unstable as the Kronstadt Rebellion of 1921 and other global resistance actions by workers and peasants, provoked by rough communist regime, were destabilizing the country. Famine and shortages were everywhere, unemployment was severe, those who were lucky to have jobs did not care about their duties as it was impossible to convert the pay into goods.

The Communist Party and Vladimir Lenin were forced to give the people a break. The communist ideology remained but small businesses were allowed under control of the state. Farmers could save and trade part of their yield, which was a substantial advantage over War Communism years, when they were forced to give away every single grain – leaving no reserve for seeding. This was the beginning of New Economic Policy (NEP).

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Young and Ambitious!

Hardworking Youth of Soviet Union
Votrin V., 1986

Komsomol (Communist Youth Union) was a communist organization for young soviet people. One could join Komsomol only after being Oktyabrenok (age 7-9, organization name derived from October revolution) and Pioneer (age 9-14). Komsomol was the last step before becoming a member of Communist Party, which was obligatory for those, who wanted to get well-paid jobs and career opportunities.

Komsomol was a political organization, which guided and introduced youth to the communist values. To enter one should have passed an exam on C.P.S.U. history and have perfect personal references. Also, Komsomol was an excellent source of labour resources for ambitious soviet projects like BAM (Baikal Amur Mainline). When you are young it is always so inspiring to go to nowhere and to make great deeds, so soviet youth was carried away with enthusiasm. Many older people recall those days of Komsomol as the most beautiful days of their lives, despite the fact that they did have to work really hard there. Besides the payment was generous, so Komsomol work camps were the best way for a young man to make a living without parental assistance.

The poster above says: “Our youth is hard-working indeed, it is performing notable feats, our youth is devoted to Socialism”.

Here comes the Red Army!

Glory! Glory! Glory to the Soviet Armed Forces!

Belskij L, Potapov V, 1977

This is a nice poster, created and printed to commemorate the 60 anniversary of Soviet Armed Forces, which were originated as the Red Army in 1917 by the special decree of Vladimir Lenin. The Red Army’s main task was to stop Russian participation in WW1 as this conflict was too much of a burden for the young Soviet republic. Another objective was to fight the opposing White forces which stood for restoration of monarchy. Also domestic affairs were far from quiet, so preservation of order in the country was essential.

All those things were not easy to do, and I should admit, that not all the missions were accomplished properly. Nevertheless, after WW1 the Red Army was getting new ammunition and proper training, its ranks being reinforced with universal conscription.

During the pre-war years Joseph Stalin was executing his brothers-in-arms of the revolution period on suspicion that those talented and popular figures could rival his power. Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky was one of those victims.

During the World War Two Russian Army showed its courage and self-sacrifice leaving more than 7 mln. of soldiers on battlefields. Nevertheless, the victory was won, albeit at a price too high.

During Cold War Red Army (also named Soviet Army by that time) was used to strengthen Soviet presence in the world, by taking part in Hungarian Revolution, Czechoslovakia invasion, Vietnam and Cambodia’s wars and finally the Afghanistan conflict.

Also after the WW2 new weaponry was entering service, including nuclear weapons, supersonic jetfighters and transcontinental missiles, calling for highly trained specialists. Before the collapse of Soviet Union military service was comfortable and prestige occupation in the Soviet Union.

Things changed, when old ideology died, leaving the empty space in minds and no change in pockets. And it took years to replace skilled specialists, who left the service for better living. This reconstruction process goes ever since.

Russian Cosmonautics - hippie-style!

12 April — the day of cosmonautics
Fekljaev V. N.

Note this nice poster, devoted to the Soviet Cosmonautics day – the April 12, which goes back to 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first human being in space. This event was a result of Russian technological leap, partly caused by the Cold War confrontation and the intention of Soviet people to become the most technologically advanced country in the world. Not only numerous resources were invested in the Soviet Cosmic project, but also the best minds well brought up with help of free higher education.

The poster approximately dates back to late seventies. This is a fine example of Soviet idea adaptation. Despite censorship, new trends managed to leak out and reach soviet artists minds: here we can see the influence of pop-art pioneer Andy Warhal and the palette derived from 60s-hippie style and early Beatles record covers.

Young and Beautiful Red Cross Lady!

Join the society of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent!
Koretskij V. B., 1947

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement whose stated mission is to protect human life, health, and alleviate human suffering across the world.

In Russia the history of IRC goes back to 1854, when Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia established a nurse community in Saint Petersburg – the capital of Russian Empire.

Later the original IRC split into several independent organizations, which shared the name, common basic principles and objectives.

In Russia IRC was performing well by providing aid during armed conflicts, disasters and major accidents, including Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), plague and diphtheria epidemics, famine of 1891, Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and WW1.

After the October Revolution of 1917 Bolsheviks abolished almost all foreign noncommercial social organizations, suspecting them of spying against young Soviet regime. However, IRC remained although its property had been nationalized by state.

Of course, under a communist dictatorship like USSR no organization could separate itself from the principal intentions and ideology of the society, so IRC in Russia was busy building first soviet medical airplane, organizing first-aid study groups for communists, fighting epidemics.

During the WWII more than 790 000 of medical personnel was trained, 1 700 000 liters of donor blood sent to battle-fronts. This was a substantial help to Soviet war-medical services.

The poster above is a fine example of Socialist realism art, which main purpose is to present communist ideas in realistic manner. In this very case it did attract attention to a very positive and health-giving movement - the International Red Cross Society.

Fly high, the red plane!

“He who’s strong in the air, is strong full stop“

Deni V. N., Dolgorukov N. A., 1938

This is a quote by Kliment Voroshilov, who was appointed Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1935. This was a period of industrialization with thousands of heavy industry sites being built across Soviet Union. By 1938 the high probability of world war was evident for Joseph Stalin, although he was not sure about the exact adversaries. Nevertheless defensive potential was increasing at a surprising pace: military R&D facilities were constantly developing new means of destruction, tanks, submarines and explosives. And soviet people were working 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day to make those designs a reality.

Special attention was paid to the airforce too. During 1939-1940 Russian army received about 15 000 of various airplanes, albeit of not very modern design. Unfortunately during the first days of the War, unexpected German aero-strikes destroyed a great many of airplanes right on the airfields near the border of the country – before they could ever take off. This was one of the causes why Russians had to retreat during the first years of War.

Only in 1943 the Red Army got hold of new advanced airplanes, which could fight German Messerschmitts on equal terms. These were Yak-3, MiG-5, La-5 models, manufactured by several Soviet factories. The turning point of the war was reached in 1944, Russians along with allied French, English and American forces launched full scale counteroffensive and finally got into Berlin – the capital of the Third Reich. The war was won, it was high time to rebuild the Europe in ruins.

A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism

“A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism”
Scherbakov V., 1920

“A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism” - this is the first phrase from The Manifesto of the Communist Party – the document of almost extreme magnitude for the history of 20th century. It was written in 1848 by German theorists Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. The book was suppressed in Russia but there were a number of illegal editions during the 1880s.

This document gave theoretical grounds to communist revolution of 1917. Lenin (pictured on the poster above) - the leader of bolshevics- based the ideology of his party mainly on this very work, declaring abolition of property on land and means of production.

During the revolution of the 1917 working class managed to overthrow the bourgeois social state, declaring the society without classes. The state belonged to the people in general and nobody in particular. This ideology ruled the country for the next 70 years.

Let's accomplish the plan of great deeds!
Klutsis G., 1930

Industrialization in Russia took off in 1929. It was based on a 5 year plan, which implied building of more than 1500 of industrial sites: factories, powerstations, mines, refineries. This was an ambitious plan, which was made even more impossible to carry out because of Joseph Stalin’s call out: “Five year plan in four years!” Nevertheless, the industrialization proved to be extremely successful with heavy industry output to increase 3 times in only 4 years. The zero-level unemployment level was reached in 1930. And although the first Five year plan was not implemented fully in time, during the second one Soviet Union surpassed all world countries except the USA in gross industry output. The country was turning from agriculture to industry as the main source of its power and wealth.

This poster was created by Gustav Klutsis - a pioneering photographer and major member of the Constructivist avant-garde in the early 20th century. He was one of the apologists of photomontage technique, he managed to bring to an impressive level.

We welcome the Day of the Soviet Railworker! 1957, image from Princeton University Library.

Railroads are everything for a country as big as Russia. Currently Russian Federation has an area of 17 mln. square km. This is almost twice as big as Canada or China or the USA. So, advanced means of transportation , which are capable of transporting large quantities of goods between 85 federal subjects (states) and 14 neighboring countries were absolutely essential both now and always.

In the nineteenth century Russia being an agricultural country managed to create its first steam locomotive only in the thirties – almost thirty years later than England. The first commercial railway line took off in 1851, it linked two major Russian cities – imperial capital Saint-Petersburg and Moscow, covering 800 hundred km.

Later Russian railroad development was carried out at fast pace as the monarchy considered railroads to be a perfect way of increasing the defense potential of the country. During the First and Second world wars Russian railways suffered great losses of more than 60% of its rail network.

After the WWII the tracks were rebuilt and reached 150 000 km. of length. Now Russian railroad network is approximately 87 000 km. being the second largest in the world after the USA with its 250 000 km of tracks in operation. This double cut in length was caused by the soviet republics declaring independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and privatizing rails on their land.

In the Soviet times railways were the main means of transportation, with thousands of people working in the industry. And they had their own professional holiday – the Soviet Railworker's day. The poster above dates 1957 and commemorates the valuable contribution of Russian railworkers to the economical and social raise of the country after the war.

The C.P.S.U. — the vanguard of the perestroika

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union. It emerged in 1912 as the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party. C.P.S.U. started the October Revolution, which led to the establishment of a communist state in Russia. The party was dissolved in 1991, at the time of the break-up of the Soviet Union.

This poster was designed in the 80s. It welcomes the decisions made during the 27^th C.P.S.U. convention. The history of Russia was spinning rapidly at that time, probably being tired of 18 very quiet years of Brezhnev’s ruling called “Stagnation”. In 1982 the General Secretary of the Party - Leonid Brezhnev died at the age of 76. He was replaced by Yuri Andropov, who passed away only after 15 months of being the head of C.P.S.U. Then Konstantin Chernenko came to power, but also died soon – after 13 months. All those deaths were not deliberate. The government officials were just too old – Chernenko 73, Andropov 70.

In 1985 Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected – he was considered to be a «young» politician, being only 55. In 1986 the 27^th C.P.S.U. convention was opened. During this event Gorbachev announced several paramount decisions. One of them was that the Soviet economy was stalled and that reorganization was needed. This was called “perestroika” – “restructuring”, and was enthusiastically welcomed by the people. However the economical measures taken involved complete destruction of old economical relations, illegal privatizing of state property and waves of corruption and crime. It took more than 15 years for the country to cure itself.

We make friends, we create!
And we maintain peace in space!

On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel to space and the first to orbit the Earth. This was a major breakthrough for the human kind and significant achievement for the Soviet Union, which managed to create such an advanced technological and industrial project in only 15 years after the devastating World War II.

In the seventies the Cold War was in full swing, with Soviet Union and United States of America investing numerous resources in their space programs. We all owe something to that confrontation, because fundamental research and experimental works of the decade finally resulted in development of civil microelectronics, supersonic avionics, polymeric chemistry and other scientific fields. Amazing, but even the Cold War has advantages…

This space race was not only about world prestige and scientific discoveries. Both Soviet and American military authorities were dreaming about space domination. Nuclear Deterrence Theory was preventing the strike and space could give key advantage over potential adversary. In 1983 Ronald Reagan proposed Strategic Defense Initiative project, which implied deployment of ground and space-based stations, with a purpose of protection in case of a nuclear missile attack. The project was soon nicknamed “Star Wars” because of its futuristic elements, including space lasers, rail guns and kinetic warheads – things technologically improbable even in the modern times. But SDI's main design flaw was its intricacy, which resulted in certain unreliability. Nevertheless the surveillance part of the project proved to be quite useful and despite the overall flop of the SDI, is now being implemented as a part of National Missile Defense Program.

By that time Soviet Union was developing its own space defense system, with more than 20 small space stations equipped with surveillance equipment and counter strike missiles. The information about is highly classified, reportedly this system is still operational.

The poster above proclaims the official Soviet attitude to SDI – Soviet Union stands for Peace and United States calls for war. The idea is being illustrated with Yuri Gagarin and white dove – an international peace symbol. Its wings are covered with flags of Eastern Block Countries - the allies of Soviet Union. These countries were either annexed after WWII or were supported economically in exchange for loyalty and adherence to communist ideology. Eastern Block collapsed in the nineties due to disintegration processes in the Soviet Union and its defeat in Cold War.

Let's build up! 1947
V.B. Koretskij

After the World War II the Soviet Union was celebrating the glorious victory over Nazi aggressors. Motherland was saved and the spirits were elevated. But the war wounds were hard to heal - the country was scathed, the factories, which were built during the industrialization of the 30s were partially destroyed. Those which remained, had been transported to the safe areas, and were very hard to get back to normal operation. Moreover all Soviet industries had been working for victory during the last 5 years and had to be set up to make civil goods and not tanks and munitions.
Soldiers were coming back home to find buildings demolished by bombs, houses burned down to ashes and roads with pavement torn apart by tank tracks. During the War 70 thousand of cities and towns were ruined across Soviet Union. And due to enormous causalities there were not enough strong men to recover. However Soviet people were facing the future with optimism - regular shortages (even famine in several parts of the country) and poor housing were still a lot better then muddy trenches and constant fear of death.

Let's build a zeppelin fleet for Lenin!

This poster was released in 1931 after the Airforce Ministry of Soviet Union (Osoaviahim) declared plans to build a fleet of 7+ huge zeppelins. This was inspired by 230m German LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin airship which landed in Moscow in 1930 after its long-range voyage around the world. Zeppelins were considered to be very advanced means of transportation, mainly because of its huge payload compared to small airplanes of the era. So a promotion compaign started: workers, factories, kolkhozy - all were to collect funds for the fleet. The fleet was to be named after Lenin (1870-1924), whose cult of personality was propagated at that time. Joint efforts paid off well - more than 25 mln of rubles were collected, resulting in building of several small experimental zeppelins and 4 big ones, which in 1932-1937 were transporting loads all over the country. However, rapid development of fast airplanes which proved to be an excellent weapon against sluggish zeppelins, condemned the project. The country was on the brink of war, Nazi Germany was declaring plans to invade Russia. The country needed more airplanes, battle tanks, war ships and cannonry. The Second World War was about to erupt.

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Beat the Whites with the red wedge, 1920

Beat the Whites with the red wedge, 1920
L.M. Lisitsky

Russian Civil War started in 1917 after the Bolsheviks seized power during the Russian October Revolution. At the moment Russian Empire was suffering internal contradictions and consequences of exhausting participation in World War 1. So when Russian Tzar Nicholas II was abducted the country split into two waging camps - Reds (Communists) and Whites (Monarchists). White was the color of the Russian Royal Family. The four-year war was bitter: it devastated the country economy and brought the young communist regime on the verge of destruction. Only fierce means like requisition of food from farmers and massive repressions allowed Bolsheviks to retain power.
Right after the Revolution Bolsheviks started altering all aspects of life - abolishing everything bourgeous and putting forward things for working class. One of the popular trends was Russian avant garde - a movement, which complemented well with the radical communist ideology.
The poster above is a masterpiece of the era. It was created by by El Lissitzky - one of the most notable artists, who took advantage of exploring the boundaries of art in that troubled time.

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Socially Dangerous, year unknown.
Alcohol addiction has always been a disaster in the Soviet Union. Tzar Petr the Great (1672-1725) who gave a powerful start to Russian trade and technological development also brought heavy drinking habits in culture. In the soviet period after the WW2 the overwhelming majority of Russians were socially protected with free education, medical services, fixed wages. But many of them could hardly self-actualize themselves due to total prohibition of private business. Alcohol became a joy and relief for many of them, resulting in low labor performance. So, various means of anti-alcohol propaganda came to life: theater plays, local organizations, posters. "Soberness" Magazine even published works by alcoholics, including "Moskva-Petushki" a poem by Venedikt Erofeev - unrecognized writer, who had great influence on the pre-perestroika society.

We strike the false shockworkers, 1931
Shockworkers are superproductive workers during the industrialization period of the Soviet Union History (1928-1932). Shockworkers were part of the Stakhanovite movement - an enthusiastic promotion campaign which was named after Aleksei Stakhanov, who had mined 102 tons of coal in less than 6 hours (reportedly, this was a PR-event). Nevertheless, the industrialization proved to be very successful, resulting in Russia becoming an industrial power.

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