Leningrad is calling up
Unknown artist, 1930
The telegraph tape stuck to the poster says (note the absence of punctuation marks):
ATTENTION EVERYBODY
THE WORKERS OF LENINGRAD FACTORIES
FULFILL THE FIVE YEAR PLAN ON
MAIN PRODUCTS
IN THREE YEARS
PROLETARIAT OF THE UNION
FOLLOW THE CITY OF LENIN
The background of the poster is occupied by the silhouette of Lenin with his famous gesture, showing the way to the bright future. He stands behind a massive red factory building; its workers standing in front of it, with their hands rose as if they are openly voting for the message on the tape.
Saint Petersburg was capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1712-1728, 1732-1918). In 1914 it was named Petrograd, as Saint Petersburg sounded too German. In 1917 it became the heart of Bolshevik’s uprising during which the city workers assaulted the Winter Palace (the Tsars’ residence). The city's proximity to anti-Soviet armies forced Vladimir Lenin to move his government to Moscow on March 5, 1918. Three days after Lenin’s death Petrograd was renamed Leningrad and remained until 1991, when the original name was restored to kill its connotation with the Soviet times.
Check masterpieces from Hermitage (Saint Petersburg), the biggest museum of Russia:
