Russian Propaganda Posters

What is a Propaganda?
A propaganda is a way to spread one's idea into the media (newspaper, television, radio) to promote a doctrine, ideology, or practice. Most of the time, propagandas don't allow people to think for themselves. Instead, they tell people things to believe and act. Because of this, propagandas usually contain informations that are untrue and will not benefit the people, but instead benefit the propagandists. By studying propagandas, we can learn how people in the past think and how and how they try to convince others to think in the same way.

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Workers to Arms! You are needed by the Red Army, 1920

(www.internationalposter.com/ru-text.cfm)

This poster shows a red army soldier playing a trumpet with a red bow tied to it. The soldier is trying to get attention from people so that more people will support and join the red army. The message of this poster is that the red army needs support from the people, and that they should support the red army because idea of communism will benefit everyone. People needed to support and join the red army to make sure that Russia will be a communist country. The background shows a scene from the war, with red being the background color. The use of red color in the background captures people's attentions. Red also represents communist, so it is everywhere in the picture - the soldier's hat and the bow tied to the trumpet. The red color is very effective in this poster. It shows exactly which side the soldier is in, and what the group support.

(http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0651.jpg)

This poster shows Stalin as a fine leader, with good will to his country. He is holding a newspaper in his hands, which makes him look like he works really hard. The message of the poster is that people have to support Stalin. The poster wants people to think that Stalin is a very nice guy and will be an excellent leader for Russia. The use of red color in the background captures attention well. It also symbolizes communism. The portrait of Stalin dressed nicely is very effective in making people believe that he is a splendid leader whom everyone should support.

Fight lazy workers! 1931

(www.internationalposter.com/ru-text.cfm)

This poster shows three workers doing their work. The triangle in the middle shows small clock. I think this clock represents the hours that the workers had to work. The workers were very tired, so they tried to hammer the clock. The message of the poster is that the workers had to spend all day working. They were very tired. However, the government during the time is a communist, so there were many of them who were lazy to work. The government was trying to make these lazy ones work harder. This poster is very effective in showing how hard the workers had to work when there was a time limit.

Remember, love and study Lenin, 1954

(www.internationalposter.com/ru-text.cfm)

This poster shows a writing which states that everyone should love and study Lenin. The message of the poster is that Lenin's ideas are always good for Russia, so everyone should love and support Lenin. The layout of the writing is similar to a letter. It symbolizes the way people in Russia were made to believe propagandas. The letter is written to the population of Russia, and the people were told, in the letter, to support Lenin. The frame of the writing is also in red, the communist color. The letter format is very effective to show that people were told to support Lenin.

How have you helped the FRONT? 1940

(www.internationalposter.com/ru-text.cfm)

This picture shows a soldier in red. The gun he is holding creates a feeling of fearfulness. The message of this poster is that a lot of people didn't care about the war. It is trying to get people to join the army in 1940. The soldier is pointing at us, making the people feel that they had to join the army. The color of this poster is, again, red, so it is very effective in catching attention. The soldier is dressed all in red. In addition, the factory in the background is also in red.

Long live the Communist Councils!, 1921

(www.internationalposter.com/ru-text.cfm)

This poster shows a man holding a red banner saying 'Long Live the Communist Councils!'. He is the leader of the army. The message of the poster is that communism is the best way to rule a country. The poster is trying to gain more support from the people. The use of red color on the banner symbolizes communism. The leader is effective in convincing people to believe in communism because he was the leader of the whole army, so what he thought was good should be the best for everyone.

Most of these posters show how the government supported communism. This is because during the period, Russia is a communist country. The posters show that the Russian government needed more people to support them. A lot of people still didn't believe in the government, so propagandas were used as a tool to gain support from the people.

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