PUR (Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Military Council) was organized in May 1919 after the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars (VBVK) was abolished. In turn, the Political Section of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) was renamed PUR. It was formed (in part) to manage the Party's political work in the Red Army and Navy. To this end, PUR also operated printing and publishing departments tasked with disseminating political literature and information.

The Literary and Publishing Department of the Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (R.V.S.R.) of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was also known as Litizdat in its portmanteau form. As a major publishing arm of the Red Army, Litizdat distributed 7.5 million posters, postcards and lubok-styled images from 1919 to 1922. Also see the publisher Litizdat.