How Posters Were Used
“No government in the world today is making such extensive use of poster propaganda as the soviet government of Russia."
Dr. Harold Willoughby, a University of Chicago professor, made this statement in a 1921 article on posters of the Russian Civil War. Willoughby was correct, political propaganda was everywhere in the Soviet Union and when Eastern Europe fell under the sphere of Soviet influence, poster propaganda became a fixture of Communist Bloc nations.
Political posters were on buildings and displayed in nearly every facility a person entered. Posters were also a form of political indoctrination. Repetition was key to reinforcement and posters often used slogans like, "Glory to Lenin!”, "Forward to Communism!", "Long Live the Great Soviet People!", to name a few. Posters were not randomly displayed, there was a formalized plan with rules on their implementation. A poster was to be easily observed, its messages quickly absorbed and its positioning calculated to reach the audience in the best manner possible.
Below are political posters photographed during the Soviet-era. All images were borrowed from websites and photo credits are accorded where applicable.
The People and the Party are One! Moscow, 1986
Credit Flickr member JTK 94131
Along Trans Siberian Railway, 1976
Credit Flickr member Janette Asche
Children crossing Decembrists' Square. Leningrad (St. Petersburg), 1983
Credit Flickr member Peter
Factory Poster, circa 1919
Credit image taken from Soviet photomontage catalog
Hungarian poster by the artist Gonczi. Photo circa 1957
Credit fortepan_5387
Soviet Union Russia. Leningrad (St. Petersburg), 1954
Credit Henri Cartier-Bresson photos
Posters by the artists Klutsis and Deni, U.S.S.R. Circa 1932
Credit pastvu.com
Lenin poster
Credit pikabu.ru
Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Jan 30, 1936
Credit Getty Images
Hotel Moskva, downtown Moscow, 1986, decorated with a propaganda poster for the 27th Congress of the CPSU
Credit Allrussias.com
Park in Zelenogorsk near Leningrad, 1963
Credit Flickr member Normann
In the town of Vladimir, a propaganda poster for the 27th Congress of the CPSU, 1986
Credit Flickr member Gerald Leonard
Peace Poster in Leningrad, May 1990
Credit Flickr member Normann
Perestroika Red Square May Day. May 1, 1989
Credit Flickr member Raymond Cunningham
Siberian railway station, 1976
Credit Flickr member Janette Asche
World War II in the U.S.S.R.
Credit Plakaty voiny i pobedy 1941-1945, Kontact Kul'tura 2005
World War II in the U.S.S.R.
Credit Plakaty voiny i pobedy 1941-1945, Kontact Kul'tura 2005
Soviet Union Red Cross Society, September 1951
Credit Soviet Union Red Cross Society Magazine
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