PUR (Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Military Council), Decorative-Studio and Art Department

PUR (Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Military Council) was organized in May 1919 after the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars (VBVK) was abolished. PUR was formed to manage the Party’s political work in the Red Army and Red Navy. Its artistic component was formed out of the artist's section of the Political Department of the RVSR (Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic) that also was abolished in 1919. According to historian Francesco Benvenuti, PUR, “…was beset with difficulties of internal coordination, in particular between the divisional and higher levels.” PUR became a powerful, political arm inside the USSR's military system even though it was considered a bureaucratic megalith in the nation's government. In the late 1980s, Soviet servicemen complained about the effectiveness of PUR, and the need for it to be re-organized in a democratic way. President Mikhail Gorbachev abolished PUR in 1991.