PP 756 | Poster Plakat

Holiday of the anniversary of the Red Army. February 23, 1919. Day of the Red Gift. Believe! Believe victoriously and joyfully in the celebration of the red feast! And you will enter the promised, radiant door of a new world. [Partial translation]

**Poster Number:** PP 756

**Category:** Military

**Poster Notes:** Poster highlights the first anniversary of the Red Army; The Council of People’s Commissars founded the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA) by decree on January 15, 1918 at the behest of Vladimir Lenin. On January 29, a similar decree formed the Red Navy. In April, compulsory military training was instituted by the Bolsheviks and this solidified the cadres that ultimately became the full-fledged army of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In February 1918, a large-scale Red Army draft took place. Henceforth, February 23 was recognized as the Red Army's formation date. From April to June in 1919, all republic-based military commands and independent military formations aiding the Bolsheviks were ordered to confirm with the Red Army of the RSFSR. This aided in the creation of a national army when the USSR was formed in 1922. In 1946, the Red Army name was changed in favor of the Soviet Army.

**Media Size:** 44.5х31

**Poster Type:** Lithograph

**Publishing Date:** 1919

**Sources & Citation:** Soviet Posters of the era of the Civil War 1918-1921 by B. S. Butnik-Siverskii (1960), page 302, poster 1590; *Unbreakable Union*. S. Gusarevich, Soviet Military Review. No. 2, Feb. 1962. PP. 38-40; Compulsory Military Training in Seventeen Moments in Soviet History; britannica.com (Red Army bio)

**Catalog Notes:** PP 756 Military b

Artist: Artist Unknown — неизвестный художник

The artist's name on the poster is not indicated. By assigning Artist Unknown to a poster it also could mean the artist used a chop mark whereby no signature is seen thus rendering the artist's identity anonymous.

Holiday of the anniversary of the Red Army. February 23, 1919. Day of the Red Gift. Believe! Believe victoriously and joyfully in the celebration of the red feast! And you will enter the promised, radiant door of a new world. [Partial translation]