Russian Propaganda Posters Project

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda is a specific message aimed at influencing the opinions of people rather than convey the whole truth. Throughout history, propaganda had been used in areas of religions, politics, and economics. The following propaganda posters are examples of propaganda that I have chosen. These were used in the Russian Revolution to influence the general population of Russia to believe in what the government wanted the people to believe. By studying these propaganda posters, we can have more clues on to what the people of that time were thinking, were led to think, or what the government wanted the people to think. These posters represent ideas during that time. We can study these posters to conclude points as on what ideas led to which certain events in history that might follow.

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This picture portrays Stalin as your ordinary grandfather. Stalin was made to look nice and kind, yet somehow mesmerizingly wise and powerful. The poster wanted to make Stalin someone the people can look up to, a truely good leader. The poster also uses a lot of red as the background, making it instantly eye-catching. Red is also the color that symbolizes the revolution.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0651.jpg




This poster shows the words peace in many languages breaking a missile with the words "Made in USA" on it. This poster probably means that in order to achieve peace in Russia, people should stop using products made in the USA and instead support the country's own products. The poster is especially effective because of the use of colors and patterns. The contrasting colors white, blue, and red are eye-catching along with the big and creative style of fonts for the words.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1216a.jpg





This propaganda poster shows the different republics of Russia all united as one. The purpose of this poster is either to generate the idea that all of Russia is united, or similaryly, to encourage the different people of Russia to unite as one strong country. The poster conveys that very efficiently by the act of puting all the different flags together to form the shape of the sickle and the hammer, the symbols of the USSR. The poster also uses the primary colors and gold color, which gives a glow of royalty and value than the ordinary red and white posters you might find during that time.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0203.jpg




The picture of a woman protesting and the words "peace bread" (in Russian) on the top of the poster is an efficient way to create propaganda. This propaganda poster is probably trying to urge people to join the revolution. The woman in the poster is also wearing a shirt with the symbols of the revolution (if you observe carefully, there is a picture of the star, the sickle, and the hammer on it. it is also bright red, the color of the revolution). Vaguely behind the lady is a man cheering for the revolution also. In this, the audience can relate to the loyalty represented by the poster. This poster is an effective poster because of the realistic-looking people that is more understood to the audience than most of the posters during that time which mostly used simple symbols.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1233b.jpg





The details an audience should immediately note are a hand shaking in unity. In the background are the pictures of the globe, the sickle, the hammer, the star, and wheat grains. The hand and the unity encourages people of Russia to be united, so that Russia can become a world power. That is also represented by the symbols of the Soviet Union (hammer and sickle) on the globe. The wheat grains that support the star means that the farmers and workers are the supporters of the country. The poster is in black and white and atracts the attention of the audience with its glowing and warm message of unity and prosperity of the country as a whole.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1316.jpg





This poster is an excellent poster for promoting nationalism. The propaganda poster shows a loyal Soviet soldier paying respect to the red cloth, which is the symbol of the revolution. There are also many other symbols of the revolution scattered in the poster, such as two stars, a sickle, and a hammer in the background. The poster is eye-catchy because it uses solid colors to convey one big message that can be understood at a glimpse. The poster is also soothing to the eyes, and uses colors that contrast each other just about right.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1276.jpg

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From studying these posters, I can conclude that much time was given to influencing the support of the middle class and working people. For a revolution to happen, the support and trust of the population in general are valuable. These are gained through propaganda posters that tell you certain things. For example, the people was led to believe in Stalin, as most posters portray him as "superman." Also, it pressured the people into having a sense of nationalism and loyalty to the country. The poster promoted unity and led the people into thinking that it is their duty to help stage the revolution. And as the poster relates, the loyalty of the people to the revolution is a key in making Russia a world power.