The Russian Revolution started in 1917, It is also called the Bolshevik Revolution, It played a really important role in world history. There were actually two revolutions at that time, the fist one was called the February Revolution where the Russians were losing to the Germans due to their lack of modern industry; they did not have a sufficient railroad system for supplies. The majority of the Russians at that time were poor and struggling to survive. In 1905 the revolution broke out, due to the war food supplies were very low, unemployment was high, and the price rises were out of control. Due to all of these circumstances many workers became politicized and joined revolutionary organizations that is known as soviets. Soviets consolidate their power after Tsar was overthrown and replaced by a provisional government, which took power. The second revelation that is called The October revolution, which was led by Vladimir Lenin. It was a time where they struggled for power and the rise of the Bolsheviks. Russia was still doing badly in the war, the provisional government was not helping them at all, they began arresting radicals they returned radical prisoners and shut down radical newspapers. The Bolshevik organized workers, peasants, and soldiers. They felt that Russia should make peace with Germany and get out of war as soon as possible. On October 25th pro-Bolshevik soldiers, sailors, and red guards arrested members of the provisional government and Stormed winter palace. Bolsheviks got handed the majority of seats in the day of the election, which immediately lead them to Civil war with the White guard volunteer army. Latvian troops were helping the Bolsheviks defeat the white guard volunteer army. The Bolsheviks overthrew provisional Government, and finally the civil war came to an end. During the civil war and early 1920s many posters, portraits, and other visual displays heroized Leon Trotsky who is the leader of the red army, whose reputation was improved by Vladimir Lenin, after Vladimir Lenin’s death Leon Trotsky’s position in the Bolshevik pantheon refused quickly and in the early 1929 Trotsky had been expelled from the country.
Posters were made before the Russian revolution; in 1906 they were produced in Russia. The leader of the Bolsheviks Vladimir Lenin is the first one who created a truly modern propaganda machine that was colorful and original in form of posters.
Lenin was the one who pushed Russia to win and he promised in a lot in return. It was through poster art that the greatest artists asked for support, complained about their needs, announced government policies, and demanded greater hard work, all with the goal of building Soviet power. Posters had a huge impact on the population. Most posters at the time of the war were either attacking the government or asking to eliminate illiteracy and to improve health care. Posters were cheap and easily transported than any other way, they became an everyday part of the average citizen’s life. Posters were really powerful at that time it encouraged the citizens, it had an energetic impression by using photomontage, compositions with diagonal lines, and strong contrasts and shapes. The first soviet poster was about world war one and the civil war. Posters were outshined by extraordinary designs of the soviet era. The early Soviet poster was outstanding for its revolutionary fervor and powerful symbolism;
it was produced at the time of the Bolshevik era in 1917, where it was a time of life and death for the Bolshevik beliefs. The wartime posters recycled visual themes and devices and one of these posters was an image of sweeping enemies away with a broom, it was published in 1920, and quite a few artists made the same idea of sweeping away the enemies during World War II. In 1921 Deni recycled his own work as well, showing a capitalist stuck by lightening in form of words, then he recycled a poster to show how the revolution wrecked everything in Russia. Then again Deni and Dolgorukov made another version where he had Stalingrad with a fat fascist struck by a sword like stabbing blade in a form of lightening strike. In 1921-1927 there was a period of recovery and freedom for the country, a period called the new economic policy,
posters were made and called "Roaring Twenties”, and they were incredible for their avant-garde Constructivist style. In 1930 constructivist styles fell from grace and critics stated that it was unrealistic and too difficult to understand, therefore; constructivist designers experienced a lot of difficulties, the only thing that was approved from the critics was the socialist realism. In some political posters the use of nonhuman creatures stumbled upon greeting from viewers, Though V.Vert criticized the political artists in 1931, which symbolized enemies as monkeys, frogs, crocodiles, and such animals declared that the superficial symbolism of these images hides the political essence of class conflict, other critics were more sympathetic. Ivanonv made four frame posters and each and one of them had a text in a verse, it tells a story of a “baba” and her friends who found soldiers sleeping in a barn with a group of the red army soldiers that proceeded to take the prisoners while threatening them with grenades. At the great patriotic war, which was at year 1939-1945, the soviet resisted for survival that forced a return to symbolism that admired the patriotic fires of the heartland.
Bibliography:
- Victoria, E. (1999). Tcon ography of power: soviet political posters under Lenin and Stalin. California: university of California press.
- White, S. (1988). The Bolshevik Poster, New Heaven: Yale university Press.
- Hingley, R. (1996). Russia a concise history. London: Themes & Hudson.
- Ross, S. (2002). Russian Revolution. London: Evans Brothers.
