Whether encouraging obedience or discouraging loose talk, these Soviet propaganda posters are masterpieces of manipulation.

Vasily Nikolaevich Kostianitsyn, 1920New York Public Library

Irakli Toidze, 1941

Dmitry Moor, 1920

Vyacheslav Frantsevich Utrimatisya, 1920Wikimedia Commons

Nina Vatolina, 1941

Valentina Kulagina, 1930

Aleksandr Petrovich Apsit, 1918 New York Public Library

Dmitry Moor, 1941

Gustavs Klucis, 1931Wikimedia Commons

Viktor Koretsky, 1942

Dmitry Moor, 1919

Nikolai Nikolaevich, 1919New York Public Library

Abel Anatolievich Lekomtsev, 1920Wikimedia Commons

1920Wikimedia Commons

Viktor Deni, 1920Wikimedia Commons

Alexei Radakov, 1920Wikimedia Commons

Dmitry Moor, 1920

Alexei Radakov, 1920Wikimedia Commons

Il'ja P. Makarychev, 1925

Vladimir Vasil'evich Lebedev, 1925New York Public Library

"The private peasants are most bestial, brutal and savage exploiters, who in the history of other countries have time and again restored the power of the landlords, tsars, priests and capitalists." [Top Text]
1930Wikimedia Commons

1927Wikimedia Commons

Victor Deni, 1930

1932Wikimedia Commons

Vyacheslav Francevich Strimaytis, 1941Wikimedia Commons

Alexei Kokorekin, 1943

1943

Viktor Ivanov, 1943

Viktor Ivanov, 1947Wikimedia Commons
Modern Soviet propaganda first appeared during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Used to promote the revolution and engender optimism for the new society, this propaganda also sought to attack opponents of Vladimir Lenin’s government, including the ruling class, landowning peasants, and anyone espousing competing communist ideologies.
At the time, very few newspapers were published and therefore propagandistic posters served as a primary means of communication. During the revolution, posters were sent to the front lines of communist opposition cities with the warning that “anyone who tears down or covers up this poster is committing a counter-revolutionary act”.
After the revolution, posters were commissioned from some of the biggest artists in the Soviet Union and encompassed many different revolutionary aesthetics in order to promote communist values related to hard work, fairness, and education.
With Joseph Stalin in charge by the late 1920s, Soviet propaganda began to focus more on political discipline and ambitious government programs, particularly the collectivization of land and establishment of industry.
In service of these aims, the government produced countless dynamic, somewhat abstract posters featuring bright colors and distinct shapes. However, this aesthetic was later replaced with one featuring more lifelike images. And always present were core communist symbols like the red star as well as the hammer and sickle.
With the onset of World War II, Soviet propaganda took on a new importance in rallying national support for the war effort and convincing eligible people to enlist.
Wartime aside, Soviet propaganda became a defining aspect of the nation's very culture, spreading the aesthetics, values, and lessons of the Soviet ideology throughout the nation and beyond.
Next, for more Russian propaganda posters, check out this gallery of Soviet posters from the Cold War. Then, check out these World War I posters that inspired much of modern propaganda.