The second poster that shows a Red soldier pointing at the viewer has a caption the reads “Have You Enrolled as a Volunteer?” in white writing at the bottom. In the top right corner, the word “You” is written in red letters. It was designed by Dmtiri Moor in 1920 during the last year of the Civil War. The purpose of this poster is to shame Russians into volunteering to join the Red Army in their fight against the Whites. This poster is quite useful to historians as it shows them the effectiveness of Moor’s propaganda and the simplistic style that he felt appealed to the people. It also shows them that posters directed straight at the viewer (in this case, the soldier is pointing at the viewer) can be an effective method of conveying the message. Apart from that, the poster aids historians in seeing that at the time of the Civil War, the Russian army was using volunteering as a method of recruitment rather than conscription.
ANALYSIS
The Bolsheviks conveyed two main ideas with their propaganda posters during the Civil War. Their propaganda either fuelled the peasants and the masses so as to gain support for the Reds and advance certain ideas, or it called on people to aid the Red cause in one way or another. “Have You Enrolled as a Volunteer?” by Moor is an example of propaganda that calls on Russian help; in this case, volunteers are being sought. Another piece of propaganda that originated in 1918 and showed Trotsky slaying the counter-revolutionary dragon was used to gain Red support and also to expand on the idea that the Bolsheviks were the saviors of Russia, crushing any counter-revolutionary force that opposed them.
Moor’s propaganda poster uses directness, simplicity and boldness all together to great effect. The poster uses only red and black colors and shows a simple soldier against an industrial background pointing his finger at the audience. This grabs attention. The bold word “you” in the top right corner draws the eyes towards the soldier, from where the eyes shift down to the caption of the poster; the caption reads “Have you enrolled as a volunteer?”. The industrial background symbolizes the start of a new era that the Bolsheviks have brought about with their revolution and this causes the poster to appeal to the audience even more because they now feel they have to defend this new and favorable change. The soldier himself can be seen as a very plain and simple man. This urges others to enroll as well, shaming them into doing so. It causes the question “If he can enroll, why can’t I?” to float within their minds. The need for the effectiveness of this poster was greatly emphasized by the fact that the Bolsheviks relied heavily on volunteering as a form of recruitment, compared to conscription.
Such propaganda as Moor’s is an effective method of conveying a message to an audience. Moor’s message here fits into the category of asking for the public’s help and support so that the Reds can strengthen their side. Moor asks of the Russians that they aid the Red Army by joining the army and defending what the Bolsheviks have worked so hard to accomplish, namely bring about a new industrial era in the Russians’ lives. It was during 1920, the time this poster was published, that the Russians were nearing the end of the Civil War. It was during 1920 that the Red Army needed the most support because it has almost reached its goal of defeating the Whites, and Moor needed to draw up a very effective poster to be able to persuade the Russians into volunteering. What complicated the matter was that Lenin’s War Communism as a policy had geared the entire economy towards the military’s needs, causing great discontent within Russia as the rest of the economy was suffering miserably. The Russian people were not very pleased with the Reds and this poster had to indeed be very effective and appealing to convey its message and have that message adhered to.
The poster depicting Trotsky slaying the dragon uses striking imagery to convey its message. In the poster, the dragon has the words “counter-revolution” written on it. It has also donned a black top hat, the symbol of capitalism. In stark contrast, Trotsky bears the hammer and sickle on his shield and is donned in red colors; these are both symbols of communism. Very strong imagery is employed as a tactic to grab the audience’s attention. Trotsky is seen on his white horse. The color white is usually associated with purity and peace, and in making Trotsky’s horse this color, he is also symbolized as a pure person with good intentions rescuing Russia from the counter-revolutionary force. Trotsky himself looks very similar to St. George, who was the savior of the Christians from an evil dragon. This appeals to the religious Russians, who constitute the majority of the Russian population, and again depicts Trotsky as a pure and of course heroic person. Trotsky is seen on his horse jumping out of fire and after slaying the dragon, into the stars. The fire is symbolizing hell under the Tsar’s rule, while the stars are a symbol of heaven, achieved under Bolshevik rule.
This poster falls under the category of propaganda that explains or furthers an idea and in doing so increases Bolshevik support. Trotsky, the People’s Commissar of War and leader of the Red Army at the time had just slain the counter-revolutionary dragon and liberated Russia from the Tsarist regime. This poster tries mainly to show that the Bolsheviks are the saviors of Russia and in the process it wishes to amass more support. The poster itself is quite effective as it uses appealing imagery, especially for the Russians at that time. The religious symbols used are widely understood across Russia no matter what dialect of Russian is spoken and regardless of the fact of illiteracy, in many cases. It was important for such a poster to be published at the time, because the Bolsheviks were coming fresh from overthrowing the Provisional Government. The Russian people were still confused as to which side to be on, and this poster reassured millions that the Bolsheviks were the side to support. Having this support at the start of the Civil War was crucial because it meant that the Reds had some support and could hopefully build on that, whereas the Whites had to struggle to gain any support they could get.
CONCLUSION
During the Civil War, from 1918 to 1920, the Bolsheviks used a great amount of propaganda. This propaganda can be categorized in two groups, meaning that any propaganda that the Bolsheviks created either presented a new idea or expanded on a previous one and in the process gained public support, or it asked for the help of the public so that the Bolsheviks could defeat the Whites. The types of posters used were also quite effective, using a blend of striking imagery, simplicity, directness and boldness to convey their message. The imagery and directness of Bolshevik propaganda made sure that the messages stayed inside the audience’s minds for many years to come.
Bibliography
International Poster Gallery. 1998. December 5, 2004. www.internationalposter.com
K. Knight. New Advent. 2004. December 12, 2004. www.newadvent.org/
Octagon Multimedia. Mosaic Perspectives on Western Civilization. No date posted.
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Pearson Education. Fact Monster. 2000. December 12, 2004. www.factmonster.com
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