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Propagandopolis

@propagandopolis

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Propaganda, graphics, cartoons, war art and more.⁣
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📕 Propagandopolis the book, out with @fuelpublishing on 10 October.

We've collected together propaganda from the Russo-Japanese War to the present, including classics posted here as well as previously unpublished posters, pamphlets, postcards, stamps and all the rest.

Thanks very much to Fuel for all the work they've done on this, good to be able to share finally!

Pieces included here:

‘Russian Bears versus Rising Sun’, a Japanese postcard from 1905.

A mural photographed in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2002 showing Che Guevara, Saddam Hussein, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Muammar Gaddafi.

'The enemy sees your light! Blackout!’ A German poster from 1942 showing death riding a bomber.

A promotional poster for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in Pyongyang in 1989.

Students at the Academy of Arts in Leningrad paint a massive portrait of Stalin ahead of May Day celebrations, 1934.

An American poster mock-up from the Second World War showing American, Soviet, British and Chinese soldiers marching forward with soldiers of the United Nations behind.

A Chinese poster (1964) showing climbers summiting Mount Everest, carrying with them the national flag, a copy of the Little Red Book and a bust of Mao. by @propagandopolis

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‘Interkosmos 78’ — Polish poster published to celebrate the joint Polish-Soviet Soyuz 30 mission in 1978.

The mission saw Polish cosmonaut Mirosław Hermaszewski travel to the Salyut 6 space station on 27 June as part of the Interkosmos program, which facilitated joint Soviet space missions with cosmonauts from communist and Soviet-aligned nations. Hermaszewski spent eight days in space, becoming the first and, until last year, only Polish citizen to travel to space.

The first poster shows (I believe) the Salyut 6 station with a Soyuz spacecraft docked, the Polish and Soviet flags in its trail as it travels in orbit. Unknown designer.

The second shows the Polish and Soviet flags as one, designed by Antoni Cetnarowski.

The third shows cosmonaut Hermaszewski with text reading ‘The First Pole in Space’. Designed by Andrzej Pągowski. taken in Poland by @propagandopolis

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‘Free yourself’ — German-produced poster published in Croatia during the Second World War (1943) showing Jewish, Communist and British-American hands ensnaring a Croatian family.

The poster was published by the German Propaganda Staffel Kroatien (PSK, Propaganda Squadron Croatia), which produced propaganda material during the war in the Independent State of Croatia. The full text reads: ‘Free yourself ... From the forces that want to drag you away from peaceful work, home, and homeland. They bring you only ruin, misery, famine, and perpetual chaos!’

The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was created in April 1941 following the Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The state was Axis-aligned, existing as a satellite and puppet state, and was governed by the ultranationalist Ustaše, which organised the mass murder of Serbs, Jews and Roma. Much of the propaganda produced in the NDH depicted the Allies as the masters of the Yugoslav Partisans supposedly trying to destroy Croatia.

(Posted for educational purposes) taken in Croatia by @propagandopolis

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American illustrations published in The Masses magazine, 1913-14.

The Masses was a radical socialist and anti-war magazine published in the US from 1911-1917. Published monthly, it was amply illustrated with designs and caricatures attacking capitalism, militarism and the clergy. Following the US’ entry into the First World War, its anti-war activities drew the attention of the authorities and the magazine was forced to close in 1917. It would be revived 1926 with The New Masses.

One of the magazine’s best-known illustrators was Art Young, who produced several of the illustrations included here. Young worked for The Masses from its founding in 1911 and was indicted with several of its editors in 1917. He would go on to work for the similarly radical magazine The Liberator as well as The New Masses.

The first is by Young and was published on the cover of the April 1913 issue. Titled ‘April Fool’, it shows a capitalist baiting a worker with a ‘Raise in Wages’ while sitting atop a pyramid titled ‘High Cost of Living’.

The second is an anti-clerical cartoon titled ‘Design for a Pulpit’. Designed by Morris Hall Pancoast for the August 1914 issue, it shows a priest at his money bag pulpit, supported by the poor underneath. The cartoon seems to have illustrated a short article about a church’s opposition to unions in Colorado.

The third is an anti-capitalist cartoon by Young showing a colossal capitalist eating a fruit, with a character representing ‘Labor’ below getting some drops. Published in the August 1913 issue, the caption reads: ‘He hands over the fruit of his toil on a silver platter, and then gets about one eighth of the juice’.

The fourth is titled ‘The Hero of the Factory Fire’ and shows a capitalist rescuing a woman labelled ‘Insurance Policy’ from the fire, with bodies and rubble behind. Designed by John Sloan for the September 1913 issue, the illustration refers to the 1913 Binghamton Factory fire in New York, which killed 31 workers.

(Continued in comments) by @propagandopolis

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North Korean posters celebrating the anniversary of Lenin’s birth.

The first here was published in 1960, celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of Lenin’s birth. The poster shows North Korean workers riding on horseback with Lenin’s portrait behind. I believe the text on the flag reads: ‘Towards socialism!’

The second was published in 1970 for the centenary of Lenin’s birth. The poster was designed by Pak Sang-rak and published in April 1970 by the Workers’ Party of Korea Publishing House, with the text reading: ‘100th anniversary of Lenin’s birth’.

The third was also published in 1970 and shows Lenin above some of his books, namely ‘The State and Revolution’, ‘Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism’ and ‘Collected Works’. taken in Pyongyang, DPRK by @propagandopolis

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German antisemitic cartoon from the Second World War (1940) accusing the British press of being Jewish-controlled.

The cartoon was drawn by Oskar Garvens for the cover of Kladderadatsch magazine (7 January 1940) and shows a British woman wearing a copy of The Times newspaper, which in the reflection reads as ‘Semit’ while the woman appears in Jewish caricature. The text at the bottom reads: ‘The Times makes an embarrassing discovery’. The cartoon was also republished elsewhere (notably as a propaganda leaflet, see second slide) with the caption ‘War-Times’ and an ‘e’ added to ‘Semit’ for the English speaking audience.

Germany, and especially Kladderadatsch, produced a great deal of propaganda accusing the British and American press of being Jewish-controlled during the war and through the 1930s.

(Posted for educational purposes) taken in Germany by @propagandopolis

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Soviet anti-NATO cartoon (1969) showing the word ‘NATO’ transforming into a Nazi eagle perched on top of an atomic bomb. The cartoon was drawn by Vladimir Dobrovolsky for a January 1969 issue of Krokodil magazine - issue No. 2.

During the Cold War, Krokodil (and Soviet propaganda more broadly) regularly condemned West German rearmament and the country’s integration into NATO. This cartoon may have been published in response to West Germany’s hesitation to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Critics in the West German government feared the treaty could permanently restrict the country’s nuclear options, while the government also sought assurances that it would not undermine existing NATO nuclear arrangements. Dobrovolsky obviously depicts this hesitation as a secret desire to acquire nuclear weapons.

The cartoon included a poem reading:

Who he is, this “black Adler [eagle]”, People have not forgotten... Once again, beneath NATO’s wing, He is spreading his wings.

Having gathered strength in NATO, He longs, quietly and without pomp, To conceal beneath his own wing An atomic bomb.

(Posted for educational purposes) by @propagandopolis

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Lebanese illustration showing Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser as the sun above soldiers, 1960s.

The illustration was published on the cover of a special supplement to Al-Muharrir newspaper celebrating the anniversary of the 23 July Revolution of 1952, when Nasser participated in the overthrow King Farouk as part of the Free Officers Movement. He would become President in 1956.

Text at the top right reads ’23 July’ and at the top left ‘Al-Muharrir - A special supplement on the immortal revolution’. Al-Muharrir seems to have been established in 1962. It was a Nasserist publication, aligned with the wider Arab nationalist movement and progressive left. It also promoted the Palestinian cause, having a supplement titled Filastin (Palestine) which was edited by Ghassan Kanafani.

(A note: the eBay listing that this image comes from states that this publication comes from Egypt, but I’m pretty certain it’s the Lebanese Al-Muharrir - correct me if I’m wrong) taken in Lebanon by @propagandopolis

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American Catholic cartoons from The Tablet newspaper, 1938.

The first here shows a man representing ‘Religion’ wielding the sword of ‘Truth’ to protect the world from Communism, Materialism and Secularism. Titled ‘Real Protection for the Home’.

The second shows the same character as a colossal figure breaking the ‘Barrier of Misunderstanding Between Races and Nations’.

The third was published for Thanksgiving and shows Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty together, the latter shown sweeping away characters representing ‘Radicals’ and ‘isms’.

The fourth shows a boy protecting himself from ‘Immortality’ and ‘Filth’ with a shield reading ‘Legion of Decency’. The Catholic Legion of Decency had been founded 1934 to protest explicit content in films and other media.

The fifth shows characters preparing to load the gun of ‘Religion’ to fight off ‘Unemployment’, ‘Long Hours’, ‘Starvation Wages’, ‘Materialism’, ‘Irreligion’, ‘Revolutionists’ and ‘Exploitation’. The shells are labelled ‘Charity’, ‘Social Justice’, ‘Peace’, ‘Living Wage’ and ‘Collective Bargaining’.

The Tablet was founded in 1908 as a weekly Catholic newspaper, published in Brooklyn, New York. It would become one of the country’s largest Catholic newspapers, being an important voice in cultural and political debates in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Common ‘villains’ appear in the newspaper’s cartoons from the era, including the Communism, Material and Secularism (or Irreligion) shown here, as well as Nazism and, later, ‘Race Hate’. taken in Brooklyn, New York by @propagandopolis

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‘Democracy fully armed’ — Soviet anti-American illustration from Krokodil magazine, 1985.

Designed by Evgeny Milutka for an April 1985 issue of the magazine, the illustration shows a policeman equipped with various weapons and equipment, which are labelled:

Gun: ‘For civil rights activists’

Baton: ‘For strikers’

Tank on his back: ‘For anti-war protests’

Brass knuckles: ‘For people of colour’ (literally ‘For the coloured’)

Syringes: ‘For dissidents’

On wallet: ‘For strikebreakers’

(Thanks very much to Rhinocero_Elephantid for posting this on the propaganda posters subreddit) taken in Moscow, Russia by @propagandopolis

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German caricatures of Trotsky published during his downfall in the USSR, 1927-28.

The first, showing Trotsky being attacked by red wolves, is by Thomas Theodor Heine and is captioned: ‘Lucky Lenin! You’re their saint - while they’re eating me alive!’ The second, which shows Trotsky surrounded by bayonets, is by Wilhelm Schulz and is captioned: ‘The rifles are always the same - only the victims change’.

Trotsky had been expelled from the Politburo - the Communist Party’s highest executive body - in 1926 following years of disputes with Stalin. He would be expelled from the Communist Party in 1927 and shortly after sent into internal exile in Kazakhstan before his final expulsion from the Soviet Union in early 1929. Over the following decade, Soviet propaganda demonised Trotsky and his followers, the ‘Trotskyites’, as conspirators and even allies of fascism.

Both were published on the cover of Simplicissimus magazine. Simplicissimus was a famous satirical magazine and not truly ‘partisan’ in the 1920s, ridiculing all parties and political movements, so these are better described as satirical cartoons rather than propaganda. Simplicissimus became more overtly propagandistic following the Nazis’ seizure of power in 1933.

Interestingly, Trotsky had read and written about Simplicissimus some twenty years earlier, while an emigre in Vienna. He wrote a lengthy review of the magazine, discussing its history, art style and place in contemporary German culture. He even mentions Heine by name: ‘Heine … He is the supporting pillar of the magazine, the founder of the whole school’.

The first cartoon was published on the 21 November 1927 issue, the second 15 October 1928. taken in Germany by @propagandopolis

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‘For Iran, I place my life in the bow’ — Iranian design displayed on a billboard in Tehran’s Vanak Square during the conflict with Israel in June 2025.

The design shows Arash the Archer, a character from Persian mythology, firing his bow while missiles fly behind him. The text reads in full: ‘For Iran, I place my life in the bow; the arrows of Arash split the sky.’ In mythology, Arash is best known for being the archer whose arrow set the border between Iran and neighbouring Turan. Following a war between the two, a peace agreement stipulated that Iran’s borders will stretch as far as an arrow flies: an angel grants Arash divine strength and he fires the arrow a great distance, expanding Iran’s borders. In some versions of the myth, Arash dies as a result of the shot, hence ‘I place my life in the bow’.

The final slide shows a photo of an Arash sculpture in Tehran’s Sa’dabad Complex, which houses a park, museums and art galleries.

This design was apparently commissioned and produced by the Owj Arts and Media Organization, a cultural organisation associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (or IRGC). Owj has produced many similar designs for display in Tehran’s squares. The artist for this one is named as Rouhollah Mokhtari in a post on Owj’s Telegram channel.

(Posted for educational purposes) taken in Tehran, Iran by @propagandopolis

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