Russian Propaganda Poster Weblog Project

Introduction:
During the 20th century, there are many media things that are trying to motivate us by persuading things that they want us to believe. These media objects could have been as neither large as televisions or even as small as brochures nor thin as flyers. In Russia, propagandas are very common and could be found often deep inside Russia’s history. The word propaganda means information that could be spread quickly to harm someone or even an organization. They usually involve the need of support where these media would only show one significant side of the message. Posters were very common and they are all biased because they all contained only one side of the perspective to make us believe in what they say. For an example, in Thailand, it could be said that most people love and admire the King as if he is our father. There is only one dominant slogan that is most famous around the country. This quote, “เรารักในหลวง”, means “We love the King”. It gives support to inform the King that his civilians love him. It also persuades people to love the King more than they used to because from what the population will see as they step out their front doors, it is everywhere. Stickers containing that slogan on peoples’ cars, popular yellow shirt on Mondays; yellow rubber wrist bands, clips and pins on peoples’ clothing, or even big billboards down the highways. It is just everywhere and would advertise through schools, media, or even governments. So to continue on with propaganda, this blog entry will educate and give real examples based on posters about propaganda. It will give a clearer view in different perspective views and will hopefully make you understand.

Stop and punish harshly the lovers of the unearned rouble! (Rouble is the Russian monetary unit)

http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0530.jpg

In this poster, it refers to ordinary civilians especially lazy ones. This might be the time when Stalin took over and introduced the idea of working with the communist system where workers would have to send in their profits then it would be shared equally to others around the country. This would create problems for hard workers because with all their hard work that they had done, the profits would be partially eaten by lazy workers who don’t do anything all day. Then more and more workers would think the same idea and everyone would start to work less.
I think that this poster’s message is to catch and punish the lazy ones. The word punish could be translate into exile or even death punishment. This poster will definitely want the people to be involve in helping to catch ones who don’t deserve their roubles. In the other hand, I think they want the people to work hard so that they would not be punished. The poster also included a caption at the top-right corner. It said, “Stop and punish harshly the lovers of the unearned rouble!” What is boldly effective about this poster is that it contains a big giant strong arm which is squeezing the people’s arm. The red arm may also symbolizes the way of being work in a communism society. In my opinion, I think that this poster gives support to the poor workers who worked hard but didn’t get their efforts all back. So therefore, I think that this poster is very effective upon the people of Russia.

The border police's german shepherd-/ is a sympathetic dog/ I am her friend-/ I can pat her and pet her/ but I am sure that she will be nasty to any enemies

http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0527.jpg

This poster was one of the most common posters for children. It is totally brain-washing and contain untruth. The message of this poster would be to obey the laws obediently. It would try to get people to understand that these dogs are totally friendly to the Russian people. But in the truth, the real purpose is to catch its own people and civilians that would attempt to escape USSR by the woods where these border dogs would be nasty to its enemies. Stalin might want this poster to work so that he can catch people who would actually attempt to transfer themselves to neighboring countries. It conveys it message by giving the dog a cute friendly look. Also, the police is just a child which cannot be possibly as harm as real brutal officers. What was effective about this poster is that it is like a mouse trap. This will clear out most of the people who felt insecure or hatred to their homeland, Russia.

The blame of Stalin and his closest co-workers is immense and unforgivable. He betrayed the Party and the nation. He committed massive repressions and crimes.

http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0351c.jpg

In this poster, it contained the view of what the majority of the population might think, or even suffered. The message of this poster is that Stalin is really harsh and violent. This poster totally opposes Stalin because it shows all the violent punishments and acts that he had done towards his own people. The Russian quote on this poster also stated that Stalin betrayed his closes co-workers, the Party, and even the nation. This poster would try to get people think that Stalin is very evil and that he does not deserve to be in charge of Russia. The poster deeply conveys its sadly depressed message by showing a lot of people through the pictures include. In my opinion, I think that the bottom picture is visualizing what is actually inside that train. The truth is its own people who are being sent to Siberia up north. In fact, many had died during the journey because of hunger, cold weather, and there’s less oxygen. What was effective about this poster is that the pictures are so well drawn that you can see the sad faces of everyone on this poster no matter where they are. This poster’s effectiveness would result anger and hatred towards Stalin.

Be on guard at all times It is a police officer. The sign on the car says: POLICE.

http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/222.htm

In this poster, it shows a fully dressed Russian police officer with his vehicle beside him. At the back shows a city view. This might be at the capital city, Petrograd in which it would be the most modern and busy back in those days. I think that the poster’s message is that oppositions would be put down brutally so don’t dare to think of opposing any of Russia’s leaders. Instead of persuading people to do things, this poster is opposite in which it wants people to stop creating oppositions towards the officials especially the leader. It will also want to get the civilians to think that the Russian police are very fast, brutal, and modern where they will use technology to fight back all the revolts. It conveys its message by showing an officer fully dressed. This officer is also wearing a brown belt where a gun might possibly be carried with him at all times. The police car also gives credit to police officers that they are fast, modern, and might be willing to do anything to stop anything protests nor large revolts. According the police man’s face, he looks fit and ready for any possible things that could occur anytime. Lastly, the logo on the car’s front door appeared as it is a communism sign. To conclude this poster, I think it would be effective against their own civilians because they will be scared and afraid of the harsh looks of officers no matter where they are.

Lenin. October. Power to soviets. Peace to the nations. Land to peasants. Factories to workers.

http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0406.jpg

This poster contains Lenin and the communist icon which a red theme. Vladimr Ilyich Lenin who is standing there looking very loyal seems to be very commanding. This illustration of Vladimr Ilyich Lenin brought up the moment when he is saying the quote, “Peace, Land, and Bread” The poster’s message is to work hard and listen to Lenin. Lenin is a great person. To translate the meaning of the Russian caption, it means “October. Power to soviets. Peace to the nations. Land to peasants. Factories to workers” This means after the communist revolution (October Revolution) the power will be belonged to the Soviets, WW1 would be ended, land would be returned and distributed throughout the people, and factories would be given back to workers in which they had just returned from the war. It would try to get the people to think that Lenin’s communist rule would be best for the peoples’ future. It conveys this message be using the standing out dominant red colors that relates to communism. What was very effective was the saying of what Lenin said in the poster. “Power to soviets. Peace to the nations. Land to peasants. Factories to workers” It would persuade people to think that communism will work best.

The real weight of peace / The real weight of peace

http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0332.jpg

This poster may look very simple but its message is very meaningful. A pigeon is well known as a symbol for peace. These two objects, an old handgun and an ordinary pigeon symbolize the real weight of peace. The message is not stating that this bird is heavy or fat but instead, it shows how hard peace could earn. The pigeon is sitting on a barrel of the gun and as you can see, the barrel is bending down due to the fact that the bird is heavy. But when the bird is equal to peace, it means that peace is really heavy and that is how it conveys its message. The red background symbolizes that it is in a communist environment. What was totally effective about this cool design poster is that it showed how the gun’s barrel was bended. I hope that the barrel is not that flexible. To conclude this poster’s propaganda, it is hard to earn peace in communism. In reality many of the Russians did not earn their peace.

Conclusion:
To conclude about propaganda, I think it’s a very interesting source where you can learn a lot about what others think or had suffered from. We can learn point of views, get their believes, and explore their motivations. These posters also teach problems so that we don’t make any repeating mistakes. All these knowledge could be found in propaganda posters where they have their own objective in advertising their believes to us. It will always contain untruth and is biased. Propaganda is very popular and common to find in days of the Russian revolution. For example, the communist party used propaganda to sell out and promote themselves for their own benefits. These posters could be anywhere no matter where you stand in Russia. It can also trick many certain ages such as the 2nd poster of my selection. The dog would attract children to believe in what they want them to believe. Propaganda can also be found not just in posters but in many different kinds of media types. People and civilians will definitely be affected by these media because it’s part of their daily life entertainments. Without propaganda, the Russian revolution would be very different because if there are no propagandas, there are no many kinds of views and ideas resulting less violence, hatred, punishments, and protests.

Main Source: http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/

I hope you learn more about propaganda and how it was used in real life examples and I also hope you enjoyed this blog entry!

Weblog Project: 1960-1969

Important People #1 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most respectful and influential person in history. He was awarded with 20 doctor degrees by famous universities in United States and others from outside. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite the fact of his background and education, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had form and set up an organization called The Southern Christian Leadership Conference which gave him and primary privilege and honor in order to act out and read his feelings towards the community. Martin Luther King Jr. had written numerous, uncountable, variety speeches to express the meaning of equality of all people. He started his campaigns in the South first and then later on moved inwards the mainland into large cities like Washington DC. His objective is to gain more rights for the black-colored people peacefully. Taylor Branch had stated that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. although died at an young age of 39, he carried a heart that is 60 years old. This simplifies the meaning of King’s stress that he had passed by like hard obstacles fighting for equality for the blacks peacefully. He had been assassinated on April 4, 1968 by someone shooting him in the jaw while he was standing on the 2nd floor motel balcony. One of King’s most famous speeches was called, “I have a dream” speech.

Picture Citations

Black White- http://einside.kent.edu/?type=art&id=4728

Colored- http://www.utsa.edu/today/2005/01/mlk.cfm

Important People #2 - Malcolm X

Another person who was one of the most important and influential to the days we now live here is Malcolm X. Malcolm X can be refer as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. He was the minister of the American Black Muslim society and a spokesman for the Nation of Islam. During his lifetime, he had created the Muslim Mosque Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. During his youth, he lived in Boston, Michigan, and then later to New York City in 1943. Malcolm X used to be involved in drug dealing, gambling, and robbery. These actions had sent him into prison. While in prison, he read a lot of books and soon enough, he earned the nickname, “Satan” because his hatred to the Bible and God. When he was transported to a new jail that had a larger library giving him and opportunity to read more books. When Malcolm got out, he was married and had 6 children. Unfortunately, his death made him unable to see his last two twins who were born after his death. Malcolm had presented speeches. He was also suspended because he spoke about President John Kennedy’s assassination was just like “chickens coming home to roost”. According to one of his believes, there could be a connection and a brotherhood between the blacks and whites.

Picture Citations

http://www.infed.org/images/people/malcolmx.jpg

Important People #3 - John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy is the 35th president of the United States. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts May 29, 1917. He also attended to Harvard College. On September 12, 1953, Kennedy married to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. On January 2, 1960, he intended to run for President of the United States of America. During the times of President John F. Kennedy, many events had occurred such as The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race which was related to the Cold War, the American Civil Rights Movement and earlies of the Vietnam War. He had also involved in WW2 in the South Pacific as a commander of USS PT-109, a motor torpedo boat. President John F. Kennedy also created the Peace Corps which accepted American volunteered to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. John Kennedy’s objective was to gain some equality and more laws, education in America as well as aiding other poor countries.

Picture Citations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy -(for both pics.)

Important Event #1 of 1960-1969 - "Vietnam War"

The Vietnam War or the name, the Second Indochina War took place in Vietnam involving many outside countries to fight for their sides. This war had been fought from 1959 to April 1975. The whole objective of the war is to determine if Vietnam will be ruled in communism or democracy. The North side of Vietnam wanted communism to take rule of their country. This side is made up of armies from North Vietnam, China, North Korea, and part of the Soviet Union equipping the armies with tanks, airplanes, missiles, weapons, helicopters, medical supplies, artillery, and hundreds of military advisers. In the other hand, the Southern side of Vietnam wanted democracy. The southern side of Vietnam contains the allies of South Vietnam its self, United States, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, South Korea, and Philippines. Many people and civilians had died from the cause of this terrible war. In America, it was known unpopular because many had died since young ages and they also lost in the war. Bombings from aircrafts had most affected killings on innocent. This war had also damaged the cities and towns effectively. The violence began during the 1960 when President John F. Kennedy had been successfully elected. He had send troops to command the American army. Navy seals were also involved for jungle expeditions. Many Americans weren’t familiar to the fact of the grassy mountainous hills and terrains giving the North Vietnamese and great advantage. North Vietnam’s leader was Ho Chi Minh. He began a low-level insurgency which resulted killings of more than 400 government officials, terrorist attacks, and kidnappings. In the end, the North had won the war and took over the Southern part of Vietnam. In 1975, the Americans withdraw their soldiers in Vietnam back to their homes leaving many numbers of deaths. This important war had also cut America’s financials and affected many families.

Picture Citations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_war#Total_U.S._withdrawal - (for both pics.)

Important Event #2 of 1960-1969 - "Gay Rights Movement"

For decades, gay and lesbians Americans had struggled their ways to gain rights to pursue happiness by living together with the same gender. Many people thought that numbers of gays and lesbians are blazing is due to the fact that America had many wars that was required volunteers to fight. Many young adults had stayed in camps such as the Vietnam War for years had grew compatibility with their male friends. In the other hand, gays needed love and were unable to wait. There was a major tension between the police and gays in 1953 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered to fire gay men and lesbians out of federal government jobs. He also recommend that the police should harass these gays and lesbians whenever spotting them. By 1962, Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between adults.

Picture Citation

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=62205&rendTypeId=4

Important Event #3 of 1960-1969 "Berlin Wall"

The Berlin Wall was constructed on August 13, 1961 after the Nazi’s had lost the war. Their country, Germany was controlled and overtaken by the four successful allies, United States, France, Soviet Union, and Great Britain. The 4 countries divided Germany into 4 parts and each controls its territory. The Berlin Wall was constructed to avoid people fleeing to other sides as immigrants. There were a lot of deaths due to the fact of the guards shooting at them to avoid fleeing. There had been many upgrades of the walls. For example, the walls were started being built as basic wire fences. Then later on, it was upgraded into an improved wire fence which was similar to barbed-wire fences. Concrete walls and border walls were later upgraded during the 70’s. One of the eastern authorities told the guards, "Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used." This event was very important and affected the world we live in today. The event had taught us a lesson that we should not go controlling and invading other countries. At the end, the wall was torn down after 26 years of torture and pain. Every wall in Germany was torned and Germans were celebrating with happiness and joy.

Picture Citation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Berlinermauer.jpg

Improvment on Technology of 1960-1969 "Barbie Dolls"

Barbie dolls were a big hit to Americans during 1959 in February. The dolls were firstly introduced at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The inventors, Ruth and Elliot Handler thought of the idea while her daughter, Barbara, was playing with paper dolls. Barbie dolls have a variety of custom designs and clothes for the girls to customize her own dolls in her dreams. Later on in 1963, Barbie had introduced new characters for the “Barbie Family” which are Barbie’s sister, best friend, and more characters. Barbie dolls have affected many young American girls until now. It keeps them away from loneliness and gives entertainment as well. This toy is very old and is still updated with new designs that will be the best toy for girls guaranteed.

Picture Citation

http://i1.iofferphoto.com/img/item/165/589/51/BEAUTIFUL_BRIDE_BARBIE_DOLL.jpg

Improvement on Technology of 1960-1969 "Skateboards"

Skateboards were originally invented by professional surfers that were a big hit and a major development during the 1960’s to the 1970’s in California. The birth place of the skate board was California and surfers were trying to make a board similar to the tactics and the looks of a surf board. It was know as the “sidewalk surfing”. When the surfing season soon vanish year by year, surfers pick up their skateboards and play them where ever they want. They liked the skateboard because it is light, easy to carry, and can be portable to many places. Although this new invention was really dangerous, users were clever enough to wear helmets, knee pads, and other protective equipment for safety first! This invention soon turned into a sport as it grew popularity in the late 20th Century.

Picture Citation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Teen_male_skater_in_Salem_Oregon_park_jump.jpg

Important Scientific Discoveries of 1960-1969 - "The Space Race"

During the times between 1957 through 1975, it was a major development in technology by the Americans and the Russians. This was a competition between the two sides name the “Space Race”. It had been routed by the Cold War where these 2 countries had tried to fear each other by getting the other side worried about a threaten to blow up their countries with atomic bombs. The Space Race involves majorly with the Soviet Union and the United States. This event had brought an improvement to the rocket technology. Their main goal of The Space Race was to get humans outer space before the other side did. Both of the countries had a mission to travel to other planets and orbit around Earth. During the researches, Germany had contributed its effort to both of the country including United Kingdom. The Soviet Union had gained some knowledge of rockets by the Germans. Although the Soviet Union had some help by the Germans, the United States had the most advantages because they had a large quantity of German scientists who were experts with special liquids that were used to be mix when used during the Nazis and the World War 2. The rocket that helped this experimentation and investigation was the V-2 rocket that was equip with a range of 300 km. By the end of The Space Race, the USSR had declared this unconventional race that they had won by sending a man to outer space before the US did. However, the US declined the USSR’s believe of the objective of this “game”. The US however considered the first man or men to land on the moon were winners. Both of these countries and worked hard on their analysis and had met their success. By the end, huge expenditures had been spent by both countries but this “game” had developed countless technology we use today to help out lives much easier. The satellite gain more signals to the phones and wireless communications including the internet which is now mainly use for many purposes.

Picture Citations
- "Van Allen Explorer" 8/27/2007 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Van_Allen_Explorer_1.jpg - "Aldrin Moon" 8/27/2007- www.bnsc.gov.uk/lzcontent.aspx?nid=4713 -"Friendship 7" 8/27/2007- www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1601

Famous Book of 1960-1969 - "Where the Wild Things Are" By: Maurice Sendak

This book was written in 1963 and was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964. It was a very famous children’s book where the author, Maurice Sendak included interesting pictures and cartoons in his novel. This book is unique because the pictures were drawn by himself. Maurice Sendak also had won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award by this piece. In this story, Max will pass through numerous adventures and encounters mythical creatures while he is wearing a wolf suit. Currently, Spike Jonze is directing and filming a movie which is going to be out in theaters in October 2008. This movie will be featuring Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini and Australian actor Angus Sampson.

The first picture shows the magnificent author, Maurice Sendak. He is and awesome writer and artist making him one of the most valuable writers in history during the 1960's

The second pictures shows a part of the story where Maurice had drawn by himself. Theres a caption below this picture stating the author and artist which is Maurice Sendak.

Pictures Citations:

Maurice Sendak -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Sendak

Where the Wild Things Are -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Where_The_Wild_Things_Are.jpg

Famous Musician of 1960-1969 – “The Beatles”

The Beatles were one of the well-known musical bands in history. The “Fab Four” had rose and became the greatest hits worldwide. All four members in this band were born in Liverpool, England making it a British style rock band. In 1962, the Beatles were born with John Lennon (guitar), George Harrison (guitar), Paul McCartney (bass) and Ringo Starr (drums). The Beatles had traveled through Europe to produced concerts and perform famous songs especially in Hamburg, Germany and their hometown, Liverpool, England. One of their biggest hits was the song, "She Loves You" that was played during 1963. This song was the biggest hit in U.K.; their hometown. Not only had The Beatles traveled around Europe to perform their superior talents, they had roam across the United States and resulting mobs, sold-out concerts, and popularity. During the late 60’s, their songs were more and more cultivated and eventually were no longer glued together. The four handsomest fabs had split and moved forward through their own business solo careers. In 1980, a tragic moment happened when John Lennon (guitarist) was murdered and in 2001, George Harrison died at 58 years old from cancer. The last 2 surviving Beatles are Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. They continue with their individual business and solo careers.

Pictures Citations

"Squeezing Necks" 8/26/2007 - http://elnuevocojo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1008&Itemid=53

"Black White Picture Concert" 8/26/2007 - http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005251.html

"Colored Picture Concert" 8/26/2007 - http://www.pmouse.nl/nicol/beatles_vara64.jpg

Wazzup!

Hi there visitors,
Welcome to my Modern History blog. As you can see, I have not written any entries yet but in the future, it will be loaded with things i learnt at school about modern history. Please feel free to enter this site anytime anywhere and hope you enjoy my future entries. I hope that it is not boring.
,Oam