Soviet Propaganda Art

Here is some Soviet Propaganda art to think about.

“Comrade Lenin CLEANS the world of scum”

Notice a few things here. First of all, who are the “scum” in question? A priest, some kings, and a rich capitalist. Also notice that Lenin cleans the whole world, not just Russia. In fact, the globe seems to depict North America, South America, and Africa. The Soviet Union had a globalist vision that extended beyond Russia’s borders.

“Down with Church Holidays!”

Church holidays are depicted as being occasions for drunkenness, abuse, and neglect. Perhaps there is a degree of self-righteousness that the Soviet propagandist is trying to arouse. “I’m not a drunk like those of the Eastern Orthodox Church! I am an enlightened Soviet proletariat!”

“Christmas”

Speaking of Church holidays, here’s a poster of two “Christmases.” The top panel has the Church Christmas, with the star to the left and everyone going backwards toward it, beginning with the wise men, followed by soldiers and politicians of antiquity, tsars, capitalists, and the bourgeois. The bottom panel has the Soviet star and the revolutionists and peasants following it forward to progress.

“Certainly trickery!”

Here we have a bourgeoisie with a stick up Jesus’ butt using Him as a puppet to lure the poor peasant class into church. Notice that the bourgeoisie is fat, the peasant is skinny, and Jesus is a dead skeleton rather than the risen Saviour.

“Spider and Flies”

The picture features a priest, who is a spider, and his church, which is a spider web, and he lures in the people as flies. The text at the bottom is a poem written in 1921 by Demjan Bednyj. The name “Bednyj” is actually a pen name; it means “poor,” as the Soviet movement grew through a false unity with the poor.

Some lines of the poem include:

Ding-dong!… Ding-dong!…

There’s a church – God’s house,

And in this house, there is a spider,

The spider is an Araneus [In Russian, “Araneus” is related to “Cross”]

The spider weighs seven pudi [over 300 lbs]

[…]

The spider lives happily,

Weaving a spider web;

Catching flies in the web:

[…]

Ah, you fellow men,

Unfortunate impoverished,

For a long time the spider

Has taken you by the sides:

He “saves” your souls

He sucks your blood

Even fed his wife [Eastern Orthodox priests can marry]

And taught his child-spider

And snorts from his slandering mouth:

“Ah, our people are such fools!”

Notice the entitlement here. The author incites jealousy by having a fat spider feed off the poor unfortunate flies. He also draws a class distinction here, so that the evil spider has a wife and kids that also benefit.

“Electrofication and Counterrevolution”

Electricity was the cutting-edge technology of the day. The red sleeve holding the electric lightbulb is symbolic of the Red Communist love for technology, which brings to light the antiquated ways of the bourgeoise, who supports the church, who supports the tsar. Also lurking in the shadows are alcoholism and the wealthy man with his inferior bellows.

Speaking of cutting-edge technology, here’s a later poster of a cosmonaut flying by and saluting. He says, “There is no god!” as he flies among the stars, high above the cupolas of the Russian Orthodox Church. A few years ago, some Russian astronauts posted a picture to Instagram of themselves posing next to icons in space. Maybe astronomy actually supports the idea of a Creator after all?

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Ps. 19:1 ESV)

“Who is against Soviets”

Soviets raised their red flags of communist hope. Here we have the black flag saying “Down with the Soviets” and the typical lineup of the rich and religious.

A cover from “The Godless” magazine

If you look closely, there are some English translations written in the picture, for those who want to analyze closer. In short, Stalin had a 5-year plan to turn the Soviet Union around, so the cover features a Roman numeral V crushing the gods of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as farms and factories thrive in the background.