Throughout history, art has always played an important part in shaping how people think about the world and even politics and social ideas. The Communist party was very aware of this, and took the ideas of Communism to the extreme through the use of propaganda. Soviet Union culture took a strange turn as it turned to political cartoons and posters, intended to stir specific ideas in people. In complete truth, history in Russia was largely influenced by these posters, and throughout the entire world of art as a whole.
Soviet Union culture contains specific elements of style; force, strong lines, and important political figures all play a part in the art designed in the Soviet regime. While Soviet Union culture does contain other methods of communication, art remained one of its primary forms of distribution through the form of political posters displaying the Communist regime. Communism was meant to be a heroic and noble cause, and Soviet Union culture played a part in spreading this concept to people everywhere within Russian.
Communist propaganda as it was used in Soviet Union culture had an insidious effect; it spread quickly and powerfully, and each message contained an important idea that was meant to be accepted by everyone. The Communist party realized the importance of art and posters and this is why they used them so strongly within Soviet Union culture during their time in power. Ultimately it was a way to influence people without directly shoving something down their throats; instead they did it through this poster art, and the use of politically-based artwork.
Any country’s culture has always reflected specific ideas of the time and just what kinds of ideas the Communist party wanted to spread. Many of the posters used in Communist propaganda are somewhat strange to us now, and we can see them and laugh, but no one who saw them in those days was laughing. Indeed, these ideas were supposed to be accepted and believed by people, and the leaders of the Communist party saw Soviet Union culture as a way to get them to accept their ideas.
Of course if they did not accept, people would be sent to Siberian camps or beaten, shot, or tortured if they were not accepting. Soviet Union culture certainly reflects the complete force through which the regime dominated, but it cannot wholly convey just what kind of extremes people would have had to suffer. Instead it can only give us a sampling, a reminder of just what can happen if a powerful idea is taken to extremes by corrupt leaders of any revolutionary movement.
Ultimately, Soviet Union culture is a rich thing and should not be ignored by anyone, be they art collectors or historians alike. These posters are certainly treading dangerous waters, but they reflect an important time in history especially for Russian political shaping. The entire world was influenced to some degree by the Communist regime, and the culture of this time remains an important part of the way in which this was done.
Vasiliy Terkin is a writer for Soviet Art Me and enjoys learning about Soviet Union Culture. Soviet Art Me also provides some of the best Soviet Posters available online. Drop on by and learn about the Russian Culture all while checking out our amazing posters.
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