Featured Poster of the Week
“Long live organized, armed people!”
Published during the Russian Civil War, this poster calls for popular, armed action presumably against the tsar. On the flag is written “RSFSR” (Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic). In Petrograd (St. Petersburg) on March 8, 1917, a workers strike boiled over into revolution and by March 12, the Imperial Russian troops of the Petrograd garrison declared mutiny. Their mutiny is considered one of the events that led to the formation of the Red Army and the Red Navy. In April, Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd calling for an end to Russia’s participation in WWI, an end to the Imperial Army and expropriation of land in the name of the people. Lenin's edicts (known as the April Theses) helped change the course of the Bolshevik's revolutionary directives.
On October 29, the Committee of Revolutionary Defense (later re-named the Military Revolutionary Committee) controlled the army and naval commands of Petrograd. The committee maintained connection with the chaos of revolutionary activity via its five-man assembly (Josef Stalin, Iakov Sverdlov, Andrei Bubnov, Moisei Uritsky, and Felix Dzerzhinsky) known as the Military Revolutionary Center (RVTs). The RVTs coordinated soldiers, sailors and armed workers during the seizure of Petrograd on October 25 and during the overthrow of the Provisional Government on the 26th. Stalin’s involvement in the RVTs, pursuant to his role organizing the revolution became historical narrative when he led the USSR. By contrast, Leon Trotsky’s role in the revolution (via the Military Revolutionary Committee) served as the basis for his allegations that Stalin had committed “historical fraud” in recalling how the Petrograd uprising was led.
After the Second All-Russian Congress (November 1917) the RVTs helped transfer power to the Soviets in one of the final acts of the revolution. It was not until January 1918 that the Council of People’s Commissars re-organized the Bolshevik forces, a haphazard group of Red Guards and former Imperial soldiers, to create the Red Army.
About The Collection
Poster Plakat is a private collection of Soviet and Eastern Bloc political ephemera spanning 1916 to 1991. The collection contains over 1,000 original posters, poster maquettes and political leaflets from windowpane-sized posters up to large, multi-panel broadsides. Numerous artists are represented such as Gustav Klutsis, Victor Deni, Nikolai Dolgorukov, Vladimir Stenberg, the Kukryniksy, Viktor Koretsky, and hundreds more. All posters are linen backed and ready for display.
If you are interested in using images from the Collection or exhibiting posters from it, please visit the Contact Us page for more information. You can also email info@posterplakat.com and include the name of your organization, the name of the contact person and provide your phone number. In addition, please provide a general description of the exhibit you are considering or the poster you would like to use.