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 Tsarist Russia. On the flag is seen “RSFSR” (Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic). What started in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) as a workers strike on March 8, 1917 boiled over into revolution by March 12 when Imperial Russian troops of the Petrograd garrison declared mutiny. The mutiny is considered to be one of the events that led to the formation of the Red Army and the Red Navy.
By mid-April, 1917, Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd calling for an end to Russia’s participation in WWI, expropriation of land to the people, and the dissolving of the Imperial Army. By October 29th, the Committee of Revolutionary Defense (later re-named the Military Revolutionary Committee) controlled the army and naval commands in Petrograd. This committee also maintained connections with a five-man group (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 when the Provisional Government was toppled. Subsequently, RVTs authority helped transfer power to the Soviets after the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets that occurred in November 1917. Early-on, the Bolshevik army was a haphazard group of Red Guards and former Imperial soldiers. It was not until January 1918 that the Council of People’s Commissars formalized the creation of 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.