Mizin, ‘”The Leninist Komsomol was and still is the young reserve of our revolution.” Stalin.’, 1934 Mizin’s 1934 poster celebrates the Komsomol, the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (or VLKSM) for youth aged 14 to 28 years. Originally formed in 1918 as the Russian Young Communist League, or RKSM, the Komsomol was one of a series of youth organisations that provided activities and education for children, and groomed them to become valuable Party members. Children under nine years old could join the Little Octobrists, then progress onto the Pioneers (Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organisation) for children aged 10 to 14. Pioneers wore red scarves and undertook activities similar to the scouts. After Pioneers came the Komsomol. Mizin’s poster shows Stalin down among the youth, one of the ‘everyday’ people, although his white tunic and cap mark him out for special attention. The youth represent a cross-section of Soviet young people – armed forces personnel, aviators and agricultural workers. Agricultural workers were often represented as women in red scarves, the knot tied behind their head. The red scarf designated a collective farm worker, someone who had willingly embraced Stalin’s policy of collectivisation and laboured for the state. The knot behind the head, rather than under the chin as with traditional peasant women, showed the new breed of peasant woman – strong, dedicated and determined. Behind Stalin’s right shoulder, a female aviator follows him. Many women embraced the opportunity to forge a career in aviation and some of the first female heroes of the Soviet Union were aviators. An attempt to capture the ethnic diversity of the USSR is made, with Stalin surrounded by youth of various nationalities, all striding together in the same direction. Stalin and the youth are protected by the ubiquitous red banners, Lenin’s glowing profile offering protection and blessing over the youth who strive in his name. These youth are particularly notable, some of them wearing state awards. Behind the youth and banners, a crowd throngs in, stretching back for miles to a horizon punctuated by electricity towers, evidence of the huge strides made in electrification of the country. Electrification of Russia was a project particularly associated with Lenin. Stalin took Lenin’s work further by undertaking electrification of the entire Soviet Union.
The text of the poster is taken from Stalin’s speech on the tenth anniversary of the Komsomol, October 28, 1928: ‘The Leninist Komsomol was and still is the young reserve of our revolution’. Although the Komsomol is primarily associated with Lenin, it is Stalin, the man of the present, who takes the role of interpreter of Lenin’s doctrine.
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Dr Anita PischAnita’s new, fully illustrated book, The personality cult of Stalin in Soviet posters, 1929 -1953, published by ANU Press, is available for free download here, and can also be purchased in hard copy from ANU Press. Archives
April 2019
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SPotW56 Litvinov 1949
SPotW57 Serov 1942 SPotW58 Pinchuk 1943 SPotW59 Petrov 1952 SPotW60 Podobedov 1939 |
SPotW61 Babitskii 1944
SPotW62 Pen Varlen 1942 SPotW63 Bayuskin 1942 SPotW64 Belopol'skii 1950 SPotW65 Belopol'skii 1952 SPotW 81 Koretskii 1950
SPotW 82 Pravdin 1950 SPotW83 Vatolina 1938 SPotW 84 Deni 1938 SPotW85 Koretskii 1945 |
SPotW66 Dlugach 1933
SPotW67 Zhitomirskii 1942 SPotW68 Toidze 1949 SPotW69 Mikhailov 1937 SPotW70 Cheprakov 1939 |
SPotW76 Toidze 1943
SPotW77 Futerfas 1936 SPotW78 Mukhin 1945 SPotW79 Golub' 1948 SPotW80 Karpovskii 1948 SPotW 96
SPotW 97 SPotW 98 SPotW 99 SPotW 100 |