I
was drawn to this piece of propaganda when entered the room it is
displayed in. As someone who is very interested in the history of the
Second World War I have seen many pictures of propaganda posters. I have
never seen this picture before so I was surprised to find out this was a
very popular advertisement. Even though I can not read Cyrillic the
poster drew me and got the message of mobilization across quite
clearly. I also liked that the picture features an average woman as
opposed to a soldier or an objectified picture of a woman. This shows
that woman were very important to the war effort, not only for civilian
duties, to the Russian army.
6 comments:
I found the tour guides description of this piece of propaganda as once that was actually honest and that didn't romanticize the war as interesting. Why do you think this propaganda was so effective?
Since the soldiers in World War II were men, why do you think a propaganda photo aimed at advertising the War and depicting an honest truth about the brutality and seriousness of the fighting included a women?
I think this peice of propaganda was so effective because it did show the truth. This picture gets to right to the point without sugar coating it. People acknowledged that this was an honest effort to mobilize. It was also effective and important especially to women. The Red army was one of the very few that recruited women to the front. Women fought alongside men in the Red army and this propaganda was an encouragement to women to join the war effort not only at home, but to recruit to the front lines.
In regards to Brooklyn's comment:
Actually in WWII the Soviet army had women in active combat roles. By communist law women were as equal as men. However there was resistance to allowing women in the military, especially combat. Initially, women were a psychological edge against the Germans because it was totally incomprehensible and against the social structure that it was upsetting.
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The poster reminds me of the statue in Volgograd called The Motherland Calls which commemorates the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the most brutal conflicts of WWII. They both contain a robed woman with an outstretched hand. The difference is that the statue is holding a sword.
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