Soviet Propaganda Posters - Explore 800+ Stunning Posters . Soviet Posters Prints

We orgnised SPP.com into 35+ categories and subcategories of Russian propaganda posters. Each category has its own topic, for example Cold War propaganda posters contains many works on the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs. Soviet women posters is a placeholder of all posters on emancipation, life and achievements of women in the USSR.

Soviet Poster art emerged powerfully after the October Revolution during the Civil War between 1918 and 1921. The Bolsheviks needed a medium that would reach the widest part of the population. Soviet propaganda posters were based on the traditions and heritage that ordinary people, large majority of whom were illiterate and couldn't read newspapers or proclamations, already knew. That's why posters relied on visual imagery resembling Orthodox iconography. Around 10 million Russian propaganda posters were printed during the war. Soviet posters reached deep into the entire Soviet Union and influenced tens of millions of Russian citizens. Later Soviet propaganda poster tradition will build on the success of this initial drive. The Soviet propaganda posters genre would become renowned internationally.

Soviet Propaganda Posters - Categories

First category is Soviet Society. Here you'll find various posters to do with life in the Soviet Union - sports, drinking/alcoholism, Russian-Soviet women and others

Soviet Arts and Culture posters

Here you'll find posters of cultural events, movies, theatre plays, exhibitions and propaganda to do with the cultural sphere.


Moscow ballet advert	Soviet movie posters collage

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Family and Children posters

Among others the goal of these USSR posters was to educate parents on how to raise their children as examplary socialists and address various societal ills to do wth the family and children. Russian propaganda posters on the family hailed the role of the mother and encouraged children to study hard and be virtuous.


Glory to the heroic mother!	Pioneer! Study and fight for the cause of the working class!

👉Go to all family and children posters

Social Posters

This category contains topics to do with fightin various societal ills. For example attitude and treatment of elderly people during the Perestroika period of the late Soviet Union, warning against healers, ignorance, alcohol abuse and such.


Out the parasites on wam places! Ones who don't work shouldn't eat!	Healers outs! They don't heal but rob and hurt!

👉Go to all social posters

Soviet Anti Alcohol Posters

Drinking offered a solace for common people during the hard years following the October revolution and throughout the Soviet Union era. Here's how the state on one side fought it and on the other - advertised alcohol.


STOP! Last warning! Anti alcohol poster	NO! I refuse (alcohol)! Anti drinking poster

👉Go to all Soviet anti alcohol posters

Soviet Education Posters

Be it at school, the workplace or the fields Soviet people were encouraged to study and increase their qualifications.


Knowledge for everyone (in the world)!	Lessons in painting, music and singing increase the culture of the pupil, without a doubt!

👉Go to all Soviet Education posters

Soviet Women Posters

Emancipation of women, their role in society, family and even during war among many others were popular topics for poster art during the Soviet Union.


Go to the collective farm, peasant woman!	Women workers! Grab the rifles!

👉Go to all Soviet Women posters

Sports and Physical Training posters

The health and well being of its people is an important task for every nation. USSR wasn't any different, here is how that translated into poster art.


Be ready for work and defending the country!	USSR The Soviet Union - a mighty sporting nation!

👉Go to all sport and training posters

Anti Smoking and Tobacco Adverts posters

Curbing smoking, including amongst the under aged, was a priority for the Soviet state. At the same time there were many tobacco products advertised on the streets of the country's towns and villages.


Every child is our child - don't allow children to smoke!	Tobacco factory brand from Vladivostok

👉Go to all anti smoking and tobacco products posters

Soviet Political Posters

This main category houses topics like the drive to build Communism, the leaders through the history of the Soviet Union era like Lenin and Stalin and the Cold war era posters.

Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPSU, Communism and Socialism posters

Needless to say the political dimension of the Soviet Union, building up the trust in the system, it's institutions like the CPSU and striving towards Socialism and Communism are key topics for the propaganda poster art at the time.


For the happiness of the nation! Stalin votes, elections poster	Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPSU

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Cold War Propaganda Posters

The Cold War was an antagonistic era between the two most developed areas of the world - the Soviet Union and its satellites pitied against the USA and Western Europe and their spheres of influence. The two sides were known as the Eastern and Western bloc. It lasted from 1947 to 1991 when the USSR disolved during Gorbachev and Eltsin.


Glory to the Stalin falcons - conquerors of the air elements!	I will never forget the friends I made in Moscow!

👉Go to all Cold War propaganda posters

Leaders of the Soviet Union posters

This category includes soviet era posters of the leaders (ideological and political) of the USSR. These are Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev and Eltsin.


Brezhnev: We want durable peace! This is the fundamental basis of our foreigh policy! XXVI congress of the Communist party	Disarmement is an ideal for Socialism! Lenin

👉Go to all posters of leaders of the Soviet Union

Lenin Posters

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov commonly known as Lenin was one of the most influential thinkers, military leaders and political figures of the 20th century. He himself and his work are regarded as the reason for the rise of the Soviet Union, socialism and the Cold War.


Lenin - 1870 to 1980!	Lenin: Peace decree! We now have the power of the Soviets, this power comes from the people themselves, it puts the foundation for peace for all peoples!

👉Go to all Lenin posters

Stalin Posters

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin with a birth sirname Jughashvili ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953. He's a controversial figure due to the millions of deaths caused by his rule but also remains one of the utmost statesmen of the 20th century, having lead his country to modernisation, industrialisation and ultimately to defeating Nazi Germany and expanding the USSR to in effect rule over half of Europe.


We shall achieve plentiness!	Stalin - at the end of the five year plan the farm collectivisation should be mainly completed!

👉Go to all Stalin posters

Soviet Economy posters

The Soviet economy included many sectors out of which we picked the most popular ones, which got the most posters. These are Industry, Agriculture, Soviet Space program, Aviation and labour and work place.

Industry and Technology posters

Following the rapid industrialisation of the Soviet Union USSR after Stalin took power the Soviets prevailed in the WWII. After that en emphasis was put on gradually catching up economically with the Western bloc. After rapid progress and high growth rates of the 1950s and 60s the economy stalled significantly. That utlimately lead to the demise of the Soviet era.


Development of transportation is one of the key goals of the five year plan!	The Communist party's plan is my plan!

👉Go to all industry and technology posters

Agricultute posters

Key developments of the agricultural sector of the Soviet Union were the collectivisation of farms from their private owners in the 1920s and 1930s. This lead to inefficiencies, lower yields and some cases to famines. Later on productivity improved but never to the level the state desired. The poster art of Soviet agriculture are fascinating though.


The bread of the homeland!	Join us in the collective farm, comrade!

👉Go to all soviet agriculture posters

Soviet Space Program Posters

The space program of the Soviet Union USSR was world leading in many accomplishments. The Soviets launched the world's first satellite, had the first human spaceflight with Yuri Gagarin and the first space station.


Glory to the first astronaut in space Yuri Gagarin!	Cosmos/space is a friend of the Soviets!

👉Go to all soviet space program posters

Soviet Aviation Posters

The Soviets had very well developed both civil and military aviation. Challanging the skies was a topic of fascination among young and grown up alike, hence the rich variaty of aviation posters.


Glory to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War! Glory to the Stalin falcons!	We shall be airplane pilots!

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Soviet Work, Workplace and Labout posters

The working class was was supposed to be the Soviet Union's ruling class. However workers' say over production and policies decreased over the lifespan of the USSR. Nevertheless there was always a focus on the workers' wellbeing and productivity, including culture of the workplace.


I will too become a mechaniser!	We are the young working class!

👉Go to all work, workplace and labour posters

Soviet Perestroika Posters

Perestroika was a reform drive within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in the second half of the 1980s. The main initiator and advocate of Perestroika was the then relatively young Mikhail Gorbachev. It also included a somewhat free speech part called glasnost or transparency. Literally perestroika stands for "restructuring" of the economy and political areas of Soviet society.

Perestroika and Fall of the Soviet Union USSR

Poster art from this period is very rich indeed and even more fascinating. These are the artworks of a country in deep turmoil where people are looking for answers and sense of optimism in the midst of huge political and societal change.


For the deeds and worries - comrade, don't forget who you are! Refers to the party aparatchiks	Why are you wandering so much, is your path changing?

👉Go to all Perestroika and fall of the USSR posters

Soviet Military Posters

The Soviet Army, also known as the Red Army, was established in 1918 by Leon Trotzky and became one of if not the world's most important fighting force during World War II which it won with the support of the western powers. Following the Great Patriotic War the size of the army decreased from 14 million down to around 3 million soldiers and remained a leading military force in the world.

Soviet Great Patriotic War (WWII) posters

The Great Patriotic War is a terms used by the Russian people to refer to their decisive involvement in the Second World War. The conflict in the eastern front lasted for around 4 years and Russia and the Soviet union are projected to have lost tens of millions of civilians and milions of soldiers in the Nazi onslaught and subsequent Red Army march to Berlin. It's easily one of the most important events in Russia's 1000 year history.


You will live happily!	Glory to our victorious homeland!

👉Go to all Great Patriotic War WWII posters

Soviet Pacifist Posters

Soviet Union pacifist depict the desire of the Comunist Party CPSU and the state to portray the Western bloc, the US and NATO as the ones causing conflict and wrecklessly threatening the peace. Socialism and Communism are seen as forces for good and peace, in contrast with Capitalism. The threat of nuclear war and its consequences are propogandised in particularly stark terms. Most posters we have are from the later stages of the Soviet Union.


Voice of the earth - No to the nuclear madness!	We demand peace!

👉Go to all soviet pacifist posters

Soviet Military Posters

The Soviet military or the Red Army has always been a source of great pride to the ordinary Soviet people. Particularly after its soldiers defeated Hitler and Nazism. Post WWII party propaganda officials continued the tradition of elevating the image and strengthening the trust in the army and military industrial complex.


Glory to the Red Army! On the poster next to him it says: We shall go to Berlin!	Long live the Red Army! Military wing of the proletarian revolution!

👉Go to all soviet military posters

Soviet Union USSR against NATO poster

NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a defence pact formed by multiple European and Western countries under an American umbrealla to defend against the perceived threat from the Soviet Union and its satellites. The Easter bloc defence pact was the Warsaw Pact. Needless to say, given that these were the armed military institutions of the two adversarial sides, the poster art related to their relationship was quite heated.


Stop militarising space!	Hiroshima atom bombing poster

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Various Soviet Posters

This placeholder main category includes funny posters, old soviet and pre-revolution posters, nature and environmentalism, Soviet advertising/commercial posters.

Funny Soviet Posters

Given how radically was intended to intervene in people's lives and the experimental nature of the Soviet system and doctrine as a whole, no wonder many posters of the time were not only interesting and revealing but also quite funny and entertaining at times.


How hard did you work this year?	Women at the collective farm - great strength!

👉Go to all funny soviet posters

Old Russian Posters Before The Soviet Union USSR

We thought it would be of interest what poster art was like immediately before the formation of the Soviet Union. Here are some examples of such posters.