Nazi Germany vs Soviet Union Poster Propaganda - Essay Example

?Client’s Similarities and Differences between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union Poster Propaganda in the Twentieth Century The purpose of propaganda is to incite emotions that motivate opinions and support for actions taken by a government towards a specific goal or outcome. As an example, in the United States at the beginning of the 20th, propaganda posters with the development of the concept of Uncle Sam to gain citizen support through the recognition of pride and responsibility for being an American for the cause of World War I. Both the Soviet Union and Germany used propaganda posters to incite their citizens to support the cause of their nations during World War II. In comparing their posters, it is clear that the use of fear was one way in which to incite an emotional response towards the causes that the posters represented. The Soviet Union defined their enemy as outside of the nation, while the Nazis created internal threats through providing images that placed Jewish people in a context with invented threats to diminish their humanity. Differences are also evident in the styles and methods with which the posters were created. Through an examination of Soviet and Nazi propaganda posters of World War II, the styles of the work and the identification of threats can be contrasted for differences and similarities. Jowett and O’Donnell write that “there was little appreciation of the specific social and political conditions that had made World War I propaganda so effective” (228). The nature of propaganda is to influence, but in order to create effective influence, the imagery and text had to connect to the social conscious of the viewers. An example of a poster that did not connect to the social conscious that was considered brilliant for its intentions and artistry, but was declined by the Soviet Union government was that of El Lissitzky’s “Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge” (1919) (see Figure 1). The imagery is creatively displayed, creating a sense of the power of the ‘red’ as it pierces the white. The problem with the poster is that it did not connect with the public and its meaning did not make sense to the general population. This avant-garde work was rejected in favor of the rise of social realism through which a more meaningful interaction between the view and the work became possible (Jowett and O’Donnell 228). Figure 1 Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919) El Lissitzky (Wikipedia) Socialist realism existed “with its reliance on simple classical styles and photographically accurate forms in a modern context, its demand of realism, its glorification of socialist ideals and achievements, and its anticipation of a utopian communist society” (Frucht 260). The active campaign to produce posters that reflected the desires of the government in order to align the views of the people was done through the TASS studio which adapted the style of the ROSTA posters which were stenciled. Different from the traditions of the ROSTA posters, however, was the desire to create fine art while creating important cultural messages. Where the ROSTA used iconic images that were generally graphic, The TASS studio employed the use of realist paintings as models for the work (Zegers, Druick and Akinsha np). As shown in the work of Figure 2 The Motherland will Never Forget the Heroic Deeds of its Sons (1947) Viktor Koretsky (David Winter Bell Gallery) Viktor Koretsky, the warmth of the colors and the power of the imagery evoke the national emotions towards their sons and to a pride based in their sacrifices as they give of themselves to a belief system (David Winter Bell Gallery). The posters provide a reason for the losses that they were experiencing, placing meaning with what they have given (see Figure 2). The works were bold with their use of color and just as bold in their use of fear that asserted the concept of killing Germans with a sense of pride and national presence As exampled in the work Death to the German Murderers, the works revealed a sense of terrible power in conflict with the mother and child imagery which is often associated with the concept of home (see Figure 2). The posters were enormous in size, giving them prominence in the cities where they were placed. According to Zegers, Druick and Akinsha, “Although the Cubo-Futurist style of the Rosta posters had fallen out of favor between the wars, their militant formal syntax had not”. The tone of the posters was decidedly military, their message invoking a sense that only military response was capable of avoiding the impending threats. The color and drama of the works emphasized the importance of violent response, their message having a high impact about the threat and evoking a response that was equally violent and militarily appropriate. Figure 3 Death to all Germans (1944) Dementi Shmarinov (Zegers, Druick, and Akinsha np) The dual threats of Western capitalism and imperialism were used as concepts through which to draw the beliefs of the citizens of the Soviet Union to align with the idea that the Nazi threat was associated with capitalism. The worker became the hero in defense of the nation against the “rapacious capitalist, often depicted with grasping claws and a fearsome expression” (Zegers, Druick and Akinsha np). Similar to the types of images reflected in Soviet propaganda posters was the way in which German propaganda posters depicted the threat of Jewish influences as bullying and overwhelming in contrast to the innocence of the German agenda. As Figure 4 Behind the Enemy Powers: The Jew (1942). (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). exampled in Figure 4, the hulking presence of a Jewish man is just behind the curtains of flags that represent British, the United States, and the Soviet Union, manipulating the idea of war with a malevolent intent (see Figure 4). The use of fear is very present in the posters that were generated by the Nazi regime. Where the Soviets focused on ideological and external enemies, the Nazis were focused on the internal threat posed by racial concerns. The menace for the Nazis was not ideas, but motivated by racial ideas that one race was controverting the purity and wholesomeness of an otherwise perfect German visage. The soviet posters were focused on ideas and belief systems where political issues were concerned, where the German posters were focused on the threats from within the nation from those who had been targeted as enemies of the state. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Propaganda helped to define who would be excluded from the new society and justified measures against the "outsiders": including Jews, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Germans viewed as genetically inferior and harmful to "national health" (people with mental illness and intellectual or physical disabilities, epileptics, congenitally deaf and blind persons, chronic alcoholics, drug users, and others) By framing the races and types of people that were unacceptable through imagery that placed them as visually undesirable, the message was clear that there were insiders and outsiders within their own nation. The intention of the propaganda was to define who was acceptable and more importantly, who was not acceptable within the regime. Jewish people were linked to disease and vermin, creating an acceptable path towards the agenda of the Nazi extermination of the Jewish people. The images on the posters were intended to create a sense of ‘otherness’ so that accepting less than humane treatment of the targets of the posters would be acceptable. The intention of the imagery was to link the Jewish people to the ‘mortal enemy’ of the German ideals (Luckert 124). Through the dehumanization of the enemy, in both Soviet and Nazi posters, the idea that violence and extreme measures were not only acceptable, but mandated, was promoted in order to justify and gather support for the agendas of both nations. The nature of the posters from the Nazi regime was based more in cartoon style features so that the exaggerations of the messages could be more palatable. In looking at the works, there is a higher level of primary color usage, where the Soviet posters were more often based on realism and the use of ash tones to evoke a more somber and higher emotional feeling from the viewer. Although the Soviets used a wide variety of images, both cartoonish and realistic, to discuss their message, the Nazis tended towards a more illustrative and caricature based program to create the identity of the enemy that was the target of their message. Both Soviet and Nazi propaganda posters provided graphically violent images through which to evoke emotions of fear in combination with national pride to gain support from their citizens for the causes they were promoting. Where the Soviets focused the enemy on the outside of the citizenry, the Nazis focused on internal enemies that satisfied their genocidal agenda. The posters were different in style in that the Soviet Posters gravitated towards realism from some of their artists, creating a subtly in the coloration that was almost seductive in its sorrow and pathos. The Nazi posters were bold and more brightly colored, evoking anger through the ideas of the internal threats that were being portrayed. Through negative feelings, both governments used ideas of identifying the enemy to create their rhetoric. The propaganda posters of the Soviets and the Nazis during World War II were intended to evoke emotions in order to sway public opinion towards the support of the ideals that were being promoted through the posters. List of Figures Figure 1 Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919) El Lissitzky (Wikipedia) Figure 2 The Motherland will Never Forget the Heroic Deeds of its Sons (1947) Viktor Koretsky (David Winter Bell Gallery) Figure 3 Death to all Germans (1944) Dementi Shmarinov (Zegers, Druick, and Akinsha np) Figure 4 Behind the Enemy Powers: The Jew (1942). (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Works Cited David Winter Bell Gallery. “Views and Reviews: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons”. Brown University Library. 2012. Web. 30 April 2012. Frucht, Richard C. Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. Santa Barbara (Calif.: ABC Clio, 2005. Print. Jowett, Garth and Victoria O'Donnell. Propaganda & Persuasion. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE, 2012. Print. Luckert, . State of Deception. the Power of Nazi Propaganda. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2009. Print. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Defining the Enemy”. United States Holocust Memorial Museum. 6 January 2011. Web.30 April 2012. Wikipedia. “File: Artwork by El Lissitzky”. Wikipedia. 2012. Web. 1 May 2012. Zegers, Peter, Douglas W. Druick, and Konstantin Akinsha. Windows on the War: Soviet Tass Posters at Home and Abroad, 1941-1945. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2011. Print. Read More