Was the success of the Russian Revolution 1917 and Nazi Germany down to the use of their propaganda? (not a set on a title yet) Astrid Weguelin
Why? • Propaganda posters, during a time where there weren’t many forms of communication, were essential in spreading around information – especially political information. • The printing process of posters was on a massive scale; they covered cities, were stuck up wherever they could, and so they became quite an effective tool in influencing and manipulating peoples thoughts and actions. • I thought it would be interesting to explore the particular design techniques, symbols, colours, content within the posters to see which was most effective in psychologically manipulating people • I also want to look a bit at other print methods (books, magazines) • I plan to focus mainly on the propaganda surrounding the Russian revolution and Nazi Germany.
Russian Revolution • I looked at how art and design was effected during the Russian revolution in 1st year and became really interested in the subject • I find the difference in Lenin’s Russia and Stalin’s Russia interesting to learn about as it was such a dramatic change for art, design, illustration, and the general culture as it shifted from very avant-garde movements to social realism • I will focus mainly on Lenin’s Russia as there is a starker contrast to his use of propaganda compared to Hitler's • Soviet Russia adopted constructivism as the communist style – all elements of culture were working together (art, music, film etc. ) I find that aesthetic really exciting and striking • Russia had a big problem with illiteracy at the time so illustration was essential for any sort of communication
Nazi Germany • Hitler’s use of propaganda was on another scale compared to the Russians; he was jealous of their simple yet highly effective propaganda and found it to be a necessity for any political party • He spent a lot of time researching into advertising techniques and statistics about what the people want so that he could successfully manipulate them. He set out to brand himself as a heroic, all-knowing, almost godly, leader. • He managed to take symbols, type and even gestures that were already well known and re-write their history as his invention e.g. the swastika. Hitler made sure his face, name, symbols were everywhere (very different to Lenin who hated promoting himself) • The Nazi's use of propaganda was on such a huge scale and so incessant and imposing, that they successfully managed to infiltrate their fascist views into the minds of so many people - using fear tactics but also appealing to what he knew the people wanted.
Summary I chose these two examples because: • The art and design (especially the poster design) during soviet Russia was so influential to the rest of the world. And I’m interested in how much the art scene at the time influenced the way politics was carried out, and how much they influenced each other • Nazi propaganda was like no other seen before, although the views and what was carried out was horrific, the branding and graphic design surrounding it was extremely successful, I am interested in exploring what was so effective about it • Both Lenin and Hitler were dictators but were from different political parties, and both had different approaches to elements of the propaganda, yet both were very successful in influencing and manipulating people’s actions. I want to explore those similarities/differences – what patterns, design techniques etc.
Practical I am quite stuck with where to start but some recent reading has given me some ideas: • Russia had a massive adult illiteracy problem, so many posters were mainly made up of illustrations, but this was also the case with instruction manuals, statistic charts, children’s books etc. but they were very simple, clear and were made by constructivist artists so had the same aesthetics. • Constructivism was a movement surrounding art for a function – not for arts sake – so designs were made only if they enhanced society in some way, all cultural activities were for the people and the community. • I quite like the idea of producing manuals/books in a similar aesthetic – looking at the necessity of illustration within this country, communication through image was the most effective form. I think it could be challenging condensing down complex instructions into simple shapes/colours/codes. I could maybe link the work to modern politics somehow? • I want to maybe do some screen-printing/photocopying for this, and make pieces that would be appropriate for mass reproduction
Reading list • ‘History of the Poster’ - Josef and Shizuko Muller-Brockman • ‘Revolutionary Tides: the art of the political poster 1914-1989’ – Jeffrey Schnapp • ‘Iron Fists: branding the 20th century totalitarian state’ – Steven Heller • ‘Propaganda! Russian and Norwegian posters’ multiple authors • ‘Age of Propaganda: the everyday use and abuse of persuasion’ – Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson • ‘Russian Revolutionary Posters’ – David King • ‘The art of Russia’ - DVD
Questions/Problems • I am quite stuck with the structure of the essay, what should go in each chapter? • My essay is very historical, I don’t know if I should try and link the essay back to contemporary issues, or how I would do that • Are my practical ideas a good starting point/relevant enough?