Soviet Propaganda
This section includes eleven selections from a set of 53 prints. Published in 1937, the set is of Soviet origin and provides
fervent characterization of German and Italian involvement in the Spanish Civil War. During the war, both Adolf Hitler and
Benito Mussolini extended generous support in the form of men and matériel to the Nationalists. By contrast, the Soviet government
of Josef Stalin provided aid to the Republicans. The western powers, including France and the United Kingdom, favored a course
of non-intervention for much of the war.
The first meeting of the Non-Intervention Committee (NIC) was held at the outbreak of the war in 1936. Though some governments
initially offered aid to the Republican government – notably France’s Popular Front government under the leadership Leon Blum
– the NIC restricted the sale of arms to belligerents in the conflict. Several of the images below capture Soviet hostility
towards the Non-Intervention Agreement by stressing the close involvement of the Germans and Italians in the war. Portugal,
then under the fascist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar, is depicted as a pawn of Germany and Italy for supporting the Nationalists.
The NIC itself is frequently depicted throughout the set as an ineffective and naïve institution.
The collusion of Hitler and Mussolini is frequent subject of the prints. Their relationship with Francisco Franco is parodied
several times; in few circumstances does the Spanish Generalissimo appear on equal footing with his fascist counterparts.
The addition of a Japanese character in the case of one image contrasted with a figure representing the NIC with extended
olive branch offers a haunting precursor to the Axis alliance and the policy of appeasement. It predates both the Munich Agreement
of 1938 and the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939, which preceded the start of the Second World War.
When not explicitly stated in textual reference, recurrent symbols mark the identity of each party. In the German case this
takes the form of the swastika, a Roman fasce for the Italians, and skull and crossbones for the Spanish Nationalists. The
use of the skull and crossbones as a representation for the Nationalists references the informal cult of death associated
with Spanish military officers. The phrase “Viva la Muerte,” (“Long Live Death”) served as a common Nationalist battle cry
throughout the war.
Title:
БЕШЕННЫЕ СОБАКИ ФАШИЭМА
Translated Title:
RABID FASCIST DOGS
Artist:
Рис. Кукрыниксы
Date:
1936
In this image, a Republican trains his gun on a pack of wild dogs meant to portray the Spanish Nationalists and their German
and Italian supporters. This rather explicit representation of the Soviet stance on fascism was perhaps the most widely circulated
cartoon of the set.
Title:
АРИИСКИЕ БРАТЬЯ ПО КРОВИ (ПРОЛИТОЙ)
Translated Title:
ARYAN BROTHERS BY BLOOD (SHED)
Artist:
Рис. Бор. Ефимова
Date:
1936
Image Text:
,,... Германский фашизм драпирующийся в тогу защитника арийской расы, повидимому, не испытывает никакой совестливости от того,
что ему приходится вести в бой против арийского испанского народа не аийских мавров…“ (Аплодисменты, смех, оживление в зале).
(Из выступления М. М. Литвинова на VIII Чрезвычайном съезде Советов).
Image Text Translation:
“… German fascism, draped in the toga of the defender of the Aryan race, does not apparently feel any qualms of conscience
when bringing non-Aryan Moors to fight against the Aryan people of Spain…” (Audience applauds and laughs).
(M. M. Litvinov, Speech delivered at the Eighth Extraordinary Congress of Soviets)
A deliberate play on the fascist conception of Aryan racial superiority, this cartoon shows a military officer embracing a
thuggish Moroccan soldier. Money has been stuffed into the back pocket of the Moroccan soldier to suggest his reasons for
fighting as part of the Army of Africa. The quote was taken from the speech presented by Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs
Maxim Litvinov to the delegates at the 1936 gathering of the formal governing body of the Soviet Union.
Title:
КОГДА ДРУЗЬЯ ОСТАЮТСЯ НАЕДИНЕ…
Translated Title:
WHEN FRIENDS ARE LEFT ALONE…
Artist:
Рис. Бор. Ефимова
Date:
1937
Image Text:
ГЕРМАНСКИЙ ФАШИСТ: - Э-эх… Союзничка бог послал! ИТАЛЬЯНСКИЙ ФАШИСТ: - Сам то ты хорош…
Image Text Translation:
GERMAN FASCIST: - Eh…what a weak ally God has sent!
ITALIAN FASCIST: - You ‘re no good, Boss…
Hitler and Mussolini appear bandaged in this drawing, their territorial ambitions in Spain – indicated by a map of Spain (КАРТА
ИСПАПИИ) hanging on the left side – having been set back by a series of military losses that have left them wounded. Each
bandage bears the name of a separate blunder: Madrid (МАДРИД), Guadalajara (ГВАДАЛАХАРА), Pasoblanco (ПОСОБЛАНКО), and Jarama
(ХАРАМА).
Title:
НОВЫЕ УСПЕХИ ,,НЕВМЕШАТЕЛЬСТВА”
Translated Title:
LATEST SUCCESS OF “NON-INTERVENTION”
Artist:
Рис. Бор. Ефимова
Image Text:
ТРОФЕИ ФАШИСТСКИХ УБИЙЦ
Image Text Translation:
TROPHIES OF FASCIST KILLER.
One of several attempts to directly associate large numbers of civilian deaths – especially those of children – with the involvement
of German and Italian weaponry in the Spanish Civil War, this image features photographic representations of young boys and
girls killed in the midst of the fighting overshadowed by elated caricatures of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.
Title:
,, И готов я всю Гренаду
За любовь твою отдать.
Выходи ж на серенаду
Я не в силах больше ждать “
Translated Title:
“I’m ready also to give
all of Granada for your love.
Yield to this serenade,
for I don’t have the strength to wait long.”
Artist:
Рис. Кукрыниксы
Date:
1936
The title of this balcony scene reads as lyrics set to a serenade by Francisco Franco designed to curry favor with Adolf Hitler
and Benito Mussolini. A small dog with top hat on the balcony is likely meant to portray members of the Spanish financial
establishment, on whom the Francoist uprising was also heavily reliant.
Title:
ПЕРВАЯ КОЛОНИЯ ,,ТРЕТЬЕЙ ИМПЕРИИ”
Translated Title:
FIRST COLONY OF THE “THIRD REICH”
Artist:
Рис. Бор. Ефимова
Date:
1936
Image Text:
КОНКВИСТАТОРЫ XX века
Image Text Translation:
“20th CENTURY CONQUISTADORS”
An ironic take on the proud view of Spain’s Nationalists toward the country’s colonial history, this cartoon shows Adolf Hitler
as conquistador claiming Nazi ownership of Spanish territory. At one foot grovels a prostrate Francisco Franco (ФРАНКО).
The other foot appears to step almost directly on the Spanish city of Burgos (БУРГОС), capital of the Nationalist government.
Title:
МОЛЧАНИЕ—ЭОЛОТО
Translated Title:
“SILENCE—GOLD”
Artist:
Рис. Кукрыниксы
Date:
1937
A bound Portugal (ПОРТУГАЛИЯ) receives money for its silence. A more fitting translation for the Russian title might read
“silence is golden.” During the war, Portugal offered support to the Nationalists and received aid from German and Italian
sources as well.
Title:
НА УЛИЦАХ МАЛАГИ
Translated Title:
IN THE STREETS OF MALAGA
Artist:
Рис. Л. Бродаты
Image Text:
- А именем Фюрера мы наэовем следующий главный проспект…
Image Text Translation:
- And we shall name after the Fuhrer the next main street…
Another variation on the theme of German conquest of Spanish territory, this image portrays German soldiers renaming the avenues
of one bombed coastal town with the bodies of civilians strewn about. Suggestive of such colonial ends, a sign placed on one
building reads Plymouth Avenue (ПРОСПЕКТ Н МЕНИ ПЛИМУТА)
Title:
СУВЕРЕННЫЙ ВОЖДЬ ,,НЕЗАВСИМОЙ” ФАШИСТСКОЙ ИСПАНИИ
Translated Title:
THE SOVERIEGN LEADER OF “INDEPENDANT” FASCIST SPAIN
Artist:
Рис. Кукрыниксы
Date:
1937
In this caricature, Francisco Franco has been stuffed into the back pocket of a Nazi officer, implying the fealty of the General
to German officials. More to the point, he is seen here as a pawn of more devious German designs.
Title:
Придите все страждущие и аэ успокою вас…
Translated Title:
“Come unto Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…”
Artist:
Рис. М. Черемных
Date:
1936
This title, taken from Matthew 11:28, portrays a common Soviet and far left Spanish Republican view of the most penitent sectors
of the Catholic clergy as being tied to the fascist conspiracy.
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