newman_d_d

=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

In Russia, Lenin and the Bolsheviks realized that at the time of the 1917 Rev and the declaration of the new Soviet state, that they needed to "gain control over the sphere of public discourse and to transform popular attitudes and beliefs by introducing new symbols, rituals, and visual imagery." To bring the Russian peasantry on their side, they put a lot of time and energy into what is known as 'invented traditions'."Invented tradition...a set of practices...which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past.". This was meant to smooth over the transition from Autocracy to Communism in the years following the 1918 revolution, in order to keep unity both inside the party and to keep the peasantry on the side of the bolsheviks via a "seizure of meaning". "For the Bolsheviks...it was critically important to establish in public discourse the heroic position and collective identity of the working class.". The art of the post-1917-Revolution period had several defining features. Not only did the Bolsheviks create new symbols that are currently well-known (e.g. the Hammer and Sickle), but they also relied heavily on traditional symbols the peasantry could easily Identify with. This was mostly in the form of Religious symbols. Since the Russian Orthodox Church played a great deal of importance in the life of the average Russian serf, it was important that symbols such as the Cross, the Steeple of a Cathedral, the star... were used to associate the new Russian Government with the same Russian faith that the people trusted in. By using trusted, well-known symbols, the Bolsheviks could imply a sort of "continuity with the past.". It was important that the Russian people were united under the Bolsheviks, otherwise their still-unstable government could easily be toppled by foreigners who may have wanted to take things like land and wealth from Russia (which unfortunately had happened in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in WWI by Germany). Another way of Identifying with the average Russian peasant was the use of another familiar symbol- the blacksmith. " "[talking about the male blacksmith in posters and images]...No other visual symbol-except for the emblems of the red star and the hammer and sickle, introduced in the spring of 1918-was as widely disseminated in Bolshevik Russia or as closely associated with the new regime.". The use of a male figure as the primary worker kept in line with traditional values in Russia, which held the conservative stance that it was man's place to work and women's place to hold the house.
 * COMPARISONS IN NAZI AND COMMUNIST ART**

__(see the sources page for the footnote numerical references in this next part)__ Similarly, Nazi art saw a similar use of the traditonal roles of male-female work relationships. Men were seen to be the soldiers and workers, while women and children stayed at home and stayed at school[1]. "Here art crosses over into military and state matters.". Many pictures from the book 'Adolf Hitler: Pictures from the life of the Fuhrer' reinforce this notion[2]. Keep the same roles for relationships and for work also helped to keep the average German in line with Nazi beliefs at the time.

In Nazi art as well, symbols remained a very important part of propaganda. The major symbol used by the Nazis, the famous black swastika[3], was actually a well-known and ancient hindu symbol for good luck. Other features of that particular poster are the depiction of Hitler as a sort of an idealized, God-like creation (the light shining on him, him being in the forefront of the picture), leading the many soldiers in the background (all male, and weilding flags with swastikas) and holding a flag himself. There is also the Eagle above Hitler, a reference to Jesus (a dove descended on Jesus when he was baptized by John the Baptist) and linking Hitler to him in a similarly 'blessed' and 'pure' way.The message is 'Long live Germany!'. Hitler often featured in Nazi pictures and art, almost as often as the Swastika. This is one of the more famous pictures, used after the German 'Anschluss' with Austria.[4]. It says "One people, One Reich, One Fuhrer" ([]).

In Russian art, much of the subject matter tended to center on the use of SYMBOLS, and the SYMBOLIC value of people. E.g. the Red star, red equating to revolution (and thus, was almost always used in posters by the Bolsheviks), and on another level, to war, red being an ancient color representing war and bloodshed, as well as passion and anger, key to what the Bolsheviks wished to incite in the Russian people in an effort to unite them. Other symbols centered around an agricultural and rural population, of which Russia's population was still mostly made of (4/5 of the population in Russia in 1914 were still peasants). Key symbols like the Blacksmith, and the hammer and sickle, were meant to attract the working class peoples of both the city and the countryside.
 * CONTRASTS IN NAZI AND COMMUNIST ART**

In Nazi Germany however, most of the art was meant to GLORIFY PEOPLE of note, and to rejoice the PEOPLE of Germany. One of the chapters of the book 'Adolf Hitler: Pictures from the life of the Fuhrer' talks about Hitler and the German people ( []) and how much respect they had for him. The Art correspondingly also depicts Hitler in a very grand and powerful way[3]. While there are symbols, such as the swastika and the eagle, the forefront image is not that of a 'typical' german, but that of Adolf Hitler leading a crowd of troops. Other poster center around the German people as well, including this one[5] which shows one worker and one scientist holding hands (signifying the unity of the German peoples, no matter what their class or profession) and behind them, two German soldiers (showing how all Germans are comrades, no matter what they did before the war, and that all Germans are soldiers for Germany, white and blue collar alike). This shows a distinct difference from Bolshevik art- the Russians wanted to focus on the serfs because they made up the majority of the population in the country. That is why the hammer and sickle were used in the national emblem- to emphasize the central position of the worker in the new Russia, as opposed to the Tsar during the years of the Romanov Dynasty. The Germans focused on the Unity of Military and State camaraderie. "Here art crosses over into military and state matters." They wanted people to be united, despite their social class.