Old love never dies, USSR, 1970
Despite public opposition, the Conservative government in England has resumed negotiations with the racist leaders of Rhodesia.
Illustration by G. Vīndedzis
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 19 hours ago
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid
r/TheMatpatEffect r/AskHistory r/ModernPropaganda r/AskHistorians r/ColdWarPosters r/PropagandaPosters r/anthroswim
▲ 125 r/PropagandaPosters
—Is this the Caucasus already? —No, this is superphosphate. Next comes potassium salt, and only then the Caucasus and the sea…, USSR, 1978
Illustration by G. Karavaeva
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 3 days ago
▲ 251 r/PropagandaPosters
The girlfriend left him, Comrade Inspector, so bear shot himself, USSR, 1977
Illustration by B. Savkov based on a story by M. Tokarev (Kabardino-Balkarian ASSR)
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 9 days ago
▲ 2 r/AskHistory
How was Soviet anti-Western newspaper propaganda organized?
In particular, I am interested in answers to the following questions:
How did editors select material for publication, and how did authors choose what to write about? This was clearly influenced by the Soviet agenda, but how, aside from focusing on topics raised at party conferences? If we’re talking about correspondents based in other countries, how were they influenced by the local agenda there?
To put it simply, why did a Soviet newspaper decide to publish an article about, say, neo-fascist groups in Japan, rather than about the drug trade in Paris?
Is it known what the ratio was between original material, translations with source citations, and outright plagiarism? How were sources for articles selected? Were they more often mainstream newspapers, communist publications from the country in question, or something else?
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 15 days ago
▲ 21 r/ModernPropaganda
About Andrew Tate's arrival in Moscow, Russia, 2026
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 15 days ago
▲ 328 r/PropagandaPosters
An anti-Semite is dear to the Entente. The Entente is a bunch of pogromists, USSR, 1919
From “The Soviet Alphabet” by V. Mayakovsky, the letter A.
In Russian, “antisemite” and “Entente” both begin with the same letter A.
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 17 days ago
▲ 8 r/AskHistory
To what extent were people before the Age of Enlightenment familiar with the concept of paranormal hoaxes?
In the past, belief in magic and the existence of supernatural beings was widespread in one form or another, unlike today. And while skepticism regarding both is relatively common in our time, what was the situation like before the Age of Enlightenment?
How often did people of that era entertain the possibility that magicians, priests, and other such figures were not merely lying, but were fabricating "miracles" and "magic", that ghosts, devils, and other supernatural creatures were actually bandits, smugglers, pranksters, and the like in disguise? How often were such assumptions the result of genuine exposes and self-exposures, and how often were they a tool in the struggle between different groups of people (adherents of one religion accusing another of performing “miracles” that were merely tricks, absolute monarchs attacking the church for staging false miracles to bolster their own influence, etc.)? I am most interested in assumptions of the first kind.
How often were such accusations of hoaxes directed only at specific individuals, and how often at all magicians, priests, and the like? Were there instances when religious and magical figures themselves exposed such practices, whether as part of competition or in the fight against unscrupulous charlatans?
Here are a few examples of such skepticism from that era to better understand the issue:
In "Book of Charlatans", a 13th-century work from the Abbasid Caliphate that exposes various forms of fraud, it is described how spirit summoners mimic the appearances of jinn;
In the satirical, anti-clerical 16th-century Spanish work "The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities", a seller of fake indulgences encounters a priest who exposes him in church in front of a large crowd. The seller then asks God to punish the priest for his lies, and the priest immediately begins to convulse, while the flock rushes to buy indulgences. Later, the seller’s servant overhears his master celebrating this charade with the priest.
Are there any modern works on this subject?
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 19 days ago
▲ 30 r/PropagandaPosters
The Return of the Prodigal Son (almost by Rembrandt), USSR, 1977
A man returned from “a place not so far away” (a metaphor for prison, written on his suitcase) to the trading post (inscription at the top).
Illustraton by V. Shkarban
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 19 days ago
— And we’re coming to stay with you, Murochka, like relatives, for the whole summer—the whole cat family..., USSR, 1978
*Murochka—a diminutive form of the cat name Murka
Illustration by I. Semenov
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 20 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHistory
Did the Ku Klux Klan have any board games?
Various governmental and non-governmental organizations have tried to use the games for propaganda purposes, whether among adults or children. I know that Nazi groups in the United States have tried to create interest in their ideology through RPGs, but what about another racist organization, the Klan? Did it try to attract attention through specialized versions of well-known board games, especially at the peak its popularity, in the 20-30s?
If so, in what way-by releasing the necessary games directly to the market, offering its members to promote the ideas of the KKK through the introduction of special rules for neutral games, or otherwise?
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 21 days ago
▲ 11 r/AskHistory
How did the authorities in the USSR and the other socialist countries treat ufology and cryptozoology within their own borders?
Did they view these ideas as bourgeois nonsense that needed to be combated, or, on the contrary, did they promote them? If the latter, for what reasons? To distract the population from domestic problems, or, say, to promote their own narratives through these channels? Or did both denial and promotion occur? How did the balance between these two trends shift?
In the case of the promotion of ufology and cryptozoology by the authorities of socialist countries, did the opposition expose the promotion of such ideas? Are there known cases where the authorities of such countries gave the green light to fabricate evidence of the existence of UFOs or cryptids to achieve their goals?
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 22 days ago
▲ 25 r/PropagandaPosters
State Insurance, English Style, USSR, 1923
At the last session of the House of Commons, a bill proposed by the British government was considered, aimed at protecting Indian princes from uprisings by their subjects against their rule.
From the newspapers.
The British said:
- “Hurrah for all the princes!
It’s high time we stepped in
To protect them!”
John Bull insists to the nobles:
“I’m ready to help you…
We can insure you
Against all manner of rebellions!”
“Whoever does not silently submit
To the princes’ authority,
Let them expect a welcome from us:
Prison and the whip!
If the black Indian prince
Does not strike fear into you,
Then an English agent
Will grind you to dust without delay!”
So the English lived,
Grieving only for others.
They forgot just one thing:
To insure… themselves!
John Bull, pitiful with fear,
Screams in the heat of battle:
Above him, sticks are raised
By his former slaves!…
Illustration by M. Cheremnykh.
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 22 days ago
The Exodus of the Hyperboreans, Russia, c. late '90s–early '00s
Some Russian far-right neo-pagans believe that 112,000 years ago, the forces of the Evil God seized one of Earth’s three original moons. As a result, the supreme god of the White Race was forced to destroy it, which led to a shift in the Earth’s axis of rotation and the flooding of Hyperborea, the original homeland of the Aryans. The surviving Hyperboreans migrated south, where they founded Atlantis and Asgard.
Artist Vsevolod Ivanov depicted this moment of the Exodus from neo-Nazi mythology.
u/Koloamanmaxi — 27 days ago
▲ 26 r/PropagandaPosters
The horrifying legend of Bluebeard’s seven wives, USSR, 1924
How it was imagined in the past.
And how it is imagined today.
Illustrations by Y. Ganf (top) and K. Rotov (bottom).
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago
▲ 154 r/PropagandaPosters
Bloody vulgarity, USSR, 1926
It seemed we’d consigned to the museums of antiquity
The bloody vulgarity of years gone by,
And yet again, “murders of jealousy”
Have crowded the newspaper columns.
It’s not idlers, not well-fed dandies
Who satisfy their lust with tragedy,
No! Under the spell of pulpy romance,
Vulgarity creeps into the working-class family.
The gruesome novel of a flushed fashionista
Would not make us sound the alarm,
“Red Army man killed a working woman,”
A Red soldier killed a proletarian!
And next to it, a note: “Rival weavers,”
Jealousy… Sulfuric acid…
You look, you read—and you can’t even believe it…
Where does such emptiness in the soul come from?
This is what we must ponder,
This is where we must direct our gaze,
More terrifying than opium, vodka, and incense
Is the vulgar poison of rotten romance.
Hastily hiding behind a new frame,
Vulgarity laughs with an old face
At the bewildered woman-female,
At the frenzied man-male.
Vas. Lebedev-Kumach.
Illustration by Y. Ganf
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago
▲ 199 r/PropagandaPosters
A criminal among criminals, USSR, 1932
The hero of the day in America’s bourgeois press is the leader of a band of gangsters, Al Capone, who has a fortune of $700 million. In 1931, newspapers published over 5,000 photographs of Al Capone.
Al Capone: “Gentlemen, why all this honor? After all, I’ve only killed 39 people, and I’m nowhere close to any of you!…”
Illustration by Y. Ganf
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago
▲ 129 r/PropagandaPosters
The Unfortunate Savage, USSR, 1925
An Italian scientist has discovered a previously unknown tribe in the Himalayas.
(From the newspapers).
Bourgeois professor: Don’t lose heart, you savage. I have discovered you, and in two or three weeks you will draw closer to our superior European culture and take on a truly human form, just like mine!
Illustration by Y. Ganf.
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago
The surest way, USSR, 1923
The People's Commissariat of Health has been invited to send its representatives to the Congress on the Improvement of the Human Race, which is opening in Berlin.
From the newspapers.
USSR: “Put that degenerate—Capital—in a coffin, and you'll immediately see how the human race improves!”
Illustration by M. Cheremnykh.
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago
▲ 16 r/PropagandaPosters
The Monkey Riot, USSR, 1923
Professor Voronov devised a method for transplanting monkey glands into humans to rejuvenate them.
A monkey with a gun: “Hey! That’s enough! You’ve had your fill of our blood.”
Illustration by I. Malyutin.
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago
▲ 42 r/PropagandaPosters
Form and Content, USSR, 1970
NATO officers are dealing drugs in Europe
Labels on the right: marijuana, heroin, hashish, LSD
Illustration by N. Lisogorsky
u/Rhinocero_Elephantid — 1 month ago