The New Soviet Man
Artist rendering of a lounge and library at a collective farm
“We will achieve even more success towards raising proletarian women in the spirit of
striving for the total triumph
of Socialism, in the spirit of fulfilling the great mandates of
our teacher, Lenin. (Stalin)”
This poster aims at affirming the relationship between Stalin and industrial workers along the lines of "together we are marching forward toward modernity." Under Stalin the revolutionary association between the Bolsheviks and the workers that was forged in the October Revolution of 1917 faded because of the huge expansion of the
the urban working class through the recruitment of peasants into the factories and mines and the enormous
demands placed on workers by the Five Year Plans, demands that prompted grievances and covert
forms of resistance. A poster such as this was likely an attempt to counter dissatisfaction and affirm solidarity between workers and Stalin.
Publisher: Ogiz-Lenizogiz, Leningrad
(Lithography, 70x1005. cm., inv.nr. BG E5/597, coll. Rose)
Stalin towers over the great works of the Five Year Plan, such as the dam in the river Dnepr and the industrial complexes in Magnitogorsk and Stalinsk. Working conditions on these projects are terrible, and large numbers of political prisoners do forced labour. The quote from Stalin above reads: 'The results of the Five Year Plan show that the working class is not only capable of destroying the old, but also of building the new'.
“Great Stalin- a symbol of camaraderie of the peoples of the USSR.”
“Beloved Stalin- the happiness of the people.”
“For the nation’s happiness.”