ROSTA poster by Mikhail Cheremnykh. Russia, 1920.

General Description: Issued by ROSTA (The Russian Telegraph Agency) describing what could happen if Poland was allowed to take over in the Soviet Union.

The captions read from left to right: top: a) workers if you are eating a crust of bread and are blaming the USSR. b) There will be tons of bread after the Poles win but it will be devoured by the scoundrels, centre: a) peasants, if you are tired of the war and you are torn away from the land. b) The Polish Bosses, after their victory, will teach you this kind of tilling of the land [i.e. digging your own grave], bottom: a) And if you feel that Transport is destroyed today. b) This is the kind of transport you will get [i.e. in a coffin]. The final caption reads: This is why all workers have only one conversation with those bosses - using the rifle. This is one of the sol called 'Window' posters, said to have been invented by Cheremnykh, and displayed in windows of empty shops and business premises. Similar posters were shown in Art and Revolution, Arts Council, Great Britain, 1971.

E.1261-1989