Historical Propaganda
- Where can I find “historical propaganda” to share on this community?
It is no secret this community is inspired from reddit’s r/propagandaposters, so reposting from there is allowed.
However it is encouraged to post from archives, where one can provide a proper source and better historical accuracy. Here is a very incomplete archives directory. Please comment if you have suggestions to add and I will add them :).
Archives Directory
Global
- University of Washington Archives
- WW1 & WW2 propaganda posters
- Al-Ahram Digital archives (Arabic, some english translations)
Europe
UK
France
- Gallica (French, some english translations)
Switzerland
North America
US
Mexico
- Archivo General (in Spanish)
Asia
China
India
Africa
South America
Argentina
- Archivo General (Spanish)
Oceania
Australia
- "Ratapoil doing propaganda" Caricature mocking political opportunists, by anti-Bonapartist (Napoléon) author Daumier. France. 1848.
This image is a satirical lithograph by Honoré Daumier featuring Ratapoil, a recurring character in Daumier's work, who represents the cynical and manipulative supporters of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. The caption reads: "RATAPOIL FESANT DE LA PROPAGANDE" ("Ratapoil making propaganda"). The text below it translates to: "If you love your wife, your house, your field, your heifer [young female cow], and your calf, sign, you don’t have a minute to lose!" In this context, Ratapoil is seen trying to convince a skeptical, working-class man to take political action, likely under false pretenses or through manipulation.
Created in 1848, this lithograph reflects the political turmoil of the time, following the February Revolution, which led to the establishment of the French Second Republic. The character of Ratapoil symbolizes the unscrupulous agents of Bonapartist propaganda, who exploited the fears and concerns of the common people to advance Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's political ambitions. Ratapoil is portrayed as a smooth-talking figure using exaggerated promises and fearmongering to push his agenda. This caricature is a critique of the manipulative tactics used by political operatives who sought to manipulate the public for personal or political gain during this volatile period in French history.
(Unsourced Analysis and Partially Self-Analysed, although facts have been cross-checked with archives).
- Video "Samstags gehört Vati mir" ("Dad is mine on Saturdays", promotional film of the German Trade Union Confederation, 1955/1956)www.hdg.de Gerade auf LeMO gesehen: Video
Unter dem Slogan "Samstags gehört Vati mir" fordert der Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund ab 1956 die 40- Stunden- und 5-Tage-Arbeitswoche. Diese wird in den meisten Wirtschaftsbereichen in den 1960er Jahren eingeführt.
DeepL translation of the information:
> Advertising film by the German Trade Union Confederation. Under the slogan "Dad is mine on Saturdays", the trade unions call for a 40-hour, 5-day working week from 1956. This is introduced in most sectors of the economy in the 1960s.
The video basically presents the various ways you can spend your free saturday. (The DeepL translation of the transcription is bad because it's like a poem.)
- UK Cyclist recruitment poster for the territorial army (1912)
Source: Imperial War Museums
Image Description: > a battle scene set in a British village street, featuring a dismounted Territorial Army cyclist, in uniform and chin-strapped forage cap, loading his rifle. Behind him stand two more members of the battalion, one firing his rifle, the other placed his bicycle against a wall. In the background, the remainder of the battalion come to join them.
- "Columbia demands her children!" Anti-Lincoln, anti-civil war propaganda (US, 1864)
Sourced from the US National Library of Congress
> An impassioned attack on Abraham Lincoln and the human toll of the Union war effort. Columbia, wearing a liberty cap and a skirt made of an American flag, demands, "Mr. Lincoln, give me back my 500,000 sons!!!" At the right, Lincoln, unfazed, sits at a writing desk, his leg thrown over the chair back. A proclamation calling for "500 Thous. More Troops," signed by him, lies at his feet. He replies, "Well the fact is--by the way that reminds me of a Story!!!" The artist refers to the false report published by the "New York World" that Lincoln joked on the battlefield of Antietam. (See "The Commander-in-Chief Conciliating the Soldier's Votes," no. 1864-30.)
Author: Baker, Joseph E., approximately 1837-1914.
Created / Published: [Boston : s.n.], 1864.
- Pamphlet advising on protection against a nuclear attack (1963-1967) UK
The Householder’s Handbook explained how to prepare a home for nuclear attack: Whitewash the house, tape windows and create a safe core in one of the rooms. It listed medicines, food, and supplies needed and explained what to do if there was a nuclear attack. Householders would be able to occupy themselves and their families in preparing for the worst.
Even before the 80’s version, Protect and Survive and the CND peace movement’s riposte – Protest and Survive, the handbook seemed remarkably naïve. A 20-megaton bomb detonated 500 feet above St Paul’s Cathedral in central London would have created a blast wave destroying or damaging buildings for up to 17 kilometres and deliver a lethal dose of radiation for nearly five kilometres.
- Election poster of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1932
> A widely publicized election poster of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1932, with the Three Arrows symbol representing resistance against monarchism, Nazism and communism, alongside the slogan "Against Papen, Hitler, Thälmann"
- WW1 American Propaganda Image
It was inspired by a speech by this man: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Stanton
- "Lebensraum" Nazi Propaganda poster (1943)
Drawing
Marienberg/Saxony, 4. April 1943
42x30cm
© German Historical Museum, Berlin
Inv.-No.: Thu 61/144
The hand-drawn and hand-coloured map sketch illustrates Great German fantasies of the “New Europe” under German rule: The “East” supplies the German Empire, enlarged by conquests, with products from industry and agriculture.
(obligatory fuck Nazis)
