Agitation and propaganda played an important role for Soviet society. They allowed the state to own the minds of people, to influence their consciousness. And these phenomena were expressed in numerous posters dedicated to different aspects of people's lives. Many of them have gained great fame. In particular, "Motherland is calling." The poster appeared as a reaction to the beginning of the most destructive and brutal war for our country.
Agitation as a means of influencing public consciousness
As already mentioned, posters were a visual means of transmitting impulses from power to the masses. Why exactly posters? The thing is that the visual image, especially accompanied by test inscriptions, had a direct and necessary effect on a person. The lack of television turned these visual aids into a powerful tool for the indoctrination of people. All of them were thematic and targeted the necessary areas of life. One of such vivid and impressive phenomena was the poster "Motherland Calls." Photos of this appeal can now be seen on the Internet, as well as in museums where copies of the poster and the original itself are stored. It reflects one of the most important events of the country of the Soviets, and perhaps the most important. This was an implacable resistance of all the people of a big country to the vile invaders from Germany and the countries supporting it. It appeared during the first rumble of cannons and bombs exploding on the territory of the USSR, in July it was already published in millions of copies and was located at military gathering points, in crowded places. “Motherland is Calling” - a poster comparable in degree of influence with another cult work of the Second World War - the song “Holy War”
The idea of ​​the artist
The history of the appearance of this work of the Soviet agitprop is very interesting. The author of the poster, “Motherland is Calling,” is Irakli Toidze, a well-known Soviet artist of Georgian descent. He worked in his workshop on the day of the German attack on the USSR , when his peace was disturbed by his wife who burst into a desperate expression on her face . She sincerely bitterly and anxiously told her husband about the beginning of the war. Irakli Moiseevich, as a real artist, noticed genuine sorrow, suffering in the face of his wife and decided, without delay, to capture this moment. The wife of Tamara at the first moment did not understand that her husband asked her to freeze in such a position as to write this look, as concentrated fear and worries of all the mothers of the country for the fate of their children. So the artist caught the concept of his creation and embodied in the form of an appeal "Motherland is calling." The poster immediately received such a name, and everyone, young and old, understood what this woman was calling for with a piercing gaze and emotional gestures.
"Soldier Icon"
The idea and the sketch itself really liked the country's leadership. They perfectly understood the need to inspire the people, to give them unity in the face of such a threat. Irakli Toidze's considerable authority among the party elite also played its role. He was a recognized master, as evidenced by numerous state awards. The author thought for a long time what to put in the woman’s hand, and decided that the upstairs hand would symbolize the call itself. In her right hand, a woman holds the words of a military oath, thereby emphasizing that people did not swear an oath to the state, but to their homeland, which is simply impossible to betray. Hundreds of bayonets behind the figure of the mother personified millions of defenders of the motherland, ready to stand up for her defense at her first call. On June 27, work on the poster was completed, and he entered the printing house. He immediately sold several million copies. But it was constantly reprinted during all wars. The soldiers died in battle and cast as the spell “Motherland Calls”. The poster was a kind of symbol of the entire era of the formidable forties.
Unforgettable Stalingrad
Volgograd is a city that during the war experienced perhaps the most tragic moments of its entire history. It was here that the months-long bloody battles of the German and Soviet troops took place. In order to perpetuate the memory of all the defenders of the city, at the end of the war it was decided to build a monument in the city that would remind new generations of people of the terrible events of that war. A competition for the creation of a monument was announced throughout the Soviet Union. The selection committee received hundreds of thousands of drawings, but all of them were rejected for one reason or another. The commission could not decide on the basic concept of sculpture. And then a sketch of the famous Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich appeared. The government really liked the idea, and it was given the go-ahead to begin work on the construction of the monument. Specially for the project, a mound the height of a five-story building was made on the Mamaev Kurgan. Inside it were the burial places of the city’s defenders.
Symbol of the fight against fascism
The second step was the manufacture of the statue itself. Evgeny Viktorovich did not like the Moscow model. Therefore, for several months the work was at last, in Volgograd, a woman was found who liked the architect. With her, a sculpture was made. The name of this woman - Valentina Izotova - has gone down in history forever. For many years, painstaking work was going on. And then came the year 1967. Residents of the city were able to see this wonderful creation. For him, like for the famous poster of Toidze, the name “Motherland is Calling” was fixed. The statue is located at the highest point of the city, its height is 85 meters. Twice since its opening, it has been restored. It makes an amazing impression of the bitterness of loss, but at the same time of triumph over the defeated enemy, and the sword, as it were, speaks of the inevitability of punishing all the enemies of our country.