«Forward to the great aim!»: the image of the USSR and China in propaganda posters of 1940-1960s

In the last century China began to play an important role in the Russian foreign policy and recently in domestic as well. This situation provides the favor for increasing of the interest in the Celestial, including the historical background. The aim of the article is to discover the specifics of the mutual perception of the USSR and PRC in 1940-1960s. The period is notable because of some reasons. Firstly, chronically it coincided in time of the formation of the present Chinese state, in which considerable role was played by the Soviet participation. Secondly, the development of the relations excelled by intensive dynamism, including obvious moral rise, highly dramatic fall and crisis as well, so all the events during that era should be considered as a historical lesson. It is reasonable to analyze the images of the USSR and China in several dimensions. On the one hand, in the framework of the official point of view, considered on the basis of Russian and Chinese visual propaganda and, partly, press. On the other hand, by the opinions of contemporaries, reflecting in the personal sources: letters and memoirs. The analysis of the propaganda posters has shown, since 1950s the mutual perception of the USSR and China was formed against the background of calls to go to the victory of Communism together, constructing military or labor cooperation. In the both countries subjects became classical, in which the central role was played by a two male of female images, personalizing the unity of the nations, state symbolic and slogans, written in Russian and in Chinese at the same time. Similar materials were actual approximately until 1962 and were stopped publishing by the influence of the ideological split. According to the personal sources at the turn of 1950-1960s Soviet people indeed perceived China as a friendly or an allied country. Nevertheless the account of the alliance differed: some of the citizens believed it as the undisputable evidence of moral superiority of the Communist ideology and the great advantage in the global rivalry against imperialism, but others considered allies as an undesirable burden against the background of the unsolved internal problems. In general the paradox of the actual propagandistic campaign was: the main rallying the USSR and PRC committed argument - Communism, as a single final aim, did not imply the solidarity of the means of achievement. But the both countries' persistent desire to globalize their own view of the Communist doctrine in total led to the negative results, despite the efforts to form the positive image among the masses.

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