The fascization of the enemy image in the Soviet visual propaganda at the beginning of the Cold War (1946-1964)

In the article the experience of the fascization of the enemy image in the visual propaganda of the USSR at the beginning of the Cold War is considered. The textual and graphic content of the propaganda posters and newspaper caricatures, devoted to foreign matters, is studied for the presence of concepts and images associated with fascism, such as: Swastika, Nazi salute, "Imperial" eagle-vulture, elements of the German WWII military uniform, as well as Hitler and his allies. By the facts from the results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis, the political powers and social phenomena are elicited, which in the Soviets' public consciousness with the greatest possibility were interpreted as fascists'. The analysis has shown the Cold War in the visual propaganda of the USSR began exactly from the hint about the echoes of fascism, sounding as before on the European post-WWII political arena. At the same time, fascism was presented as the archetypal evil which, from the Soviet point of view, included almost everyone declaring the outspoken unfriendly policy. In this case, the role of fascists' symbolism could be defined in two ways: on the one hand, to fasten and to strengthen the negative substance of the antagonists' images, and, on the other hand, to create them originally by the semantic value of symbols as such. Therefore, fascism was not a certain regime or ideology, but a category, which meant a definite political behavior. According to the subjects of the posters and the caricatures, the typical features of this behavior include: betrayal of the class or national interests, personal dictatorship, cultivation of aggressive social psychology, waging of offensive wars, ardent anti-Communism, militarism and revanchism, as well as all activities of the de facto Nazism rehabilitation. In modern times, this propagandistic experience shows that in the information war each political power, which consciously or unconsciously has the above-mentioned features, may be associated with fascism on the mental level of mass consciousness.

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