Introduction

In autumn 1918, the prolific artist Aleksandr Apsit produced an iconic propaganda poster to commemorate the first anniversary of the October Revolution (see cover image). An armed worker and a peasant took centre stage: the worker in a dominant pose, staring firmly into the distance; the peasant's eyes focused on the worker, acknowledging his superiority. Trampled underfoot are the remnants of the repressive tsarist state – crown, imperial shield, double-headed eagle insignia and the broken chains of repression. Behind them, through a gateway they are guarding, are joyous men, women and children waving red flags, fields dotted with hay and an industrialized, modern city, all bathed in the glow of the rising sun. This was the communist utopia. The poster may be a classic example of its genre, but its division of space represents the process of the revolution more than most posters: the destruction of the old regime (successful), workers and peasants acting in unity (the current struggle) and future bliss. Apsit was constrained by the realities of civil war and could not claim that any type of utopia had been achieved in this first year, but he was also emphasizing that revolution is a process, not an event, and that people needed to continue to act to secure a radiant future.