The Spanish Civil ran from 1936 until 1939. It was a bloody conflict where at times brother fought against brother and whole villages were wiped out. Propaganda played a vital role in the war as it was not only a battle of bombs and bullets but also of minds. The main reason for this was the fact that so many political movements were rampant at this time. Before the war the rich landowners and the inner city factory owners ruled Spain. The small farmers and working class were given little and lived an almost slave like extistence. When the communist party came to power and wanted to start taking land way from the wealthy property owners and giving it to the impoverished farmer's war broke.
During the war there was the left wing made up of a patchwork of political parties and radical movements and the right wing was also fragmented among church supporters and landowners. Some of the parties in the left wing side were the anarchists, communists, Marxists, Trotsky's they all joined forces to fight against Franco and has army that was made up of members of the Spanish military and volunteers. Whilst the war was underway the right were united and fighting in unison. However, the leftist were still fighting amongst themselves believing that the war was already won and wondering what political direction Spain would take after the war.
For this reason many of the best Spanish civil war propaganda posters were produced by the left. These were plastered on the walls of the streets of all of Spain's major cities; they were designed to appeal to the primarily illiterate population. They were therefore colourful and inspirational. The messages displayed by the posters varied considerably. Some were to tell the inhabitants of the city to evacuate or help their fellow citizens others were political propaganda attempting to win the hearts and minds of the people. All sides produced and published posters during the war and they also often featured hero's from either side. The anarchist legend f Bueneventura Durutti featured in a lot of the posters while Franco was a popular figure in the poster of the right. Many communist posters were published that accused Franco of been merely a puppet for Nazi Germany and likewise posters from the right accused the left of been soviet.
However these posters were used one has to appreciate them. They are colourful and inspirational and serve to remind us of a very important time in Spanish and world history. What happened in Spain was merely a precursor to what happened in the rest of the world afterwards. The artists of the posters were often unknown and unfortunately unaccredited as well. This website is dedicated to the posters I've done my best to arrange them in a way that's easily accessible.
During the war there was the left wing made up of a patchwork of political parties and radical movements and the right wing was also fragmented among church supporters and landowners. Some of the parties in the left wing side were the anarchists, communists, Marxists, Trotsky's they all joined forces to fight against Franco and has army that was made up of members of the Spanish military and volunteers. Whilst the war was underway the right were united and fighting in unison. However, the leftist were still fighting amongst themselves believing that the war was already won and wondering what political direction Spain would take after the war.
For this reason many of the best Spanish civil war propaganda posters were produced by the left. These were plastered on the walls of the streets of all of Spain's major cities; they were designed to appeal to the primarily illiterate population. They were therefore colourful and inspirational. The messages displayed by the posters varied considerably. Some were to tell the inhabitants of the city to evacuate or help their fellow citizens others were political propaganda attempting to win the hearts and minds of the people. All sides produced and published posters during the war and they also often featured hero's from either side. The anarchist legend f Bueneventura Durutti featured in a lot of the posters while Franco was a popular figure in the poster of the right. Many communist posters were published that accused Franco of been merely a puppet for Nazi Germany and likewise posters from the right accused the left of been soviet.
However these posters were used one has to appreciate them. They are colourful and inspirational and serve to remind us of a very important time in Spanish and world history. What happened in Spain was merely a precursor to what happened in the rest of the world afterwards. The artists of the posters were often unknown and unfortunately unaccredited as well. This website is dedicated to the posters I've done my best to arrange them in a way that's easily accessible.