Struggles against isolation

Copying propaganda posters (click to enlarge)

We are all lost, so lost, vulnerable and insecure. We are separated from love at birth, we are separated from God, from each other. All we want, all we yearn for is to connect. ― Kamand Kojouri

Cold War paranoia

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These are images, gathered around the web, of early American Cold War propaganda. They're posters, advertisements and comic book covers. They appear lurid, over-the-top and slightly hysterical to modern eyes, but it should be remembered that they were created by people who had gone through WWII, so the thought of cataclysmic global war was not an abstraction to them.

There are more examples after the jump. 

Canadian WWII posters

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Canada declared war on Germany in 1939 after the invasion of Poland. It was the first time Canada, as a fully sovereign nation, ever declared war. It contributed enormously to the allied war effort. 

These images, and the ones after the jump, are just a small sample from the Canada at War forum thread Canadian Second World War Propaganda Posters & Sketch's. There are many, many more at the link, and the Canada at War website is a fantastic resource detailing Canada's contribution to WWII as well as the other wars she has been involved in.

Italian WWII propaganda posters

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Italian WWII propaganda posters are different than the usual posters from that era in that they come in two distinct phases: the early triumphal phase, and the posters they produced as the war began to go bad for them. 

In that later phase the posters are much darker and more violent as they connect American bombing raids with American gangsters and the defiling of Italian/Roman culture. They also appeal to racial fears of black American troops in a starkly racist manner.

There are more posters after the jump.

Spanish Civil War posters

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The Spanish Civil War was an ideological conflict that presaged WWII. It pitted fascists, royalists, and conservatives against communists, socialists, unionists and republicans. It began in 1936 with a partial military coup, and ended in 1939 with Franco's dictatorship.

It engendered considerable passion. The fighting was often brutal, with citizens not spared. Many of the horrors of the coming World War were tested on its battlefields. From our perspective neither side, the communists nor the fascists, offer much. In the end it seems that it was just the misery of the 20th Century condensed.

This post shows some of the posters from the factions who fought the war. They are in the usual heroic and muscular style of the propaganda posters of the day, but there is also an undeniable violent edge to them. There are more after the jump.

Chinese propaganda posters

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The website Chinese Posters has a large collection of Chinese propaganda posters sorted by year, theme and artist. I've posted some examples on this page and after the jump. Tthere are many, many more at the Chinese Posters site.