War & Propaganda Posters

A spade. A raised arm. A whole future promised in a few square feet of paper. Propaganda gives everyday objects and gestures an extraordinary amount of work to do.

Digitally restored reproductions from £19.99, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper with pigment inks. Printed locally and shipped from the UK, US and Canada. Supplied unframed.

Vintage war and propaganda posters — The Vintage Poster Archives collection cover

The war and propaganda poster reproductions at Vintage Poster Archives bring together British wartime campaigns, Soviet visions of collective effort and Chinese images of industry and progress. Some persuade through reassurance; others depend on pressure or a sense of duty. Look at the visual invention and the argument behind it. A good place to begin is the detail that first caught your eye.

Browse by period: WW1 posters · WW1 recruitment posters · WW2 posters · British WW2 home front posters · Soviet propaganda posters · Cold War propaganda posters · Soviet space posters · Chinese propaganda posters.

What is the image asking you to do?

A propaganda poster is designed to move an audience towards a view or an action. It may ask people to enlist, save, work, keep quiet or believe in a promised future. The request can be direct, but the visual argument often begins before the words are read.

A heroic figure suggests an example to follow. An ordinary household object can make a national campaign feel close to home. A caricature can turn an opponent into something simple and threatening. Reading these devices alongside the slogan helps explain why the image takes the form it does.

Choose a period or follow a theme

The collection provides several routes into the subject. First World War posters introduce recruitment, finance and public appeals. WW2 posters add a wide range of wartime and home front campaigns. Soviet propaganda moves through work, public duty, political imagery and space exploration, while Chinese posters offer another view of collective effort and progress.

You can also compare a theme across periods. Food, secrecy, youth, industry and the future recur in different settings. The similarities are worth noticing, but so are the differences in audience and purpose. Two posters that use the same gesture may be making very different demands.

Looking closely without losing the context

Colour, lettering and composition are part of what makes these designs compelling. They are also the means through which the message operates. A visually striking image can contain a coercive, discriminatory or misleading claim. Historical context allows the design to be appreciated and examined with its argument still visible.

For a display or study group, begin with a clear reason for placing works together. One campaign seen through several images can be as useful as a comparison across countries. The product listings identify the individual designs and the available reproduction sizes.