Publisher: Oktiabrenok (October Child)
Author: Agnivtsev, Nikolai IAkovlevich
Artist: Eliseev, Konstantin, Rotov, Konstantin
Materials:
Colors: Black, Black & White, Grey, White
Subjects: Adults, Airplanes, Beds, Belts, Blankets, Boots, Cannons, Children, Clothing, Furniture, Guns, Helmets, Jackets, Pants, People, Pillows, Ships, Shirts, Shoes, Stars, Swords, Symbols, Tanks, Technology, Transportation, Weapons
- 1COMMISSAR FOR THE MILITARY Armed to the teeth, / he is very much preoccupied, / so that enemies, on the mountain / won’t beat you up in a hurry / neither on land / nor at sea / nor in the clouds!
- 2In this illustration, the child is pictured fast asleep. Because of the Military Commissar’s ever-present protection, the child can sleep safely at night. The image of the child stands in stark contrast to the projection of military strength in the background. The boy is wearing the Young Pioneers’ scarf, as he is in other pages of the book. The Young Pioneers was a scouts organization for children 9-15 much like Boy Scouts. The Young Pioneers were heralded as the ideal future Soviet citizens and were taught to be model communists.
- 3The soldiers uniform appears to be of the 1922 revision. In 1922, the uniform was strictly enforced across all branches for the first time (34). The three stripes across the collar are called “razgovory” tabs, symbolizing the three centuries of the Romanov dynasty, since the first 1922-issued uniforms were supposedly taken from Tsarist depots by the Bolsheviks (23). The illustration looks nearly identical to the illustration of “Commander of an engineers’ brigade, 1922.” See Khvostov, Mikhail, and Andrei Karachtchouk. The Russian Civil War. (Osprey, 1996).
- 4A swarm of aircraft is flying at the top of the page, showing the USSR’s technological achievement and industrial might. Airplanes were relatively new in 1929, when the book was published. The airplanes flying together in formation in the same direction gives the image a sense of power.
- 5Three ships are seen as well, showing the USSR’s naval strength. There may also be a submarine shown. As part of Stalin’s first 5-year plan, which was around this time, several new ships were built (Demchak 296). After the naval humiliation suffered in the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, it was clear that the Russian/Soviet navy was unable to match its counterparts. This depiction could be representative of the rebuilding effort being undertaken. See Demchak, Tony Eugene. “Reform, Foreign Technology, and Leadership in the Russian Imperial and Soviet Navies, 1881–1941.” (Kansas State University, 2016).
- 6An armored car is shown as well, depicting the USSR’s military strength and technology on land. In the early 1920s, armored vehicles were not taken as seriously by the Red Army, but by the late 1920s, with the deployment of advanced tanks by the British, the Soviets admitted the importance of armored vehicles. Soviet tank production began around this time in 1927, following a 3-year modernization plan (Habeck 77). See Habeck, Mary R. Storm of Steel: The Development of Armor Doctrine in Germany and the Soviet Union, 1919-1939. (Cornell University Press, 2014).
- 7A massive cannon is shown behind the soldier. The cannon is pointed in the same direction as the aircraft, ships, and armored vehicle. Historically, the Russian military has relied heavily on artillery since many battles are fought on land. Though after the publishing of this book, there was a “colossal” build-up of artillery in the 1930s (reflecting the value the Soviet military placed in this type of arms), and this trend continued: lasting through 1989 there was a high proportion of artillery as compared to other armaments in the USSR (Holbrook 18). See Holbrook, James R. “Soviet Artillery in Battle: A Historical Perspective.” Tactical Responses to Concentrated Artillery, vol. 13, Combat Studies Institute, 1990.
- 8In general, the military capabilities of the Soviet Union were substantially disproportionate to its economy. In a way, this disproportionality is replicated in the book, particularly if we consider that the author chose to position the Commissar for Finance directly across from the page for the military: the handful of coins we see on the finance page stand in stark contrast to the overwhelming, page-filling military power displayed across from it. See also: https://voxeu.org/article/soviet-economy-1917-1991-its-life-and-afterlife
- 9All of the military vehicles appear to be facing left. One could take this to mean that they are all facing West, that the Soviet Union’s military might looks Westward to expansion and to defend itself from capitalists. Furthermore, the fact that all the military forces of air, sea, and land are all simultaneously mounting an attack, oriented on parallel lines, reflects the “deep operation” doctrine developed in the late 1920s and 1930s, which emphasizes simultaneous, combined arms and hard-hitting tactical strikes to overwhelm the adversary (Habeck 204). See Habeck, Mary R. Storm of Steel: The Development of Armor Doctrine in Germany and the Soviet Union, 1919-1939. Cornell University Press, 2014.
