Behind the Propaganda Poster: Environmental Policy in the USSR

September 16, 2020

‘April is the month of cleanliness”, declares a serenely smiling sun. Broom at the ready, she reminds us to ‘tidy up our environment’ in this Lithuanian propaganda poster from 1972.

The Policy Behind the Propaganda

It wasn’t a new sentiment. The Soviet Union had been proactive about environmental protection for almost a century already. In the 1890s, ‘Zapovednik’ – essentially nature sanctuaries – had been established across the USSR. Intended to be kept ‘forever wild’, access by the public was restricted in order to protect sites of particular natural or cultural heritage.

Environmental protection was still enough of a priority in 1972 – the same year this poster was published – that both the USSR and the USA signed the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. Significantly, it was signed at the same summit as the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). SALT curtailed the manufacture of missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, and signalled the beginning of the end of the Cold War. That environmental policy was on the same agenda shows quite how seriously it was taken by both superpowers.

A graveyard of ships kilometres from the shore of the Aral Sea. Credit: Vladimir Mulder

Did the Propaganda Work?

But despite this promising approach to public policy, the USSR still saw one of the worst ecological disasters of the 20th century.

The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world, equivalent to the size of Ireland. In the 1960s, the USSR enlisted prisoners and volunteers to build over 20,000 miles of irrigation canals. The goal was to divert water from the Aral Sea to plains in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where water-intensive crops like cotton and melons could be grown and exported, reducing dependence on international food markets.

The Aral Sea quickly began to quickly recede. By 2007, it had shrunk to 10% of its original size. The impacts have been catastrophic: islands once used as biological weapon testing sites and dumping grounds have been left exposed. Pesticides and fertilisers have polluted the remaining water supply and soil, leading to rapid desertification. There are high levels of infertility, miscarriages, and complications during pregnancy and in birth in the area, while 60,000 fishermen have lost their livelihood.

It’s not all bad news. Kazakhstan and several NGOs are working to reverse the damage done and life is slowly returning to the Aral Sea. Shop our environmental posters below or explore the collection here.

Flora | Russia | 1990£600.00

The Decoration of Our Homeland is in Your Hands | Russia | 1980£150.00

Plant More Trees | Bulgaria | 1961£300.00

List of all posters

Further Reading

Tetris: The Game That Challenged Soviet Control and Conquered the World

The state controlled almost all aspects of daily life in the USSR, including entertainment. However, everything changed in 1985 when Alexey Pajitnov created an unapproved computer game based on a puzzle game from his childhood. The game consisted of random pieces that players would rotate to fill rows, and when each row was completed, it was deleted. He named it "Tetris," combining "tetra," the Greek word for four, and "tennis."

May 11, 2023

East vs West: A Comparison of Soviet & American Cold War Posters

As the dust of WWII settled, the uneasy peace between the Western superpowers and the USSR was faltering. Tensions escalated as both sides built ever bigger nuclear arsenals. But, artists weren’t confined to the sidelines. They were fighting an ideological war, using propaganda to win the hearts of their own people and to sway opinions beyond their borders.

February 15, 2023

The Buran: The Soviet Response to NASAs Space Shuttle

On November 15, 1988, the Soviet Union's first reusable space shuttle, the Buran, launched in what is now present-day Kazakhstan. This little-known chapter in the Cold War space race saw the Soviets build their own version of NASA's Space Shuttle to challenge the USA for space supremacy. The Buran, Russian for "blizzard", was once the future of the Soviet space program. But, its first flight was also its last. A year after its launch, the Berlin Wall fell and the USSR collapsed. The space shuttle program was suspended. In 1993, it was canceled altogether.

January 14, 2023

Not Lovin' It: The Rise and Fall of McDonald's Diplomacy

On a chilly winter’s morning in January 1990, hundreds of Russians lined up as early as 4am to try a McDonald's hamburger. At 10am, the first McDonald's restaurant in the Soviet Union opened its doors in Moscow's Pushkin Square. 32 years later, McDonald's closed all of its 847 stores in Russia and left for good. It was the end of an era and the death of Hamburger Diplomacy.

January 2, 2023