Beware of the Mensheviks and the SRs 1920

This 1920 Soviet poster “Beware of the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries SRs”, presents a dramatic warning against political enemies of the Bolshevik state. The artwork shows a monstrous black figure shaped like a crowned skeleton towering over grotesque bourgeois figures, symbolizing how hidden reactionary forces control and manipulate these parties. Beneath this shadow, corrupt generals, priests and landlords are depicted as puppets pulled by invisible strings, while a revolutionary worker carries the red banner reading Земля и воля, meaning Land and Freedom. The slogan Остерегайтесь меньшевиков и эсеров, followed by the line За ними идут царские генералы, попы и помещики, states that behind these groups stand the old tsarist elites. Through exaggerated caricature and stark contrast between light and darkness, the poster warns that these political factions are a disguise for counterrevolution.