Comrade Lenin Cleans the Earth From Scum

Prior to World War II, the Soviet Union recognized the importance of propaganda when influencing individuals. Other causes were effectively promoted by propaganda and posters made by graphic designers. Poster art evolved as a significant tool for teaching communist principles to Russia's predominantly illiterate population. Graphic, cheap posters transmitted the Revolution's message and sought to captivate the minds and hearts of the masses. 'Comrade Lenin Cleans the Earth from Scum'  was based on a previous Mikhail Cheremnykh newspaper cartoon. The illustration shows a massive Lenin on top of a world, sweeping away a little monarch, an emperor, a priest, and a capitalist. The design portrayed Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, purging the country of communist opponents such as the church, the merchant class (capitalism), and the monarchy. The poster became one of the iconic images of the era and was widely replicated.

The posters were created and made by some of the most notable Russian artists of the time, including Dmitry Moor, El Lissitzky, and Viktor Deni, and they portrayed the new collective means of production in mines, fields, and factories. Viktor Deni was a political cartoonist and poster designer from Russia. He was among the first painters to create Soviet propaganda posters, which powerfully supported the dictatorship in a way that no other medium could.