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Primary sourceArtifact1919

Odessa Soviet Red Army Recruitment Poster

Department of Soviet Propaganda of the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Working Deputies, Odessa · 1919

A 1919 Soviet lithograph urging enlistment in the Red Army, with a red star marked 'Red Hungary' referencing the Hungarian Soviet Republic led by Béla Kun.

Shows how the Hungarian Soviet Republic led by Kun was invoked by other revolutionaries as a symbol of international Communism.

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Soviet-era lithograph recruitment poster. Top Russian headline reads 'Workers and peasants! Enlist in the Red Army.' A red-coated soldier in cap holds a red flag and stands over a fallen enemy soldier. A green serpent-like dragon wearing a crown, labeled Romania, bites at a soldier. A woman in a veil, labeled Bessarabia, is chained to the dragon. A red star with rays, labeled Red Hungary, shines above.
Recruitment poster, Department of Soviet Propaganda, Odessa, 1919.

About this source

What it is

This is a lithograph recruitment poster published by the Soviet of Working Deputies of Odessa around 1919. It calls on workers and peasants to join the Red Army to liberate Bessarabia, shown as a chained woman, from Romania, pictured as a crowned dragon.

Why it matters

The poster places a red star labeled 'Red Hungary' in the sky, showing how revolutionaries elsewhere saw the Hungarian Soviet Republic, led by Béla Kun, as part of a wider international Communist uprising. It reveals how propaganda linked distant revolutions together to inspire recruits.

Look closer

  • Why might the poster-makers include a symbol for Hungary in a poster about Bessarabia?
  • How do the images of the dragon and chained woman try to make viewers feel about the enemy?
  • What does this poster not tell us about the real situation in Hungary or Bessarabia?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Béla Kun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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