Visual Iconographies of Authoritarian Rule

Stefan Norblin, 1930 election poster, “Pod jego przewodem zbudujemy potężną Polskę [Under his leadership, we will build a powerful Poland].” Archiwum Państwowe w Lublinie [State Archive in Lublin]

The setting is late 1920s Poland in the wake of a coup d’état led by Józef Piłsudski that overthrew the country’s elected government.  Like many authoritarians, Pidsudski and his followers were deeply concerned with the appearance of popularity and continued to hold elections.  One important mode of communication with the largely illiterate Polish population of poorly educated farmers and laborers in the 1920s and 1930s was through political posters. The primary source is a 1930 election poster.  Piłsudski is depicted as a towering figure, overseeing the construction of new modern buildings. At the bottom of the poster are a faceless farmer, a steam ship and a recently built modern port. Professor Zachary Mazur provides a teaching plan that helps students see how the poster is meant to justify the leadership of a strongman.  He asks students to imagine that they cannot read, and to consider what kind of society is expressed in the visual imagery of the poster and what they might expect from supporting the regime.  He ultimately asks students to evaluate whether the poster is successful or not in justifying the undemocratic rule of a single man. As part of Authoritarianism 101, this module enables teachers to explore the themes of authoritarian practice and the visual cultures of authoritarianism.