Three Shields and One Sword : Soviet Border Troops, Internal Troops, Militia and the KGB in Visual Propaganda in the 1930s–1990s

Abstract

This thesis examines Soviet visual propaganda in the forms of posters, medals, and postage stamps. The specific area of interest is the portrayal of Soviet domestic security services – the KGB, the Border and Internal Troops, and the Militia. The purpose of this thesis is to form an idea of how the Soviet Union wanted to portray its security services, and in which visual ways they tried to achieve this desired result, and to add a more security services heavy perspective to an already abundant research area of Soviet propaganda. The methods used in this thesis are semiotics, compositional interpretation, and content analysis. Through these methods, the posters, medals, and stamps can be analysed from individual aspects to larger wholes. Colours, symbols, and words are looked at in contexts of Soviet culture and communist invented tradition, and are then considered in a wider continuity of selected Soviet propaganda pieces from the 1930s to 1990s. Material for the KGB is lacking, which also gives an idea of what the Soviet Union did not want to show audiences. The main results of this thesis are that, with the help of familiar Orthodox symbolism, the Soviet Union aimed for an uneven mixture of trustworthy safety and intimidating power, where the organs’ sword and shield emblems became a lot more focused on the shield, rather than the more violent symbol. Visual propaganda tried to present the Soviet security services as benevolent forces who were there to help, serve, and protect the nation and its people, only capable of hurting external enemies. The KGB was more often left with the role of the sword, when it was not left in obscurity.