History of Russia: Exhibition “How our grandfathers and fathers fought” in Saint-Petersburg

Exhibition “How our grandfathers and fathers fought” in Saint-Petersburg, presented a military caricature and soldier folklore, opens on October 24, 2012 in the museum of Monument to Heroic Defenders of Leningrad (Saint-Petersburg).

The exhibition is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812. It presents caricatures, posters, and popular prints from the collection of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg made during the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The satirical art plays an important role in maintaining the combat readiness and patriotic spirit of the soldiers during the war and in the early XIX century and the middle of the XX century.

During the Patriotic War of 1812 in Russia there were widespread the caricatures of the French army and the Emperor Napoleon. Famous Russian artists such as I. I. Terebenev, A. G. Venetsianov, I. A. Ivanov and others worked in the genre of caricatures. The cause for ridicule was the appearance, behavior of soldiers of the French army as well as the way of life including those who lived in Russia at the time – their manners, education, and the worship of fashion. Satirical leaflets performed their main task - to unite all sections of Russian society in the face of the enemy. The exhibition features original cartoons of the time.

From the early days of the Great Patriotic War it was also conducted an extensive publicity campaign, the main component of which there was the theme of the mobilization of all forces in the defense of the homeland. When looking at the history of Russia examples of victorious counter aggression, the Patriotic War of 1812 immediately came to the fore.

The theme of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the crushing defeat of Napoleon's army in Russia was extremely popular in the fine art of 1941-1945. Particularly bold and expressive it was disclosed in the works of cartoonists, drawing parallels between the two expansionist campaigns in Russia and their inglorious end.

The exhibition at the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad features caricatures, satirical posters with grotesque images of soldiers and commanders as the Nazi army and the French led by the Emperor Napoleon.