Reed Crandall's Anti-Communist Propaganda
Anti-Communist Propaganda – Reed Crandall
Reed Crandall’s illustration of the Soviet Union Leader Nikita Khrushchev, demonstrates the hatred of communism from an American standpoint during the Cold War. The result of World War II left the United States and the Soviet Union as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. Therefore political and military tension brewed between the superpowers. However, the two superpowers would never engage in battle but were both victims of proxy wars and propaganda. Crandall’s illustration of Khrushchev is an example of anti-communist propaganda in the US.
One thing that I have learned from this time period of this picture is that the Soviet Union was shady and seen as untrustworthy. Both of the two larger gentlemen in black portray a sense of dishonesty. Khrushchev, the man with two faces looking in opposite directions with a dove and an olive branch in one hand and a missile in the other, clearly depicts someone who is “two-faced”. Someone who is two-faced is hypocritical and deceitful. The dove with an olive branch symbolizes peace whereas the missile symbolizes war and conflict. Khrushchev is facing both the dove and missile which implies that he is hypocritical and unbalanced. Moreover, the left part of his face is facing the western front which suggests that the western side of the globe, the US, sees Khrushchev as an enemy due to the missile in his hand. The left part of his face faces the eastern front, which is comprised of Russia, China, and Vietnam, which suggests that the eastern front sees Khrushchev a peaceful leader due to the dove in his other hand. Another thing I noticed was that Khrushchev is stepping on a paper with the word “Treaty” peeking out from under his foot. This says that Khrushchev and the Soviet Union did not honor treaties. The second larger gentleman on the right side of the picture is seen giving a poorer, less-clothed, skinny man a bag of money while hiding a whip
Reed Crandall’s illustration of the Soviet Union Leader Nikita Khrushchev, demonstrates the hatred of communism from an American standpoint during the Cold War. The result of World War II left the United States and the Soviet Union as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. Therefore political and military tension brewed between the superpowers. However, the two superpowers would never engage in battle but were both victims of proxy wars and propaganda. Crandall’s illustration of Khrushchev is an example of anti-communist propaganda in the US.
One thing that I have learned from this time period of this picture is that the Soviet Union was shady and seen as untrustworthy. Both of the two larger gentlemen in black portray a sense of dishonesty. Khrushchev, the man with two faces looking in opposite directions with a dove and an olive branch in one hand and a missile in the other, clearly depicts someone who is “two-faced”. Someone who is two-faced is hypocritical and deceitful. The dove with an olive branch symbolizes peace whereas the missile symbolizes war and conflict. Khrushchev is facing both the dove and missile which implies that he is hypocritical and unbalanced. Moreover, the left part of his face is facing the western front which suggests that the western side of the globe, the US, sees Khrushchev as an enemy due to the missile in his hand. The left part of his face faces the eastern front, which is comprised of Russia, China, and Vietnam, which suggests that the eastern front sees Khrushchev a peaceful leader due to the dove in his other hand. Another thing I noticed was that Khrushchev is stepping on a paper with the word “Treaty” peeking out from under his foot. This says that Khrushchev and the Soviet Union did not honor treaties. The second larger gentleman on the right side of the picture is seen giving a poorer, less-clothed, skinny man a bag of money while hiding a whip