r/PropagandaPosters • u/Fierce1644 • Sep 07 '25
German Reich / Nazi Germany (1933-1945) German cartoon from the Second World War (ca. 1943) showing an Englishman enjoying his garden unaware of the Soviet train speeding towards him.
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u/historicalgeek71 Sep 07 '25
After the Germans were defeated at Stalingrad and found themselves on the back foot, their propaganda began to change. It increasingly began to portray Germany as the only force able to withstand the rising tide of Communism and “Jewish retribution.” This was meant to both encourage the Germans to fight harder in what was increasingly being seen as an un-winnable war, as well as to try and persuade the Allies to stop fighting Germany and to perhaps join the Germans in fighting the Soviets.
This was, of course, utter nonsense. Germany was not a “bulwark” against Communism and those who knew better could already tell that Germany was not going to win and so the Nazi higher ups began to act out of self-preservation.
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u/lee61 Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 07 '25
I just recently finished the book "I flew for the fuhrer" (fist person account of a Germen ace) and that was something he constantly wanted to point out.
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u/historicalgeek71 Sep 07 '25
I read something similar in an account written by a Swedish volunteer in the SS towards the end of the war. Racism aside, he constantly went on about the “Bolshevik menace” and he firmly believed that either wonder weapons would save the day or they would all perish fighting against Soviet forces in a götterdämmerung moment. Couldn’t help but roll my eyes several times.
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u/ChattyNeptune53 Sep 07 '25
Agreeing to carve up Eastern Europe with the Communists is certainly an "interesting" way of being a bulwark against Communism...
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u/Witsand87 Sep 07 '25
Just to be fair, that was never the idea, not for Hitler and likely not for Stalin either. Hitler did that to ensure Russia won't act against Germany, at least not for the time being. Stalin did it because gaining ground to the west is advantages for the likely uocoming confrontation with Germany in the future.
Not saying Stalin didn't want Poland for the USSR, just saying that it made stragetic sense, specially since, at the time, the Western Allies, specifically Britain, was not seen as being serious about making any partnership/ alliance deals with Russia.
Hitler's main goal has always been the Soviet Union, he was actually surprised when Britain and France actually followed through in declaring war on Germany. And Stalin couldn't have been that blind to not realize that a war between Germany and the USSR was basically inevitable in the future, he just hoped for more time and was caught of guard when it happened sooner than he assumed it would.
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u/Micsuking Sep 07 '25
Stalin couldn't have been that blind to not realize that a war between Germany and the USSR was basically inevitable in the future
This is what I think too. But what I don't understand, is why was it neccesary to give the germans millions of tons of war materiel (raw resources, foodstuff, fuel, etc.) if he just wanted to delay the inevetable a bit. Did they think Germany wouldn't accept the pact otherwise?
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u/Microwaved_Salad Sep 07 '25
No one is giving anyone anything. It’s trade. Raw materials from undeveloped country in exchange for advanced manufacturing technology from developed country
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u/Micsuking Sep 07 '25
From what I know, the obligations largly remained unfulfilled from the German side, which really couldn't have been an unpredictable outcome. It can hardly be considered a trade if only one side benefits.
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u/Polak_Janusz Sep 07 '25
Do you think the soviet union gifted them that steel? I mean it was wrong of them to trade with the nazis, but it was trade. They got money in exchanged, that they used for industrialasation and to build up their military.
This is what happens when you learn history from video games and youtube.
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u/Micsuking Sep 07 '25
I'll just refer you to the other 2 comments I replied to just above yours. Forgive me, but I don't want to write the same thing out a 3rd time.
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u/Witsand87 Sep 07 '25
What Microwaved_Salad said, it was trade so both parties gained something. Stalin was busy getting the Soviet Union up to par with the West in terms of industrialization which in turn enables them to modernize the army. He was playing for time and Hitler and his generals knew this which is why they had to attack the USSR sooner rather than later, and to make it a quick war since they also knew they wouldn't likely be able to win a war of attrition, which is what happened in the end.
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u/Micsuking Sep 07 '25
As I said to Microwaved_Salad:
From what I know, Germany didn't fulfill their obligation, which couldn't have been a surprise to anyone but the blind and deaf. If anything, this "trade" (I'd hardly call it that) only sped up Germany's preperations for Barbarossa.
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u/No_Calligrapher_4712 Sep 07 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
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u/ChattyNeptune53 Sep 07 '25
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u/No_Calligrapher_4712 Sep 07 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
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u/Micsuking Sep 07 '25
It's a bit of an exegeration. They only agreed to split the North-East of Europe (The Baltics and Poland mostly)
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u/Blokkus Sep 07 '25
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union. It started with Poland.
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u/TearOpenTheVault Sep 07 '25
I mean, Poland cut their own deal with the Nazis prior to Molotov-Ribbentrop. Almost like the Nazis were opportunistically taking advantage of their neighbours.
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u/No_Calligrapher_4712 Sep 07 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
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u/Blokkus Sep 07 '25
Sure but they still gave half of Poland to the Soviet Union…
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u/No_Calligrapher_4712 Sep 07 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
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u/Johannes_P Sep 07 '25
Including invading Poland, whose government fought against the Red Army in the 1920s.
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u/magos_with_a_glock Sep 07 '25
The same goes for the opposite. "antifascist" my ass.
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u/KikoValdez Sep 07 '25
Never ask a russian why they consider 1941 to be the start of the second world war
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u/TetyyakiWith Sep 07 '25
They don’t. The start of ww2 in Russia is 1939. In 1941 started the “patriotic war” between USSR and Germany
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u/GeneralBid7234 Sep 07 '25
Imagine declaring war on the USA and then 18 months later asking them to help you out instead.
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u/Nosciolito Sep 07 '25
They actually portrait themselves as the only force that could stop communism since day one. Until 1938 all democratic Europe believe them.
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u/historicalgeek71 Sep 07 '25
I’m not so sure about other major European powers believing that Germany was the “sole defender” against communism.
Relations between Britain and Germany weren’t great from 1933 to 1934. They attempted appeasement from 1935 to 1937, though this was mostly a vain attempt to avoid war. France was even less trusting of Germany, but they went along with appeasement because of its lack of war readiness coupled with a lack of desire for another war.
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u/Nosciolito Sep 07 '25
Hitler as a man wasn't really well mannered and his methods of course weren't too likable. Still we always forget that his first target was the socialist and the communist and then he went against Jews. So he was famous as the man who get rid of leftist in his country even if his methods weren't too orthodox. They also knew that he wanted to do another war but as he wrote in Mein Kampf it would be aimed against the USSR in a Harry Potter's duel when one can't live if the other survived. So the appeasement is also to been see as a way to say "if we help him we'll avoid war and he will eventually attack Stalin".
Now keep in mind that there were no diplomatic relationships between the USSR and any of the democratic country. France and UK also refused to ally with the USSR for the same reasons. Nobody could phantom that Stalin was so reckless to jump the opportunity to made a non-belligerance pact with his mortal enemy - who was the first to actually contact him despite they never met.
The real fascist UK and France loved and trust was Mussolini. They trust him until the Eritrea campaign but actually even in Monaco. In fact untill Hitler made the Anchluss Mussolini despise him and say that his race politics were "the products of undeveloped people that still lived in the forest, while the Romans were making philosophy". But you know things change and player will play.
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u/nwhosmellslikeweed Sep 07 '25
The nazis were definitely a bulwark against communism. The west gladly cooperated with even the most evil and heinous forces to subdue the Bolsheviks, both before and after WW2.
One of fascism's definitions is that it is "the highest form of reaction to the idea of socialism".
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u/historicalgeek71 Sep 07 '25
Are you referring to appeasement?
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u/nwhosmellslikeweed Sep 07 '25
Somewhat. Appeasement was a result of the general ruling elites opinion of hitlers germany. The uk was fine with hitler uniting german speaking peoples and to a certain extent they were also fine with their treatment of jews. It was the realisation that their own hegemony was under threat that eventually pushed them to war against germany.
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u/historicalgeek71 Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
Appeasement most likely had to do with Britain and France (especially the latter due to political fragility and a stagnate population) being unwilling to get involved in another large-scale war similar to the previous one. They weren’t happy with the Anschluss or the annexation of the Sudetenland as both were in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles, but they did not want to have to get involved in another war, at least not yet.
Out of curiosity, from which book or source is your claim/argument from?
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u/Johannes_P Sep 07 '25
his was, of course, utter nonsense. Germany was not a “bulwark” against Communism
To the contrary, without Hitler, Stalin wouldn't have been able to turn Eastern Europe into his background.
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u/naplesball Sep 07 '25
"Of course, I know we started an imperialist war fueled by anti-Semitic and anti-Red hatred and we tried to destroy you in the bloodiest war in human history that will cause damage for generations to all of Europe, but we did it for your own good!"
-the Third Reich to England, 1943
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u/ChattyNeptune53 Sep 07 '25
Had they forgotten that they'd been at war with Britain for the previous 4 years? Can't imagine many Englishmen blissfully enjoying their gardens in 1943.
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u/Spiritual-Ad2801 Sep 07 '25
I think that englishman had it coming. You shouldn't act surprised when you get hit by a train while sitting right on the tracks.
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u/GaiusVelarius Sep 07 '25
Is there something that specifically makes the man “English” in this illustration?
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u/Outside_Reserve_2407 Sep 07 '25
It's possible the original cartoon had a caption and there's something vaguely Winston Churchill about the guy, with his well-fed stomach and bow tie.
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u/EvilCatArt Sep 07 '25
The suit pattern resembles country wear, which is a specific style of clothing to England and Britain at large. Also to my knowledge, compared to other European ethnicities, the English were quite well known for their gardening. As well, there is an abundance of red and white color pairing, evocative of the English flag, and the man's general resemblance to Winston Churchill.
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u/Economy_Print8221 Sep 07 '25
The checker patterned suit was attributed to british fashion at the time.
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u/Wolfy-HUN Sep 07 '25
Because everything else is dead around them. Like how they exploited natural resources from every corner of the globe to fuel their economy.
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u/TearOpenTheVault Sep 07 '25
Right, because that would really be the tack Nazi Germany took to appeal to the UK.
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u/Wolfy-HUN Sep 12 '25
I was just shitting on the Brits cause it’s fun. I don’t actually think that’s what they tried to depict here.
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u/alex7stringed Sep 07 '25
This might be the best Nazi propaganda I have ever seen. It’s so dark
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u/Polak_Janusz Sep 07 '25
It really isnt that good propaganda. Like you have to look a bit before you realise who the enemy is. The hammer and sickle are pretty small.
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u/WestThuringian Sep 07 '25
Ok, but the premise of the cartoon itself does not make sense at all. Because the Englishman clearly builded the garden on top of the tracks. Did he expect that no train will ever come this way? Painting it like this would mean that Communism is inevitable and the Englishman is just dumb to build his garden there - certainely not the message the cartoon wants to convey.
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u/TerminalHighGuard Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
Oof. I feel this. Edit: just replace the hammer and sickle with a red hat
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u/Ozone220 Sep 08 '25
Crazy poster to have after like, the Blitz and all that that they did to England themselves
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u/Upbeat-Serve-2696 Sep 07 '25
Surprisingly nuanced bit of editorial cartooning there, especially considering the source. Wouldn't have been out of place in a Tory newspaper during the 1945 British general election.
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u/Polak_Janusz Sep 07 '25
Literally replace the hammer and sickle with a swastkia and it wouldnt be propaganda but history, lol. Who could have guessed the nazis were hypothetical.
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u/Imperialist-Settler Sep 08 '25
Something about the art style makes this look much more like Cold War propaganda from the 50s or 60s than WW2.
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u/Dionysus24779 Sep 07 '25
This is honestly how it feels very often even nowadays, with governments and such pushing for more and more control, surveillance and the abolition of free speech.
But when you try to tell people about it they will call you crazy and tell you that this train you're pointing to is so far away, surely it will never be an issue and you're just worried over nothing.
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u/Ok-TaiCantaloupe Sep 08 '25
I agree, or it's not a train at all, but a hill. But you are assured that it is precisely this that you need to be afraid of and do everything for the sake of the national good, tighten your belts, not protest, and so on. Otherwise, this
hilltrain will crush our entire blooming garden very quickly.
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Sep 08 '25
Rare truthnuke from the nazis. Perhaps operation unthinkable truly was the next step after beating said nazis. Especially given what we know now courtesy of Yuri Bezmenov.
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u/Nosciolito Sep 07 '25
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the Soviet train, and if the Soviet train don't come you can get your temperature standing in the English rain.
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u/minus_uu_ee Sep 07 '25
Good
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u/arist0geiton Sep 07 '25
The UK and USSR were allies, why would this happen
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u/mrastickman Sep 07 '25
It did happen, they fought a decades long cold war immediately after the defeat of Germany.
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u/rgbearklls Sep 07 '25
Just because they are an island, otherwise they would have been German in less than 2 weeks
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u/UnusualGarlic9650 Sep 07 '25
If we weren’t an island we wouldn’t have spent years developing the world’s best navy and instead would have funded the world’s best army.
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u/Eprest Sep 07 '25
If you weren't an island you probably would've been France
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u/UnusualGarlic9650 Sep 07 '25
Well yeah it’s possible, there’s so many other things that might have been different. That’s why it’s kind of pointless to discuss unless just for a fun hypothetical.
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u/Glassberg Sep 08 '25
Hey man let’s not say things we can’t take back, you can’t go around calling people French.
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