Catalogue Number
NMLH.1994.168.187/2
Object Name
Poster
Title
Close the American bases poster
People
Stalin, Truman, Khrushchev
Events
The Arms Race
Date
1960
Description
Large red, white, and black screen-printed poster. At the top of the poster it says "CLOSE THE AMERICAN BASES" in black capital letters against a white background. The rest of the poster has a red background, with a gradient like colour change, to a lighter red/pink. There is a black and white drawing of an airplane/missile plane, with a large "H" in the centre, in a black shape of a missile. There are missiles attached to the plane, with the Hydrogen bomb inside. On either side of the plane there is smoke signified with white streaks, to show it lifting off. The bottom of the poster has two faces looking up, on their side. These are black and white line drawings, with the bigger face looking very scared, and a smaller face, which looks like a baby, also looking scared. The bottom left of the poster some vertical white text saying "a communist party poster." There is a small signature in black text, that says "Ken." This could be by political cartoonist and artist, Kenneth Sprague. The
back of the poster has slight yellowed creases, and there is handwritten blue writing stating the date "July 1960." This poster was made in 1960, as an anti-nuclear weapon, anti-military and anti-American bases message. The people looking afraid of the hydrogen bomb plane signifies general fear and discontent globally, towards the threat of nuclear weapons. In 1950, Truman announced the beginning of the development of a Hydrogen bomb. In 1957 Britain detonated its first Hydrogen Bomb. In 1952 the UK tested its first atomic bomb. The 1960s saw the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, with American bases having a considerable amount of arms and military weaponry. This is a Cold War era poster - the cold war was an ongoing political, social and military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies that developed after World War Two. This state of political hostility between countries, namely the Soviet Bloc
countries and the Western powers, were characterised by threats, military threats, propaganda and other measures short of warfare. The official dates of the Cold War are from 1945-1990, but this has been disputed.
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