---
title: 'Pravda, front page, 8 April 1927: ''Monstrous provocation by the Zhang Zuolin bandits'''
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pravda-chudovishchnaya-provokatsiya-1927/
description: Pravda's front page two days after the 6 April 1927 raid on the Soviet embassy compound in Peking.
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

**Content note:** Soviet party-press front page labelling Chinese police 'bandits' and attributing a plot to Britain. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Pravda, front page, 8 April 1927: 'Monstrous provocation by the Zhang Zuolin bandits'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pravda-chudovishchnaya-provokatsiya-1927.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pravda-chudovishchnaya-provokatsiya-1927.jpg)

# Pravda, front page, 8 April 1927: 'Monstrous provocation by the Zhang Zuolin bandits'

Pravda's front page two days after the 6 April 1927 raid on the Soviet embassy compound in Peking. A six-deck banner labels the raiders 'bandits' and a 'monstrous provocation' and states 'The plot was organised by England' as a headline. Tells: the loaded label stands in for evidence in the headline, and the page leans on quoted German and British press ('Alarm in the European press', 'German press is disturbed') to vouch for the Soviet account.

## Text on the object

Original (Russian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Всесоюзная Коммунистическая Партия (больш.)
ПРАВДА
Орган Центральн. Ком. и Московск. Ком. В.К.П.(б).
№ 79 (3611). Пятница, 8 апреля 1927 г. ЕЖЕДНЕВНАЯ ГАЗЕТА
Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!

ЧУДОВИЩНАЯ ПРОВОКАЦИЯ ЧЖАН-ЦЗО-ЛИНОВСКИХ БАНДИТОВ.
НАЛЕТ НА КВАРТИРЫ СОТРУДНИКОВ ПОСОЛЬСТВА СССР.
АРЕСТЫ НАШИХ СОТРУДНИКОВ.
ЗАГОВОР ОРГАНИЗОВАН АНГЛИЕЙ.
АНГЛИЙСКИЕ СОЛДАТЫ ОСАДИЛИ ЗДАНИЕ КОНСУЛЬСТВА СССР В ШАНХАЕ.
ТРЕВОГА В ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЙ ПЕЧАТИ.

СООБЩЕНИЕ ТАСС.
ГЕРМАНСКАЯ ПЕЧАТЬ ОБЕСПОКОЕНА.
И В ШАНХАЕ ПРОВОКАЦИЯ.
АТАКА КОНСЕРВАТОРОВ НА СССР В ПАЛАТЕ ОБЩИН.

Неслыханная провокация.

[Column text not transcribed; headlines and sub-headlines only.]
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
PRAVDA
Organ of the Central Committee and Moscow Committee of the V.K.P.(b).
No. 79 (3611). Friday, 8 April 1927. DAILY NEWSPAPER
Workers of all countries, unite!

MONSTROUS PROVOCATION BY THE ZHANG-TSO-LIN BANDITS.
RAID ON THE APARTMENTS OF STAFF OF THE USSR EMBASSY.
ARRESTS OF OUR STAFF.
THE PLOT WAS ORGANISED BY ENGLAND.
ENGLISH SOLDIERS HAVE BESIEGED THE BUILDING OF THE USSR CONSULATE IN SHANGHAI.
ALARM IN THE EUROPEAN PRESS.

TASS REPORT.
GERMAN PRESS IS DISTURBED.
AND IN SHANGHAI A PROVOCATION.
CONSERVATIVES' ATTACK ON THE USSR IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Unheard-of provocation.

[Column text not transcribed; headlines and sub-headlines only.]
```

Headlines and sub-headlines only; the long column text is not transcribed. Spelling follows the post-1918 orthography as printed.

[← Kingdom of Italy 5 lire coin, 1927: eagle on the fasces (Romagnoli design)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/italy-5-lire-aquilotto-coin-1927/) [Zes maanden later (Six Months Later), De Tribune, Communist Party daily, with 'Indonesië los van Holland' →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/de-tribune-zes-maanden-later-1927/)

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