Stop! Criminal! (English-language poster distributed in Asia)
A cartoon of a club-wielding soldier in a fur hat with a red star, labelled 'Communist aggressors', standing over a bloodied figure labelled 'Republic of Korea', while a giant hand marked 'U.N.' reaches in and a ring of small figures carries national flags. The text says 53 nations condemn the Communist invasion of the Republic of Korea and that peace comes through the United Nations. The tell is name-calling (the label 'communist aggressors' on a brutish figure) with bandwagon (the claim that 53 nations stand together) and fear-appeal in the blood and club imagery.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1950
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Truman Administration
- Leader
- Harry S. Truman
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Korean War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, c. 1950-55. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 5730086, 306-PPA-187).
Text on the object
STOP! CRIMINAL! [on the hand:] U.N. [on the soldier:] COMMUNIST AGGRESSORS [on the fallen figure:] REPUBLIC OF KOREA 53 United Nations condemn the criminal Communist invasion of the Republic of Korea! The Communist war-makers will be stopped! Through United Nations--Peace!
'will' is underlined on the sheet.
