--- title: 'W szponach orła białego (In the Talons of the White Eagle): Polish-language Soviet poster' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/w-szponach-orla-bialego-kyiv-1920/ description: Two workers in red swing a hammer and a flag-draped pole at the neck of a white eagle crushed beneath them, above a Polish-language text saying the… section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) **Content note:** Workers shown smashing the Polish white eagle with a hammer, with text calling for revolution in Poland. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) [![W szponach orła białego (In the Talons of the White Eagle): Polish-language Soviet poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/w-szponach-orla-bialego-kyiv-1920.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/w-szponach-orla-bialego-kyiv-1920.jpg) # W szponach orła białego (In the Talons of the White Eagle): Polish-language Soviet poster Two workers in red swing a hammer and a flag-draped pole at the neck of a white eagle crushed beneath them, above a Polish-language text saying the proletariat of Poland, Belarus and Ukraine is breaking its chains and a 'Socialist Poland of Soviets' is rising. It labels the Polish state 'Poland of capitalists and gendarmes' and presents the revolution as already under way. ## Text on the object Original (Polish) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` Proletarjusze wszystkich krajów łączcie się! W szponach orła białego jęczał proletarjat Polski, Białorusi i Ukrainy. Dzisiaj robotnicy wsi i miast wyzwalają się z kajdan niewoli i wyzysku. Pod ciosami robotniczych młotów wali się w gruzy Polska kapitalistów i żandarmów, ginie orzeł biały. Pod czerwonym sztandarem wstaje do życia nowa — SOCJALISTYCZNA POLSKA RAD. NIECH ŻYJE REWOLUCJA! 2-ga Radziecka drukarnia, Kijów, Puszkińska 4. [illegible] KIJÓW miesiąc Wrzesień 1920 r. [stamp/mark] № 3 ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` Proletarians of all countries, unite! In the talons of the white eagle the proletariat of Poland, Belarus and Ukraine groaned. Today the workers of village and town are freeing themselves from the chains of bondage and exploitation. Under the blows of the workers' hammers the Poland of capitalists and gendarmes collapses into ruins, the white eagle perishes. Under the red banner a new one rises to life — SOCIALIST POLAND OF SOVIETS. LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION! 2nd Soviet Printing House, Kyiv, Pushkin Street 4. [illegible] KYIV, month of September 1920 No. 3 ``` 'Proletarjat' and 'proletarjusze' are the period spellings printed. The small print run figure in the imprint is not legible and is omitted; 'Rad' is the Polish genitive plural of 'Rada' (Soviet, council), rendered 'of Soviets'. [← Bolszewicy idą! Z czem szli bolszewicy? (The Bolsheviks Are Coming! What Did the Bolsheviks Come With?)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bolszewicy-ida-biuro-propagandy-poland-1920/) [Irish Bulletin, Vol. 3 No. 24, 5 October 1920: 'Keep Up the Pressure' →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/irish-bulletin-keep-up-the-pressure-1920/) ## Using the same techniques - [Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Shows bound captives before the king, and the inscription records the mutilation and public execution of rebel leaders, as the king's own account. - [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (Electoral Saxony · 1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Anacoana fut pendue sans raison (engraving in Le miroir de la cruelle et horrible tyrannie espagnole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/anacoana-hanged-miroir-tyrannie-espagnole-1620/) (Dutch Republic · 1620 · Fear appeal, Name-calling). Content note: Engraving of a hanged, bare-breasted Taino woman, burning huts and people being killed by Spanish soldiers. - [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling) - [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [The North Briton, No. XLV, 23 April 1763 (John Wilkes), opening page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/north-briton-no-45-wilkes-1763/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Apr 23, 1763 · Name-calling) - [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd. - [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (France · 1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)