Attributed to Agusto. “¿Que Fais-Tu Pour Empȇcher cela?”

Attributed to Agusto. “¿Que Fais-Tu Pour Empȇcher cela?”

The topic of the poster refers to the relentless bombing of Madrid by Franco's forces, which began in November 1936, targeting civilians. The journalist Louis Delaprée writes of the bombardments, “But night falls. The great butchery, the horror, the Apocalypse begin. The murdering planes incessantly perform evolutions in the sky dropping alternatively explosive bombs, incendiary bombs, and torpedos.” This poster also appeared in English and Spanish, a multi-lingual effort which demonstrates that the Republican government appealed to other countries, in addition to their own citizens, for help. The English version reads, “What are you doing to prevent this? Madrid,” which issues a call to the viewer to respond. This poster illustrates one of the many reasons Virginia Woolf was suspicious of propaganda--it acts as an appeal for peace, but also has the potential to drive soldiers to war to protect innocent civilians and stop the slaughter. In an ethically paradoxical bind, many soldiers of the Spanish Civil War fought under the sign of peace.

Madrid: Ministerio de Propaganda

1937

Poster