Ejercito Popular | 1937

Todas Las Milicias Fundidas En El Ejercito Popular, 1937, by Emeterio Melendreras

This striking propaganda poster from the Spanish Civil War features a stylized soldier's profile filled with various flags and emblems of Republican factions unified under one military force. The design uses a bold colour palette dominated by red, blue, yellow, and purple against a beige background. The soldier's silhouette contains the British Union Jack, the Soviet hammer and sickle, the Spanish Republican flag, the Catalan flag with its distinctive yellow and red stripes, and various other regional and political emblems, symbolically representing the diverse forces fighting together against Franco's Nationalists. At the bottom of the poster, large black text reads "EJERCITO POPULAR" (People's Army) with light blue text above it stating "TODAS LAS MILICIAS FUNDIDAS EN EL" (All Militias Fused Into The), creating the complete message: "All Militias Fused Into The People's Army." The poster bears the official stamps of the "Junta Delegada de Defensa de Madrid" and "Delegación de Propaganda y Prensa" (Madrid Defense Delegation and Propaganda and Press Delegation) in the upper right corner, indicating its official government sanction.

This poster was created in 1937 during a critical period of the Spanish Civil War when the Republican government was working to reorganize and centralize its fragmented military forces. The "Ejército Popular de la República" (People's Army of the Republic) was formally established in October 1936 to unify the various militia groups that had spontaneously formed to defend the Republic against the Nationalist rebellion. By May 1937, the People's Army had been organized into five zones: Central, Southern, Eastern, Levantine, and Northern, bringing together anarchist, socialist, communist, and regional militias under a single command structure. This reorganization represented a significant shift from the early days of the war when independent militias controlled by various political parties and trade unions had fought with little coordination. The poster's visual symbolism of diverse flags within one silhouette powerfully conveyed the government's message that unity was essential to combat the increasingly well-organized Nationalist forces. Despite these efforts at unification, internal conflicts between Republican factions, particularly between communists and anarchists, continued to hamper the war effort even as they attempted to present a unified front.

Emeterio Melendreras (1905-1996) was a significant Spanish graphic artist and designer who created numerous propaganda posters during the Spanish Civil War. Before the war, he worked at "Publicitas," a Spanish subsidiary of a Swiss advertising agency, where he developed his skills in commercial graphic design. In the early 1930s, Melendreras formed professional connections with other prominent Spanish graphic artists, including Manolo Prieto, and later became the editor of the magazine "Arte Comercial" (Commercial Art). During the Spanish Civil War, he applied his talents to create visually striking propaganda posters for the Republican cause, becoming one of several notable artists whose work was published by various organizations including government bodies, political parties, and trade unions. Melendreras' work exemplifies the significant role that graphic designers played in the Spanish Civil War, creating what contemporaries observed as a cityscape "aflame with posters" that visually defined the public spaces of Republican Spain.