Military - Overview
The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.
The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.
"Military - Overview" showing 48 items.
Page 1 of 5
Soviet poster, Nazi caricature
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 514 is a caricature of a Nazi soldier in his underwear carrying his clothes, with another figure at his side. It may be titled "Ragmen," but the point of the satire is not clear from the image.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1942-1943
- 1942
- artist attribution
- Lebedev, Vladimir
- author
- Marshak, Samuel
- ID Number
- GA*18848
- accession number
- 164567
- catalog number
- 18848
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Hitler caricatures
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 503. Six-panel poster with caricatures of Hitler's rise to power, including the Munich beer-hall putsch, book burning, and the publication of Mein Kampf. Three artists—Mikhail Kupriyanov, Porfiry Krylov, and Nikolai Sokolov—known collectively as Kukryniksy are credited with the design, and poet Deyman Bedny wrote the text.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1942-1943
- 1942
- caricaturist
- Kukryniksy group
- ID Number
- GA*18850
- accession number
- 164567
- catalog number
- 18850
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Bombing Berlin
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 707 is a two-panel poster showing bombing of Berlin on top, with Hilter, Goering, and Goebbels cowering in a bunker below.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1943
- ID Number
- GA*19084
- accession number
- 167088
- catalog number
- 19084
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Making Hand Grenades
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 512 shows a man and a woman making hand grenades. In vivid Socialist Realist style, the poster both encourages and supports the war effort.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1942-1943
- 1942
- artist attribution
- Vyalov, Konstantin Aleksandrovich
- author
- Mashistzov, A.
- ID Number
- GA*18849
- accession number
- 164567
- catalog number
- 18849
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Making Shells
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 693 shows a male Soviet worker in vivid Socialist Realist style. An image of calendar pages behind him encourages increased production of shells for the war effort.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1942-1943
- ID Number
- GA*19083.02
- accession number
- 167088
- catalog number
- 19083.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hernan Cortes
- Description
- This engraving shows Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), the Spanish captain who headed the conquest of the Aztec Empire. He became a part of popular mythology the moment he arrived in Mexico in 1521. Cortés had spent time in Cuba killing and enslaving its indigenous inhabitants and administering the new social order of the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean. As his well-read memoirs attest, even his experiences in Cuba did not prepare him for the history-altering intrigues, battles, and cultural encounters between the Spanish and the Mexicans, Mayas, and their many neighbors in between. Motivated by an ancient notion of fame, Hernán Cortés wrote his own version of the conquest of Mexico that put him squarely at the center, favored by the Christian God. But neither his victories nor his pillage of the Mexican capital would have been possible without the aid of soldiers, slaves, and supplies from the enemies of the Aztecs. As a testament to Cortés's enduring fame, his portrait by the Spanish painter Antonio Carnicero was published as an engraving by Manuel Salvador y Carmona in 1791 in the book, Retratos de los españoles ilustres, con un epítome de sus vidas, (Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards, with a Synopsis of Their Lives.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1795
- depicted
- Cortes, Hernan
- original artist
- Carnicero, D. A.
- graphic artist
- Carmona, D. J. A.
- ID Number
- GA*20683
- catalog number
- 20683
- accession number
- 226630
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Anti-Hitler catoons
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 711 is a two-panel poster with anti-Hitler cartoons.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1943
- ID Number
- GA*19085
- accession number
- 167088
- catalog number
- 19085
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Battle of Antietam Lithograph
- Description
- Physical Description
- Lithographic print.
- General History
- General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North culminated in the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. More soldiers were killed or wounded at Antietam than all the American dead in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Spanish-American War combined. On September 17, 1862, General Robert E. Lee and 30,000 Confederate troops faced Major General George McClellan and 60,000 Union troops. It should have been a clear victory for McClellan, especially since his army had captured Lee’s Special Order No. 191 which directed Stonewall Jackson to march on Harpers Ferry. McClellan failed to use this information wisely, choosing instead to remain cautious. Jackson took Harpers Ferry and moved his 45,000 troops on to Antietam to reinforce Lee’s troops. McClellan was recalled to Washington and was relieved of his command.
- date made
- 1888
- maker
- Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
- ID Number
- AF*58125
- accession number
- 204114
- catalog number
- 58125
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Siege of Vicksburg Lithograph
- Description
- Physical Description
- Lithographic print.
- General History
- Both the North and the South saw Vicksburg as the lynchpin to victory in the war. President Abraham Lincoln said: "Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket," Confederate President Jefferson Davis said: "Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together." On May 22, 1863, Ulysses Grant sent brigades from three corps of the army to assault the city. While the assault showed some success, a long bitter struggle ensued and the Confederates quickly restored their original lines of defense. The Union army suffered 3,199 casualties, while the Confederates lost less than 500 men. Realizing that the city could not be taken by assault, Grant ordered his engineers to begin siege operations. The siege cut off all supplies going into the city and the constant hammering of siege artillery drove many of the citizens into caves dug into the hillsides. The siege finally ended when on July 4, 1863, General John Pemberton surrendered the town to Grant, thus sealing the fate of the Confederate States of America.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- maker
- Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
- ID Number
- AF*58143
- accession number
- 204114
- catalog number
- 58143
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Battle of Gettysburg Lithograph
- Description
- Physical Description
- Lithographic print.
- General History
- The Battle of Gettysburg was a critical turning point in the American Civil War. During the first three days of July 1863, over 172,000 men and 634 cannons were positioned in an area encompassing 25 square miles. An estimated 569 tons of ammunition were expended and, when the battle had ended, the losses topped 51,000 in dead and wounded soldiers on both sides. While the Confederate army retreated after Gettysburg, the war would drag on another two years. It would be the most costly battle ever fought on U.S. soil. The battle was commemorated by Abraham Lincoln’s legendary address. Lincoln stated: “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who died here that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” The world has remembered both the battle and Lincoln’s eloquent words.
- date made
- 1884
- maker
- Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
- ID Number
- AF*65353M
- accession number
- 226765
- catalog number
- 65353M
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center