An advertising poster of a 5 ½% war loan, 1915

An extremely rare poster in very good collectible condition. During the years of the First World War, first the Tsarist and then the Provisional Government persistently tried to attract broad segments of the population to finance military operations. From the autumn of 1914 to the summer of 1917, seven internal loans were made. Their results invariably turned out to be lower than the initial calculations, but loans brought more than 10 billion rubles to the treasury of the belligerent state, covering about 20-25% of military expenditures. Initially, such loans within the country were carried out according to the usual pre–war methods - bonds were sold by commercial banks and a network of savings banks of the State Bank. It was only by the end of 1915 that the upper echelons of the Russian Empire began to realize that the previous financial schemes did not work. Surprisingly, only the fourth domestic loan since the beginning of the World War was officially called "military". And it was only in the thirteenth month of an unprecedented global conflict that the state for the first time addressed its subjects with an explanation of the meaning and essence of internal loans for the needs of the army and defense. Booklets and propaganda brochures "What you need to know about the 1915 war loan" were released in large circulation. For the first time in the history of public finance in Russia, visual agitation was resorted to – colorful posters "Buy a military 5.5% loan" appeared on the streets of large cities, postcards with identical images were also distributed in stores. One of these posters is right in front of you. The size is 505*605 mm. Guarantee of authenticity.