First Russian revolution in the reflection of a curved mirror of caricature (on materials of funds of the "Lenin memorial")

This article is devoted to analysis of satirical magazines during the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, presented in funds of Regional State Autonomous Institution of Culture "Lenin Memorial" of Ulyanovsk. Particular attention is paid to the graphic component of the media: drawings, signatures, colors, visual symbols. The author examines how the revolutional events were reflected in the political caricature, which was widely spread in the early XX century. It is shown that the images, pursuing the aim to encourage people to fight against the government, have not only captured the contemporary situation, but also often distorted the historical reality in the mass consciousness with the help of different methods. All this together shows the attitude of opposition-minded public in the face of journal editors, writers and artists to current events, as well as to the representatives of the tsarist government and politicians of the era, such as Witte. Although they didn't have a wide influence on the revolutionary events, due to the fact that the publications were produced mostly during the period of social downturn, publications presented in the article laid the foundations for the development of domestic caricaturistiks that have received its expansion in the next period.