A. MAKSIMOV [WAR LOAN / FORWARD FOR VICTORY.] 1916. 381/4x261/4 inches. Condition B+: restored loss in top margin affecting image; restoration in margins; restoration along vertical and horizontal folds. Japan. A medieval Russian knight is galloping off to battle carrying a flag bearing the Romanov Coat-of-Arms. One of the last attempts of Tsarist Russia to raise funds for their doomed involvement in World War I. In March 1917, Tzar Nicholas II abdicated and the Bolsheviks took power. Whether the Russian aristocracy rose to the occasion and contributed to this loan is unclear, but what is certain is that the loan was never paid back. In March 1918 Russia signed a peace treaty with Germany, left the war and repudiated all Allied war loans. Copies of this poster were sent to America from Russia and used (with English text banners) "in conjunction with a film to benefit the work of an American medical relief group" (Theofiles p. 143). Theofiles 194 (var).
![A. MAKSIMOV [WAR LOAN / FORWARD FOR VICTORY.] 1916. 38x26 inches.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//349\527349.jpg)