Socialist realism was established as the dominant artistic style in the Soviet Union in 1932 when Stalin decreed the end of post-revolutionary experimentation. Writers and artists were expected to glorify the proletarian struggle and the construction of socialism by depicting positive and heroic figures of workers, whether in the factories or the fields. It was meant to convey a clear political meaning and to inspire, turning art into a weapon in the battle to build a new social order. In practice it was synonymous with state control. The doctrine of socialist realism was extended to the USSR’s satellite states from the late 1940s and numerous examples of it can be found in public buildings, especially in paintings and murals. Paradoxically, figurative representation is the most realistic features of a school that was shot through with currents of idealisation and romanticism.