Krokodil was a satirical

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 published in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. It was founded in 1922. At that time, a large number of satirical magazines existed, such as Zanoza and Prozhektor. Nearly all of them eventually disappeared.

Although political satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 was dangerous during much of the Soviet period, Krokodil was given considerable license to lampoon political figures and events. Typical and safe topics for lampooning in the Soviet era were the lack of initiative and imagination promoted by the style of an average Soviet middle-bureaucrat, and the problems produced by drinking on the job by Soviet workers. Krokodil also ridiculed capitalist countries and attacked various political, ethnic and religious groups that allegedly opposed the Soviet system. For example, at the time of the Doctors' plot

Doctors' plot

The Doctors' plot was the most dramatic anti-Jewish episode in the Soviet Union during Joseph Stalin's regime, involving the "unmasking" of a group of prominent Moscow doctors, predominantly Jews, as conspiratorial assassins of Soviet leaders...

 it published a number of anti-semitic articles and cartoons.

Many notable persons contributed to the magazine, including Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...

, Kukriniksy, and Yuliy Ganf

Yuliy Ganf

Yuliy Abramovich Ganf - Soviet Russian graphic artist, People's Artist of the USSR, especially known for his satirical cartoons in the Krokodil magazine....

.

Similar magazines existed in all the Union republic

Republics of the Soviet Union

The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...

s, and in several ASSRs

Republic	Title	Translation
Ukrainian SSR Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...	Перець Perets' Perets is a Ukrainian satirical newspaper, in the style of Krokodil.It was originally founded in the then capital of the Ukrainian SSR, Kharkiv, as Червоний Перець in 1927. It moved to Kiev in 1941....	Pepper
Belarusian SSR	Вожык	Hedgehog
Uzbek SSR Uzbek SSR The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...	Муштум	Fist
Kazakh SSR Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Kazakh SSR for short, was one of republics that made up the Soviet Union.At in area, it was the second largest constituent republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata . Today it is the independent state of...	Ара	Bumblebee
Georgian SSR	ნიანგი	Crocodile
Azerbaijani SSR	Кирпи	Hedgehog
Lithuanian SSR Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...	Šluota	Broom
Moldavian SSR Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...	Кипэруш	Pepper
Latvian SSR Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...	Dadzis	Bur
Kyrgyz SSR	Чалкан	Nettle
Tajik SSR Tajik SSR The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Tajik SSR for short, was one of the 15 republics that made up the Soviet Union. Located in Central Asia, the Tajik SSR was created on 5 December 1929 as a national entity for the Tajik people within the Soviet Union...	Хорпуштак	Hedgehog
Armenian SSR Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet...	Ոզնի	Hedgehog
Turkmen SSR Turkmen SSR The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Turkmen SSR for short, was one of republics of the Soviet Union in Central Asia. It was initially established on 7 August 1921 as the Turkmen Oblast of the Turkestan ASSR. On 13 May 1925 it was transformed into Turkmen SSR and became a...	Токмак	?
Estonian SSR	Pikker	Pikker
Bashkir ASSR	Хэнэк	Pitchfork
Chuvash ASSR	Капкан	Trap
Komi ASSR	Чушканзі	Wasp
Mari ASSR	Пачемыш	Wasp
Tatar ASSR	Чаян	Scorpion
Udmurt ASSR	Шӧкыч	Hornet

and in other states of the Soviet bloc, e.g. Стършел ("Wasp") in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, Eulenspiegel in East Germany, Urzică

Urzica

Urzica is a commune in Olt County, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Stăvaru and Urzica....

("The Nettle

Nettle

Nettles constitute between 24 and 39 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby...

") in Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 and Dikobraz ("porcupine

Porcupine

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...

") in Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

.

Among the vocal compositions of Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

, who is known for his satirical character, there are 5 Romances on texts from Krokodil Magazine (1965), which is a satire of satire.

Reinstatement

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

, the magazine was discontinued. It was reinstated in 2005 in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, issued monthly, headquartered in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, and with editor-in-chief Sergei Mostovshchikov. The reinstated version is deliberately printed on old Soviet-style paper.