Blocco Nazionale
Artist
Designer Unknown
Date1948
Dimensions38 3/4 x 27 1/4 in. (98.4 x 69.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Peter A. Blatz
Object numberPH.222
DescriptionA dead woman lies with a bloody knife, emblazoned with the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union (symbolizing international Communism), in her heart. Her clothes are in the colors of the national flag and she thus symbolizes Italy destroyed by Communism. This political poster was issued by the Blocco Nazionale (National Bloc, a right-wing coalition formed in 1921) during the Italian general election of April 1948, the first since Mussolini’s takeover of power in 1922. The election pitted Rome’s pro-Western government of Christian Democrats against the Communist-dominated Popular Democratic Front; Italian voters well understood that they were not only choosing a government but also making a choice that would have a significant impact on the postwar liberal democratic order in the West. Ultimately, and with considerable American intervention, the Christian Democrats were victorious. The Blocco Nazionale did very badly in the election and soon dissolved.On View
Not on view
