Giornale di Praga [Communist Aggression in Eastern Europe]
- Title:
- Giornale di Praga [Communist Aggression in Eastern Europe]
- Alternate Title:
- Giornale di Praga
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Date:
- 1948
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2426.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2426_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- Communism & Cold War
Politics & Government
Unusual Graphics/Text - Measurement:
- 28 x 28 on sheet 70 x 100 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This large poster, purporting to be a "Special Edition" of the "Prague Journal," was in fact part of the campaign to prevent a communist victory in the pivotal Italian election of 1948. It uses a map and various textual arguments to highlight the threat manifested by the Soviet-backed communist takeover of Czechoslovakia just weeks before the Italian election.
Following the end of World War II, Western European nations and the U.S. were deeply concerned about the Soviet Union's success in Eastern Europe and the growing threat to western democracies, particularly Italy. Italy's "well-organized, disciplined, and financed" Communist party, "allied with the militant Italian Socialist party, threatened to exploit popular discontent and sweep into power" in the elections scheduled for April 18, 1948. Early in the year, "public opinion polls predicted a Communist election victory," and there were just weeks remaining to reverse the trends. Miller 1983, 36, 37, 47. The United States was deeply involved - both overtly and covertly - in supporting the Christian Democratic Party of Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi. It provided arms, financial and other assistance, as well as the substantial psychological benefit of massive aid promised under the Marshall Plan (not formally enacted until days before the Italian election). See generally Miller.
On February 25, 1948, on the eve of national elections in Czechoslovakia, the Czech Communist Party suddenly seized control of the government in a coup engineered with the help of the Soviet Union. The coup "provided . . . propagandists with a telling example of Communist duplicity. . . . By early March, De Gasperi and the other anti-Communist politicians had gone over to the offensive . . . . Communism became the main issue, and the Czech coup was cited as the chief example of the fate of free nations that voted for this system of government." Miller 1983, 49, 52. On April 18, the Christian Democrats won a stunning 48.5 percent of the total vote and an absolute majority in Parliament. "De Gasperi's skillful exploitation of the Communist issue" was credited as one of the critical factors in his victory. Ibid. 52, 53.
This poster "exploits" the Czech coup in a variety of ways. The map in the center shows the Soviet incursions into Eastern Europe as a set of bold, red arrows, culminating in the takeover of Czechoslovakia. To the right of the "Prague Journal" masthead is the statement "16 million people shut behind the Iron Curtain." At the top left, the communist "seizure of power" in Prague in 1948 is shown as comparable to the Nazis' "seizure of power" in that city in 1938. At the lower left is a list of recent acts of "Red Terror," including the violent suppression of non-communist newspapers; the expulsion of non-communist public employees and officials from their offices and homes; the purported suicides of the Czech Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk and anti-communist party official Joseph Herod; and the "deportation to the mines" of "a multitude of working citizens" not considered "good communists."
At the right of the poster are the reactions of political leaders to the Czech coup. "The largest socialist party in the world," the British Labor Party, "condemns the coup," admonishing that "for democratic socialists still free to choose their future, the fall of Czechoslovakia constitutes a warning and a lesson." The Italian Socialist leader Pietro Nenni, on the other hand, offers the new communist Czech government his party's "fraternal best wishes and congratulations." The last word belongs to Prime Minister De Gasperi, who is quoted at the bottom right assuring voters that "We do not want to end up like Czechoslovakia, we want to maintain and defend freedom."
There is no date on the poster, but the context shows that it was produced between the Masaryk "suicide" on March 11 (now generally considered a political murder) and the election on April 18. No publisher is shown, and in the absence of sourcing to the Christian Democratic Party, it is conceivable that this poster was a product of the substantial covert assistance by the U.S.
The collection includes three anti-communist Italian political poster maps, ID #2277, "Prima Di Dare Il Voto, Ricorda Berlino!" (1968); ID #2359, "Campi di Lavoro Forzato nella Russia Sovietica" (1952), and ID #2426, "Giornale di Praga" (1948).
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.