RESIST!

Film Description

  • Year: 1918
  • Length: 8 Minutes
  • Country: Italy
  • Director: Luca Comerio

Propaganda film of Milan on the subscription to the loan for the First World War. The transition to a war economy brought with it the need to regulate trade, banning the exports of products and raw materials, and inducing the population to reduce consumption. At the same time, on the foreign exchange front, the convertibility of the lira was suspended. In this context, the Italian State launched the signing of the first national loan, which was followed by another five loans from Italy's entry into the war in May 1915 and until 1918, the last already aimed at post-war reconstruction. 

In order to successfully place the loan with the public, large propaganda initiatives were launched. The propaganda relied on patriotic sentiment and the economic convenience of loans: - heart and wallet - were combined to obtain the greatest effect. 

Starting in 1917, the concept of loan subscription was also introduced as a tool to hasten peace, bringing aid to the soldiers at the front and favoring the victorious end of the war. 

Posters, playbills, postcards, calendars, advertisements, postage stamps, brochures, choreographies outside the buildings were the various tools used to convey propaganda messages. A particular and massive use was that of illustrated postcards, which reproduced images and slogans of the campaign for subscribing to loans. They were distributed in large quantities to soldiers at the front, who used them, writing at home, as a means of communication with their loved ones.