Catalogue Number
NMLH.1994.168.338
Object Name
Poster
Title
Pour la France, pour la Republique 21st Oct 1945
Date
1945
Description
Le Parti Communiste Francais poster, 1945
Heavily text based poster laying out the policies of the Communist Party of France (PCF) ahead of the French General Elections and referendum on the 21st October 1945. The vote of the 21st October formed the Fourth French Republic through a simultaneous legislative election and referencdum; citizens were asked to vote for an Assembly, and whether this Assembly was approved to draft a constitution for the Republic.
In this poster, the PCF lays out the reasons that citizens should vote for them, but also how they should vote in the referendum at the same election.
The PCF had been one of the key parties in the 1936 Popular Front government, and held 72 seats in the French Assembly. While the party was outlawed in 1939, it was instrumental in the French resistance movement from 1941. By the end of 1945, the prestige from this action left membership at hald a million - a hige increase from the early 1930s.
Following the 1945 election, the PCS became the single largest party in France, with 159 seats.
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