Old election posters, leaflets, etc

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Reproduced in just about every German highschool history textbook...

Not just German.

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Fortuyn's 2002 poster with the inclusion of the English phrase 'at your service' is amusing.

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More (older) PCF stuff












and SFIO stuff

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MRP stuff







RPF, 1951

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Interesting to note, when you compare to older posters that Hashemite posted here about France, that, beyond the fact that empty communication took over, the importance that took the face of the candidates on posters...

I think the reason is quite obvious, I pointed out Fourth Republic posters for elections in which party lists and party systems played a large role. Modern ones are the presidential ones, which are far more personalized than party-based. Though the new electoral system for regional elections and Euro elections have personalized those elections a lot more (especially regionals, with the concept of 'President of Region' being a far more important position in popular minds than in 1986-1998, though the actual position is a Speaker of a legislature with a bit more powers).

I would also suppose than in the 1950s these posters were printed centrally in stocks for a nation-wide audience, but today posters are printed more locally for a more local audience (except for presidential votes).

Exception, of course, for personal machines such as the RPF in 1951 and the MoDem today, parties created by one man for one man and where the leader prominently figures on the poster, even if he is not candidate.

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Random comments on some of the presidential posters in France:

2007, Sarkozy: Fits in well with the reformist theme (vast open spaces), his fake populist crap ('ensemble'), bright new days are ahead (a theme used by the UMP before Sarkozy with 'imaginons la France d'apres') with the blue sky and the weird-looking alien birdy.
1981, Marchais: Clearly the candidate of the working-class and popular classes, with a dose of 'anti-everybody' common to Marchais' PCF.
1988, Mitterrand: Partly 'renewal' theme, but also fits in well, imo, with Mitterrand's moderate 1988 style, open to everybody etc.
2002, Le Pen: Nice guy, open to all, down to earth smiling guy
2007, Le Pen: the traditional 'anti-everybody' so typical of the far-right and the second poster with Le Pen as the candidate of everybody (workers, young cadres, kids, students, immigrants [rofl], middle-aged people).
2007, Royal: I can't help but think that she wanted to add a 'OMGZ A HOT WOMAN LETS VOTE FOR HER' appeal to men. La France Presidente isn't excellent grammar to me, but it's a typical electioneering populist slogan.
2007, Nihous: I can't help but add sexual innuendo... smiling guy, in the woods... what are you doing 'coquin'?
2007, trots: Do you fucking live in 1920? Besancenot's more 'modern' poster, which looks like some teen magazine cover, shows his younger and more modern style. Laguiller and Schivardi are typical of the old sectarian hard left, with manifestos of revolution rather than modern ads.

Other stuff of interest:


2002, Chirac first round: A 'rallying' theme common often to incumbents.