La Posta dei Comuni

COMPLETE SPECIALIZED COLOR EDITION of 64 pages

It is with the massive use of weapons and powerfully destructive means that modern war has involved, more and more heavily than in the past, the life of civil society. It is no longer the titanic clash between two armies facing each other on the borders as in the most distant years. The last two world wars of the twentieth century destroyed countries, entire metropolises, roads, bridges and railways. By shattering and hindering also the possibility of communication between people. Yet people's need to interact has never completely stopped, despite the chaos of the war. The "reading" of postage stamps and the activity of improvised post offices, in those hungry and dramatic days, constitute a culturally very interesting bridge for passing from a "minor" history such as that of philately to a lively understanding of the great events that marked the our country. The two world wars upset the borders of Italy; they transform its territorial structure and, above all, force Italians to face endless hardships. Among these, isolation, in fact. In the devastated country, the state mail service reaches its limit: it works in fits and starts, when it does not even become paralyzed. The causes of the blackout are many, linked and inevitably connected to the war scenario. The means of transport are limited, largely destroyed. Fuel is scarce due to the pressing demand of the military forces engaged at the front. As if that were not enough, during the second conflict, the bombings of the allied forces devastated roads and destroyed bridges, thus making the main arteries of the peninsula impracticable. Every form of central and peripheral communication slows down, with postal correspondence (already slow in nature) paying for it first...

by Tommaso Tagliente e Andrea Frassineti.