Grande Guerra: Giornalismo, comunicazioni e servizio postale negli anni 1915-18

The exhibition illustrates some aspects of military and civilian communication in Italy during the First World War. The display follows two tracks: the private communication of soldiers, illustrated by letters and postcards from the front; the official and strategic communication, for which period newspapers and equipment used by the army, such as field phones, are exhibited.

The soldiers' letters reveal fears and thoughts about the war, providing us with direct testimonies of their experiences, and they are a tangible trace of the huge logistical effort that the Royal Army faced in distributing the immense volume of correspondence that was produced by soldiers and their families during the years of conflict. The displayed letters and postcards tell us about the censorship system that was established: the stamp “Checked for censorship” is evidence of the constant control exercised over soldiers' letters.

On the so-called home front, another battle was fought: that of propaganda. The exhibition illustrates how Italian newspapers reported on the progress of operations, often in triumphalist tones.

Finally, the displayed telephone equipment sheds light on another aspect of tactical communication at the front: the precariousness of telephone communications, crucial for the circulation of orders, depended on cables that were physically unrolled and installed by telephone operators while the battle raged around them.