---
title: The Boot... Toe and Heel (De Gasperi, Italy)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-boot-toe-and-heel-de-gasperi-1953/
description: A bespectacled man labelled 'De Gasperi' is being kicked off a map of Italy, 'the boot', clutching at its top.
section: Collection
---

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3. The Boot... Toe and Heel (De Gasperi, Italy)

[![The Boot... Toe and Heel, 1953 US cartoon: A bespectacled man labelled 'De Gasperi' is being kicked off a map of Italy, 'the](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/the-boot-toe-and-heel-de-gasperi-1953.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/the-boot-toe-and-heel-de-gasperi-1953.jpg)

# The Boot... Toe and Heel (De Gasperi, Italy)

A bespectacled man labelled 'De Gasperi' is being kicked off a map of Italy, 'the boot', clutching at its top. A fasces on the boot's heel is labelled 'Fascists' and a hammer and sickle on its toe is labelled 'Commies'. The cartoon argues that Italy's centre government is squeezed between two extremes, presenting both as threats to the same leader.

## Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

[Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
ITALY
DE GASPERI
FASCISTS
COMMIES
Jim Berryman
```

[← Qualified Electors in This House Will All Vote on Election Day (English poster distributed in the Philippines)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/qualified-electors-in-this-house-will-vote-namfrel-1953/) [Tinanggihan ng mga Manggagawa ang "Paraiso ng Manggagawa" (East German Workers Reject the 'Workers' Paradise') (Tagalog poster, Philippines) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/workers-paradise-tagalog-1953/)

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