This political poster was issued by the CDU (the Christian Democratic Union, the largest party in the Bundestag) in the lead-up to the German federal election on August 14, 1949. This was the first free federal election in West Germany since Hitler took power in 1933. The sinister, red figure extending a hand that shadows Germany on the map seen below represents the specter of Communism, summoned here to persuade German citizens to vote for the CDU. Ultimately, the CDU, led by Konrad Adenauer, and his center-right coalition, were victorious.