Would you pay £1,000 for this post- card? - Picture Postcard Monthly

The view from BerlinAlthough not often seen in British dealers’ postcardstocks, many political and anti-British, French andRussian cartoons were published in Germany in thesame way that the Kaiser and German soldiers wereridiculed on postcards produced in allied countries.These examples, from the Ian Forrester collection,were all published in 1914, very soon after the startof the First World War, and reflected the prevailingview in Germany that the conflict would not last long.The German military’s Schlieffen plan, whichinvolved invading France by way of Belgium (the violationof Belgian neutrality was the pretext on whichBritain entered the war) was intended to neutralisethe French before the Russians could engage theGerman army. This ‘quick fix’ mentality mirrored thebelief in Britain that the war would be over by Christmas(1914, rather than 1918, which was actually thecase).Europe in thebalance. The Germans felt that theirnation and Austria-Hungary, their principal allies, couldstill not be matched by superior numbers of nationsranged against them on the other side of the scales. Sat onthe fence in 1914 were Turkey, Italy and the U.S.A. Whichway would they jump? Sat on the right were the principalGerman enemies - France, Russia and Britain, with othernations hanging onHunting for hares (the British equivalent would be ‘duckshoot’).The allies were not expected to stand and fightThe Englishmen(again, a deliberate exclusionof the other countries in the British Isles, though aScottish soldier in kilt is shown on this cartoon) in Francewere expected to helpfully run away at the first sight of aspiked German helmet* translation from the German by David Coombs and LillemorPearsonA pun on the word ‘concert’ sees Germany’s nationalanthem (Deutschland uber alles! - Germany above all)scatter all before itCollect Modern PostcardsThe third edition of this popular and informativecatalogue (published 1998), compiled by PeteDavies, features postcards from 1950 to the present,provides a commentary on all the top themes,and lists publishers, artists and photographers. It’sa must-have for anyone interested in moderns! 88ppsoftback, profusely illustrated, it costs £5.95(+postage at 70p UK, £1.20 Europe, £2 rest ofworld) fromReflections of a Bygone Age, 15 Debdale Lane,Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5HT‘The European threshing ground’ envisaged that Germanywould clean up against their main adversaries - France,Russia and England (not Britain!) and the lesser nations, asthey saw it, involved in the warGot a point of view or somethingto say? Write to PPMPostbag!Picture Postcard Monthly November 2009 35