The Color of War

It's like a scene from ancient times.
As a demonstration of its power
a victorious army parades defeated enemy soldiers
through the ruined streets of a conquered city.

The now disarmed soldiers march in orderly ranks
guarded by troops carrying rifles fitted with long bayonets.
A photographer preserves the moment on a postcard.
The vanquished foe are now helpless captives. 

This grim black and white photo
shows hundreds of French and British soldiers
walking along a cobblestone avenue in Lille, France.
The German army occupied this city on 13 October 1914
following a ten day siege during which heavy shelling destroyed
882 apartment and office blocks and 1,500 houses,
in an area around the train station and city center.
As a result Lille, situated near the border of Belgium,
became a major depot for the Kaiser's forces
deployed along the Western Front,
and remained in German military control
until liberated by the Allies on 17 October 1918.
So a parade of prisoners of war like this
must have been a common sight for Lille's citizens.

This postcard and others like it
were reproduced as a cheap and easy way for German soldiers
to send messages to family and friends back in the fatherland.
But the gloomy gray tone of these photos
did not convey the heroic quality
desired by the German office of propaganda.
Something more was needed to illustrate
the dominance of Germany's great military machine.

What about color?

This colorized photo postcard shows a similar scene with captive French soldiers being led down a cobblestone street by German guards. But an element of reality is introduced as the French uniforms of light blue coats and red hats and trousers stand out against a background of red brick walls and green woodland.
 

On the back of the postcard is a message in German dated 30 June 1916. It also has a printed caption in both German and French that reads:  

Lille – Französische Gefangene verlassen de Citadelle
Des prisonniers quittent la Citadelle
~
French prisoners leave the Citadel

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In this next postcard a long procession of French soldiers walk across a bridge. This colorized halftone print emphasizes their red kepis and pantaloons. They are identified in a caption at the top:

Gefangene Franzosen
auf dem Transporte
~
Captive French
on the transport

 

Almost from the very beginning of the Great War of 1914-1918, German publishers began producing countless domestic propaganda like this to validate Germany's war achievements. This became especially important as the war dragged on and German casualties increased.  On the back of the card is printed Kriegs-Eirnnerungen-Karte ~ War Memories Card. It was probably sold in order to raise funds for the war effort or for veterans assistance. The postmark stamp is from a military unit and is dated 23 December 1916.

 

 

 

 

 

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In this postcard a group of soldiers wearing khaki-colored wool capes are pictured resting outdoors under a blue sky with puffy white clouds. They are close enough to the camera so we can see individual pink faces of men young and old. Beyond them in the background is a green field filled with many more soldiers. The caption reads:

Gefangene Russen — Kreigsjahr 1914–15
~
Captive Russians — war year 1914–15

This postcard was published by the W.M.L. printing company as part of a series on prisoners of war. When the card was sent over the military Feld-Post the war had nearly reached its first anniversary as the postmark is from Rastatt 28 June 1915. 

 

 

 

 

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Another half-tone color print postcard shows a group of soldiers wearing a different khaki uniform with Red Cross armbands. The caption reads:

Kriegsgefangene 1914/15 — Engländer
~
Prisoners of war 1914/15 — Englishmen

 

This card was also sent by a German soldier using Feld-Post. The postmark dates 5 March 1915 is from Meschede.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My last card is the most colorful with about ten soldiers dressed in kilts unloading a rail car. The caption reads:
 

Kriegsgefangene Schöttlander beim Umladen von Korn.
~
Scottish prisoners of war when loading corn.

 

The Scottish tartan is at least consistently, if crudely, painted as a green, yellow, red plaid which is probably not very authentic. The Highland regiments were a popular subject for this kind of propaganda, partly because Germans had a strange enthusiasm for Scottish fashion which I've documented in several German ladies orchestras. This card was also sent Feld-Post but neither the postmark or the soldier writing it gives a date.

 

 

 

Yesterday, 11 November 2022, known in America as Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day in other countries, marked 104 years since the the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War 1.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, beginning from the start of the Great War in August 1914 to its conclusion on 1918, 8 million soldiers fighting on the battlefields and 2 million civilians, mainly those living abroad in enemy countries or areas under enemy occupation, were taken prisoner and interned in prisoner of war camps. During the first month of the war on the Eastern Front, from 26-30 August 1914, over 92,000 Russian soldiers were captured by German forces at the Battle of Tannenberg. By September 1914 the German army's rapid westward advance through Belgium and France had taken over 125,000 French, Belgian, and British soldiers. 

This unexpected influx of so many captured enemy troops created a severe logistic problem for Germany. Camps for detention, transport, and confinement of the prisoners had to be quickly constructed. Each camp required suitable accommodation for enlisted men and officers, adequate food and water, proper sanitation and medicine, and of course personnel to support and guard each camp. Eventually there were over 170 prisoner of war camps in Germany which by the end of the war held 2,400,000 men.

My original interest in this little known history of World War 1 came from my discovery of photo postcards of orchestras and theater groups organized by captive soldiers in these POW camps. Readers can find some of my stories of those photos under the label "POW" on my blog's sidebar. But my curiosity about this topic has expanded to include more of the postcards published in Germany as part of the propaganda used to justify the German cause.

 

The bright colors and relative passive subjects pictured on these postcards hides the horrific nature of the war. As the conflict progressed into 1915, and then into 1916, 1917, and 1918 the German public was no longer insensible to its tragic consequences. I'm fascinated by the way enemy prisoners were depicted in Germany and how it changed over time. Colorful postcards were just one feature that were created to market Germany's continuation of a now grotesque war. This post is just the first in a series on the artwork and imagery used in German POW postcards. It's my small effort to "never forget."

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where things are a bit unbalanced this weekend.