Central Powers:  
Celebrating Alliances (3)

3- Soldiers (and children dressed as soldiers) in stereotypical uniforms (primarily
    distinctive headgear):
    3.1 Germany's helmet with a spike on the top (till mid-1916)
    3.2 Austria-Hungary's vertically conical hat with a small visor
    3.3 Ottoman Turkey's brimless fez
    3.4 Bulgaria's flat topped field cap with wide brim

Click on the pictures to enlarge!
Use your BACK button to get back to this page!

zweisold01.JPG (26729 bytes)

zweisold02.JPG (24726 bytes)

zweisold03.JPG (33057 bytes)

zweisold04.JPG (34344 bytes)

zweisold05.JPG (34074 bytes)

"Waffenbrüder"
Publ. J. Eberle
Wien

"Waffenbrüder"
Publ. Erika
Art by: G. Franke

"1914"
Publ. Albert Ebner
München

"Wir halten fest
und treu
zusammen"
Publ. G.f.g.K.
Berlin

"Waffenbrüder"
Publ. Farbenph.
Stuttgart.
No. 3412 Serie 94

dreisold01.JPG (40593 bytes)

Kriegspostkarte No. 39
Art by: P.O.E.

viersold01.JPG (51286 bytes)

viersold02.JPG (23222 bytes)

viersold03.JPG (31521 bytes)

viersold04.JPG (39340 bytes)

"Gute Kameraden"
Publ. Brüder Kohn Wien
Art by: K. Feiertag

"Der Vierbund"
No. 5145

"Wir vier Brüder
müssen siegen ..."
No. 350/1
Art by: P.O.E.

"Bitte fest zusammen
halten"
Publ. GMT
Art by: P.O.E.

viersold05.JPG (43021 bytes)

viersold06.JPG (57353 bytes)

viersold07.JPG (76156 bytes)

"Wenn die Soldaten durch
die Stadt marschieren"
No. 4993

"Fest und treu, Ihr
wackren Jungen ....."
No. 1620/5

"Wir halten fest und
treu zusammen"
Publ. S.V.D. No. 4219
Art by: A. Felix-Schulze

viereaster01.JPG (34336 bytes)

viereaster02.JPG (23582 bytes)

viereaster03.JPG (38943 bytes)

viereaster04.JPG (28547 bytes)

viereaster05.JPG (24220 bytes)

Nr. 53 d

Nr. 377

Nr. 385

Nr. 381

Nr. 383

Official Austrian Red Cross postcards
(Offizielle Karte für: Rotes Kreuz, Kriegsfürsorgeamt, Kriegshilfebüro)

zweivar01.JPG (24457 bytes)

zweivar02.JPG (33256 bytes)

RPPC publ. unknown
the German and Turkish symbols

"Sympathiekundgebung!"
Kriegspostkarte No. 41
Art by: P.O.E.

Before closing a few comments on the broader context of the Central Powers' alliance promoting propaganda may be of interest. The vast majority of alliance-celebrating cards was produced in Germany and to a secondary degree in Austria-Hungary. This was due in part to the limited printing industry in Turkey and Bulgaria, but also to the political realities within the individual nations. The war did not enjoy popular support in Bulgaria, which had in any event looked upon its new allies of Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey as oppressors for the past 100-plus years. (Bulgaria had in fact warred with the Ottomans less than three years previously in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913.) As for the Ottomans, they had grown increasingly closer to Germany economically, militarily and politically since the turn of the century. However they had lost considerable prestige and territory to the Austrians and Bulgarians in "European Turkey" since the Bosnian crisis of 1908. In addition, entry into World War One placed Turkey at war with the two powers (Great Britain and France) which had historically always guaranteed her independence in the face of the Russian thread. Turkey entered the war as a result of the intrigues of her pro-German de facto military dictator Enver Pasha, and it was a war that represented little that was either logical or comprehensible to the citizens of that empire. The Central Powers were therefore an uneasy alliance of recent enemies, and it is little wonder that the primary alliance we see celebrated with increasing vigor throughout the war is that between the Germanic empires and royal houses of Germany and Austria.
Site Map