Part Six:
    Liquidating the war

    © N° inv. : 4 UNF 60.2. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – Revolutionary cap. The uniforms worn by soldiers and non-commissioned officers in the German infantry included a visorless cap with piping and a red band. In order to conceal this bright colour, a ribbon of a more neutral colour was added during the war. From 1897 onwards, two cockades were sewn onto the front of the cap: one in the colours of the wearer’s home state and the other, on the upper part of the cap, in the colours of the Empire. During the revolutionary period, the latter might be covered with a patch of red cloth. During the Great War, the official standard of the German Empire was red, black and white, as adopted in the constitution of the North German Confederation of 25 June 1867 and continued under the Empire. These were by now well-established as the national colours. The revolutions of 1918, the abdication of Wilhelm II and the fall of the Empire ushered in a period of vehement disputes over the national flag. The communist minority demanded a red standard, but the real debate was between those who wanted a return to the democratic colours adopted in 1848 – red, black and gold – and those who wanted to retain the imperial-era colours. A compromise was found, typical of the divisions which undermined the nascent Weimar Republic: the national flag was to be red, black and gold, but the standard would maintain the colours established by Bismarck. Numerous street clashes took place between the proponents of the rival flags.
    © N° inv. : 15 FI 716. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – American “Victory” embroidery. The victorious alliance between France and the USA is here celebrated on a hand-embroidered postcard, a touch of luxury in a seemingly modest object. The card speaks eloquently to the sense of hope for the future felt in 1918, symbolised here by the interlocking flags of the victorious allies.
    © N° inv. : 24 ART 10.1. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – Embroidery made by a French prisoner of war: “Homecoming.” Embroidered by the soldier imprisoned at Mumsdorf (see Part Five), this 1918 composition imagines the homecoming of the “exile,” i.e. himself. The scene is idyllic: a house in the country, the wife rushing out, the young daughter seeing her father for the first time in four years, immediately recognising him and running to meet him. This naïve, idealised vision of homecoming stands in contrast with the complexities of many real post-war experiences.
    © N° inv. : 14 MED 12.3. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – British ‘Welcome Home’ flag. A flag welcoming British troops home. After the Armistice, British soldiers were demobilised not on the basis of category or length of service (as in France), but instead on the basis of their peacetime occupations and the skills most needed to get the country up and running again. . These two simple words reassure the returning soldiers that they have not been forgotten at home, and that they will be welcomed back with open arms. But they don’t quite promise something the returning combatants were eager to see: the gratitude of those who had remained on the ‘Home Front’.
    © N° inv. : 15 JOJ 16.1. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – Victory board game. Numerous board games incorporating events from the war were produced over the course of the conflict. This example, as its name and final spaces indicate, was designed and issued after the Armistice and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Its narrative thrust is entirely consistent with the official French account of the Great War.
    © N° inv. : 1 UNF 66.2. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – German paramilitary helmet – Stahlhelm. In the spring of 1920, violent clashes broke out between the Ruhr Red Army, formed in response to the Kapp Putsch of 13 March 1920 and subsequently intent on seizing power, and regular units of the Reichswehr along with several paramilitary units, or Freikorps, who just weeks earlier had attempted to overthrow Friedrich Ebert. This steel helmet is marked with a white arrow – the Freikorps generally used such insignia to identify one another – and was worn during these clashes. An abiding symbol of experience on the front line, after the revolution and defeat of the German army the Stahlhelm became emblematic of paramilitary organisations and conservative and far-right political movements. The red, black and white rep ribbon, two military crosses and medal commemorating the anniversary of the liberation of Cologne (dated 26 March 1926, this medal shows the cathedral and the Rhine) are all testament to the tumultuous post-war years of the Freikorps. The choice of the old imperial colours indicates a refusal to accept the new democratic republic. The nod to 1813, in the form of the brass cross, lays claim to a fanciful sense of continuity with the wars of liberation, although this time the enemies are to be found within. Finally, the commemoration of the liberation of Cologne is of course a reference to contemporary events, and the departure of British occupying forces from the Ruhr. The message is one of nationalist fervour and opposition to the Treaty of Versailles.
    © Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – German medals with anti-French imagery – GOETZ Karl Xaver. (1875-1950). (1875-1950). Series of eight medals struck in 1920. Eight expressions of rage at the French occupation of the Rhineland. Eight obscene, racist depictions of soldiers from France’s African colonies and accusations that they raped German women. even after the Armistice.
    © N° inv. : 23 ECO 813.2. Coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre – Péronne(Somme). Photo Yazid Medmoun – German ration tickets. Within months of war breaking out, hunger and privation were daily realities for Germany’s civilian population. On 22 February 1915, Berlin and surrounding towns introduced bread ration books for the first time. Agricultural output had declined dramatically due to the lack of manpower, horses and fertiliser, while the Allied blockade had cut Germany off from the overseas markets which previously supplied a fifth of the country’s food. By 1916 the civilian meat ration had been cut by two-thirds and the bread ration cut in half; rationed goods were difficult to get hold of, and often of mediocre nutritional quality. The result was a flourishing black market, and long queues as women, children and the elderly waited hours for food. The ‘Polish markets’, as they were called in Berliner slang, became a hotbed of contestation and the symbol of the state’s inability to keep the civilian population fed, thus undermining its legitimacy. The “turnip winter” of 1917-1918 marked a dramatic turning point: the collapse of potato and milk production made hunger an ever-present part of daily life, with almost 750,000 civilians dying from malnourishment and its consequences. And yet, confounding the hopes of the hunger marchers who protested for “bread and peace,” the end of the war did not lead to the immediate return of well-stocked markets: ration tickets were still needed to buy bread, milk, meat, coal and clothing. In the capital, bread rationing continued until 1923.
    Back to Encyclopaedia