These cards were issued in 1937 by a number of German cigarette companies and were included in packs of cigarettes. Although these cards were created after the war, they are colorized versions of photos taken by the German War Ministry during the war. They show many of the new technologies in use during World War I : tanks, bomber and fighter aircraft, machine guns and poison gas all of which made WWI incredibly deadly. Also pictured here are Austrian troops laying telephone lines. Communication lines were of the utmost importance for troop coordination and this was the first conflict in which telephones were used at the front. Observation balloons ( hot air balloons essentially) were used to identify targets for artillery, however wind and enemy planes made this a dangerous job.
