1910s

Here’s a sample description.

This is an advertisement and piece of propaganda proclaiming that a patriotic act would be for Germans to stop drinking beer and only drink Schnaps. Beer is made of wheat and other ingredients that would have been better used for bread and other sustenance for children, women, and old people, all of whom it was frowned upon for them to drink beer. To drink beer would have been irresponsible since German citizens needed those ingredients to create food they could eat. During times of war, it was impossible to import food and fuel for people to use, and so rationing was introduced. During this rationing, daily calorie intakes were slashed, and people saw the effects of rationing well after the war due to shortages. Additionally, rationing led to many people starving to death.

This map was published by the Cigarette Picture Service in Hamburg, Germany. The map details the ‘German Colonial Empire in 1914’, showing an overview of the German colonies (pre-WW1), as well as information into the different colonies’ year of establishment, location, area, population, railway, imports, and exports. This helps the viewer understand just how much Germany gained, stood to lose, and then lost during the war. It also emphasises the importance of trade on the economic stability needed to maintain overseas colonies, as well as international relations. This was published in 1935, potentially a tactic to enrage German citizens into remembering the ‘good old days’ when Germany had been a global superpower, as a way of drumming up support for World War Two and the new government that would be headed by Adolf Hitler.