Book Description

European Stamp Issues and the First World War takes a new approach to the dramatic storyof the continental empires and nations who became embroiled in the Great War that eventuallytransformed Europe and created a new patchwork of countries seething with jealousiesand discontent.It does so using the unique perspectives provided by the philatelic images through whicheach nation projected its vision of itself through the ruling dynasties, military triumphs, breathtakingscenery, cultural achievements and technical advances it chose to highlight. Duringthe uncertain and traumatic decades surrounding the Great War, nothing identified theaspirations and anxieties of a country more than its succession of stamp designs - some verydramatic, others subtle.Eye-catching new issues were powerful instruments of propaganda as well as revenue.In victory, stamps celebrated the acquisition of new territory, and in adversity they urged unityand promoted charities. From 1918 numerous stamps tracked the savage Red and WhiteRussian Civil War. And, as the great empires collapsed, countries such as Czechoslovakia,Poland and the Baltic States emerged eager to promote their history, culture and independence.While many French and Belgian stamps showed these war-torn nations nursing theirrecovery, issues in Germany highlighted how its post-war chaos hardened into a new nationalidentity. And across the Balkans lengthy sets reflected the deep divisions within and betweenthe Slav nations that preceded and long outlasted the First World War.This unparalleled book provides a fascinating portrait of the turbulent decades of theearly twentieth century, revealed through miniature works of art that are in themselvesimportant historical sources.