World War One – Page 13 – Old Magazine Articles

Germany’s Discomfort Over the War-Guilt Clause
(Literary Digest, 1929)

The Treaty of Versailles was signed ten years before the printing of the attached article, and within that time the German press had literally published hundreds of thousands of editorials objecting to the treaty’s clause that placed all blame entirely on Germany for the start of the war. In order to mark this anniversary, the editors of The Literary Digest decided to run this article that reported on how that country felt about the war-guilt lie.

The French Army Moves into the Ruhr Valley
(Literary Digest, 1923)

When Germany’s post-war government failed to remit a portion of the 33 billion dollars it owed under it’s obligations agreed to in the Versailles Treaty, France lost little time deploying her army into the coal rich regions of the Ruhr Valley. This article, illustrated with cartoons and maps, offers a collection of assorted observations and editorial opinions gathered from from across Europe concerning the event:

Premiere Poincare remarked, ‘the French troops will remain in the Ruhr as long as may be necessary to assure the payment of reparations, but not a single day longer.’

Armistice Cartoon
(American Legion Weekly, 1919)

A cartoon that appeared in an American veterans magazine on the first anniversary marking the last day of W.W. I. What is especially amusing is the satirical depiction of American combat officers and the last frame, which fully supports the thesis of Joseph E. Persico’s book, 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour that the American Army was on the attack all the way up to the bitter end.

Kultur
(The New York Times, 1915)

During the course of the Great War, few German terms delighted English speaking cartoonists more than the word kultur -which is the Teutonic word for civilization or cultural progress. Prior to being picked up by the New York Times, this cartoon originally appeared in a London magazine called, The Sketch, and was drawn by W. Heath Robinson (dates?).

The Doughboys in Paris
(The Stars and Stripes, 1918)

Attached is a 1918 cartoon by THE STARS & STRIPES illustrator, C. LeRoy Baldridge depicting Paris in a way that only the A.E.F. could have witnessed it.

Read about the Doughboy who loved Paris

Rea Irvin and the New York Home Front
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1915)

This cartoon pokes fun at the high cost of being charitable. Throughout much of World War One there was always the problem of what to do with the growing number of refugees and orphans -and the answer was never cheap. This drawing reveals a different Rea Irvin, but the drawing style for which he would be remembered is clearly emerging.

The German Occupation of Manhattan
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)

The famed Conde Nast illustrator from days of old, Ann Fish, assumed the nom de guerre, Hello in order to impart to her well-fed audience the terror of German Prussianism. In this cartoon, she illustrated what a German invasion of Manhattan would look like.

Five French Cartoons
(La Baionnette, 1916)

Five remarkable color cartoons from France. Modern Satirical art at this time was exceptional. KEY WORDS: La Baionette 1914-1918,Cartoons 1916,French Cartoon 1916,Modern Satirical Art 1914-1918,Satiric Art 1916,Crown-Prince Wilhelm Cartoon 1916.

Click here to see how weird the first car radios looked.

The Returning Doughboys
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1919)

A piece of VANITY FAIR social satire concerning the returning American veterans of the World War I and how the industrial slaughter had changed them (as if such a thing could!).

Hindenburg’s Day by Gluyas Williams
(Life Magazine, 1918)

With his characteristic wit and economy of line, the American cartoonist Gluyas Williams once again sticks it to the Kaiser!

What Stake Did the Common Man Have in the European War?
(Liberator Magazine, 1918)

The Greenwhich Village cartoonist Art Young and his anarchist editors at The Masses, Liberator and The New Masses recognized all too well that the average Joe did not have a dog in that fight that was raging on across the sea.

An Anti-Interventionist Cartoon
(The Masses, 1917)

The socialist New York magazine The Masses maintained that the 1914 – 1918 war in Europe was not a concern for Americans and this is a great cartoon by the cartoonist Cornelia Barns (1888 – 1941) to illustrate the point; Barns was also one of the magazine’s editors.

A Swipe at Pacifism
(Life Magazine, 1918)

It always seems like a good time to diss a pacifist or two; and this cartoon is good for all conflicts.

War Profiteers
(Life Magazine, 1919?)

Although the year 1919 (and spanning throughout much of the Twenties) was a period marked by a strong sense of anti-communism in the United States, the words war profiteer proved to be a term capable of getting a good many people in both camps riled up. This is a fine cartoon by Rollin Kirby that nicely satirizes that low breed of opportunist.

Click here to see how weird the first car radios looked.

Supplying Chewing Gum to the A.E.F.
(America’s Munitions, 1919)

Although the origins of chewing gum have been traced to many different parts of the ancient world, no culture has whole-hardheartedly embraced the stuff quite as thoroughly as the Americans. The Yankee bromance with chewing gum has largely been credited to the American industrialist William Wrigley, Jr. (1861 – 1932) for creating, in 1906, a gum that appealed broadly to the American palette – and when Americans went to war in 1917, Wrigley’s chewing gum was in their arsenal.

We added to this page a small column about Dr. Morris Nafash, who was one of the brilliant chemists at the Bazooka Bubble Gum Company.

Click here to read about the A.E.F. love for candy…

Click here to read about all the effort that was made to get cigarettes to the Doughboys.

Firing from the Rails
(Sea Power Magazine, 1918)

Illustrated with six photographs, this 1918 article is one of the first pieces of journalism to document the planning, construction, testing and deployment of the Railway Batteries that were manned by the U.S. Navy in W.W. I France.

They dreamed a dream wherein a squadron of colossal trains, sheltered in armor plate, cruised constantly on dry land behind the battle lines. On each train a hundred bluejackets and their officers lived, ate, slept and worked the giant guns that rested upon mechanically perfect mounts and hurled explosive shells to the limit of their extreme ranges. In short, they dreamed the United States Naval Railway Batteries just as complete to the firing lines a few months later.

Railway Guns
(Popular Mechanics, 1914)

Railway-mounted artillery can be dated to the 19th century, however their shining moment came during World War One, and the most notorious of these was the German manufactured Paris Gun which showed up in 1918 and was able to shell that city from as far as 75 miles away.

The well-illustrated article attached herein first appeared a few months prior to the war’s outbreak and concerns the railway gun that the French had on hand at the time: 7.87 inch, 6 inch and 4.7 inch howitzers which were intended for coastal defense. By 1916 both sides in the war would be deploying enormous rail-mounted naval guns, capable of delivering a far larger blow.

Click here to read about the U.S. Navy railroad guns of W.W. I.

Railway Guns
(Popular Mechanics, 1914)

Click here to read about the U.S. Navy railroad guns of W.W. I.