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Mavi Boncuk |
Having received assurances that coveted territories denied them in the Second Balkan War would be returned, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. Its added weight proved decisive to the offensive that finally broke the Serbian army in the fall of 1915. A number of Italian publishers portrayed this as a stab in the back even though Italy had been persuaded to change sides with the same sort of territorial promises from Britain just five months earlier. These cards didn’t have to make sense, just sir hatred.
There was a danger of producing too many cards that depict enemy atrocities for it implied the national army could not protect the homeland. This message was extremely dangerous when the Italian army began its long retreat in the Caporetto campaign. After October 1917 all news was filtered through the minister of propaganda, which had a huge effect on the type of images that found their way onto postcards. As soon as a new line was established on the Piave, more aggressive propaganda began to be produced even though the Italian army largely remained on the defensive. It not only depicted the enemy being defeated, but often in a gruesome or sadistic manner in order to satisfy the public’s taste for revenge. SOURCE