The widespread use of postcards during the First World War was a result of the mass mobilization of soldiers, who maintained contact with their families through postcards, letters, parcels, and correspondence cards. A vast number of postcards were printed, as their sale helped raise financial resources and charitable aid. The extensive censorship apparatus carefully monitored them while skillfully exploiting them for war propaganda, which used imagery and slogans to spread stereotypes about the enemy and praise the supposed superiority of one’s own side.
In the collection of Austro-Hungarian postcards, we preserve a postcard depicting a chess game between leading military commanders. Chess was considered a strategic game with a long history, reflecting social hierarchies, where individual pieces were sacrificed in pursuit of ultimate victory. The game rewarded those who were more capable, intelligent, and powerful.
The chess game on the propaganda postcard features military commanders who led battles during the First World War. On the side of the Entente are Luigi Cadorna (1850–1928), John Denton Pinkstone French (1856–1928), Nikolai Nikolaevich (1856–1929), and Joseph Joffre (1852–1931). Opposing them, representing the Central Powers, are Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (1852–1925) and Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934). In reality, the war’s “chess game” ended differently, too many soldiers were sacrificed.
