The Years between the Two Wars

Posters:

Max Pechstein ( Don't Strangle Our New Born Freedom), 1919
Rudi Feld ( The Danger of Bolshevism), ca.1919


The Between War Years

As the 1st World War drew to it's bitter end, hunger and despair were rife throughout Germany. Military defeat and economic collapse were making
themselves felt.
Deserting soldiers roamed the streets and added to the chaos. The country was ripe for change.
On November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland, and a few days later
announced his abdication.
The stage was set for a revolution that would replace the old regime with a system in which the leaders were responsible to parliament.
A coalition government of the moderate Social Democratic party and the more radical independent Social Democrats was set up.
Elections were called for january 1919. In the intervening period many artist's become Politically active, some for the first time, trying to stimulate action, strengthen opinions, or alter the social conscience.
Posters were the visual weapons in the struggle of the working class against the rich.
In marked contrast to the censorship that had been so strictly enforced during the Kaiser's reign, German cities now become a riot of colors and slogans as strident messages covered every available wall space.

MMaxi