“Not much new. War is hell .”

World War I in Postcards from Lower Styria

Abstract

The illustrated picture postcard from the beginning of the 20th century is an innovative source for history from below, offering insights into the lives of common people. The postcard was the first truly popular medium of mass communication and, before the rise of the telephone, the fastest means of everyday communication. Additionally, World War I made itself evident on postcards. Postcards can reveal signs of wartime, even though the war is rarely mentioned directly. By discussing examples from Lower Styria, we seek to illustrate what can be learned about the time of World War I by looking at postcards: We can learn about everyday troubles and worries, but also how “normal life” continued for civilians. We can gain insights into the daily lives of soldiers and into the tense atmosphere among civilians—insights that cannot be found in official documents.