Unusual 1915 German counter-version of British artist J. H. Amschewitz’s original December 1914 satirical map of the European war

European Revue. Kill That Eagle.

Produced by Geographia Ltd, 55 Fleet Street, London EC

Europäische Revue. (Töte den Adler). Gezeichnet von dem Englisch-Russichen Artisten, J H Amschewitz

with top running title: Von Grossem Sammelwert! [Of great value to collectors!]

Separately issued broadsheet map in printed colour. Broad margins. Two small areas of slight paper thinning to verso in upper left and right, otherwise a very fine clean example.  

Both Johnson Riddle’s November 1914 satirical map, “Hark! Hark! The Dogs do Bark!” and John Henry Amschewitz’s companion piece “European Revue. Kill That Eagle”, published just a few weeks later, elicited a curious propaganda counter blast from the Hamburg printer and publisher, Walter Nölting, in early 1915. He reproduced both maps for the domestic German market, claiming that Amschewitz’s map in particular offered “documentary proof of Albion’s perfidy”.

 The basis of Nölting’s claim was a clear or deliberate misinterpretation of the context and meaning of the term “Business as Usual”. The phrase had originally been coined by British business as a collective patriotic response to the outbreak of war. It was one rapidly adopted by Government and Ministers, not least Winston Churchill, who stated in a Guildhall speech of early November 1914: “The maxim of the British people is “Business as usual”. The implication was that, as far as was possible, domestic business and commerce would continue unabated & unchanged, despite the country now being on a war footing. Nölting has either misinterpreted or cunningly twisted the phrase for propaganda purposes to suggest that this latest War is, for Britain, just “business as usual”, given her historic record & regular propensity for war-mongering.

An explanatory commentary below the map translates roughly as follows:

This satirical map of Europe displays documentary proof of Albion’s Perfidy. Whilst German goods and blood fight for the fatherland, England regards the war merely as business by saying sneeringly: “Business as usual”. The map reproduces the English original exactly. A few words are transposed into German for better understanding. The price of this map in London is 1 shilling – 1 mark. Reproduced by a German printer without kind permission from our English cousin, as an eternal memorial.