Baják László Ihász István: The Hungarian National Museum History Exhibition Guide 4 - The short century of survival (1900-1990) (Budapest, 2008)

Room 16. From the Belle Epoch to the Collapse of the Monarchy (1900-1919). László Baják

Lottery ticket designed by the graphics artist Imre Földes in aid of the Sáros villages ravaged by the Russians, 1916 expected, the Russians, who had been preparing in secret, attacked surprisingly quickly, while the Germans got bogged down )y the River Marne in France. Hitherto unseen hosts of soldiers died on the inflexible fronts, while the war's propaganda machine imperturbably spoke of glory and heroism and appealed to national interests. The propaganda was in the newspapers, on posters, badges and medals, on the millions of postcards sent to and from the front, on all manner of ornamental objects and even on kitchen splash-guards: "Long live the King, Long live our homeland! Victory to the Magyar, so may he return!" However, as time passed enthusiasm for the war waned. From the first moment the Entente had a significant superiority in numbers, the Central Powers only being able to muster 4 million soldiers to the front as opposed to their 6 million men. Later, especially if we take into consideration the unequal economic opportunities, the situation worsened significantly. While the Central Powers could only obtain Turkey and Bulgaria as allies, who were already licking their wounds after the Balkan Wars, the Entente acquired Italy (1915), Romania (1916) and the USA and Greece (1917). The position of the Monarchy was made even more difficult as it had to fight on three and even four fronts at the same time. Even though it defeated Serbia with Bulgarian assistance and Romania with îelp from Germany, forced back the Russians (the Gorlice breakthrough) and the Italians (the Caporetto breakthrough), 1917 it began to be hopelessly exhausted Mihály Biró's poster inspiring people to take out war-loam Moldovan: War photography exhibition (poster, 1916)