Exhibition
Introduction
The street is a central place of everyday life and, as such, it is a microcosm of the political and social changes brought about by the war. The general mood of the population is reflected on the streets: enthusiasm for the war in the beginning and later on mainly opposition and protests against the military campaigns and themass fatalities. Long queues in front of food stores mark the street scene and symbolise the general food supply shortage. The street is also an important place militarily, as a supply line for the troops at the front.
Changes in the Streets
With the beginning of the war, the appearance of the street is changed. During the mobilisation of August 1914 a new rhythm emerges in the streets. The noisy, busy street, ringing and vibrating, where the market-women sells her wares, becomes a quiet place. Over the course of the war it will turn into a place of whispers. Thus “The Times” observes the “Calm London Evening” in which, as a result of governmental restrictions, noise in the streets is limited. Due to the danger of air attacks the street lights are dimmed. Paris is transformed from the “ville lumière” into the “ville obscurité”. The traffic declines as a consequence of the lack of petrol. More and more it is the pedestrians and cyclists who mark the appearance of the cities. Public gatherings are banned for fear of espionage, riots and chaos. All of these things lead to increasingly quiet and empty streets.
Due to war-related restrictions on newspapers, social communication is subject to change. News of politics and everyday life is either exchanged verbally or announced on posters and leaflets glued to walls and street lights. Owing to shortened opening hours, curfews and the ban onpublic assemblies and noisy street entertainment everyday urban life is transformed. The war imposes its rules on the city and life therein, turning the city itself into a warzone.
Enthusiasm, Protest, Revolt
A wave of enthusiasm accompanies the beginning of the war. In patriotic exultation soldiers are sent to the frontlines in August 1914. Everywhere parades are held and crowds of people cheer. In Paris the metro stations “Berlin” and “Allemagne” are renamed “Liège” and “Jaurès”. In the capital cities of the warring countries flags and banners are hung in the streets. But over the course of the war criticism rises and is followed by disillusionment. The German historian Karl Hampe witnesses the change in atmosphere in Heidelberg and asks in his diary for July 1915: “Where is the enthusiasm of August 1914?”. Disillusionment is soon followed by anger: women and children protest against the lack of food in Berlin, and in Paris and London people demonstrate for peace. More and more the demonstrations are expressions of resistance to the oppressive state and to social change. In Russia the protest becomes a revolution. The war is ended on the street.
Militarisation and 'Bellifizierung'
When war brakes out, the civil and military worlds collide on the streets of Europe. Road barriers and barricades become part of everyday life. Uniformed men appear on the streets, most notably in the capital cities of the warring countries. Leaflets stuck to walls warn of spying or call for enlistment or appeal for donations for the troops. Whilst several cities like Vienna and Berlin are spared, the capitals of France and Great Britain witness battles between antiaircraft defences and bombers and airships. But not only Paris and London are bombed. In towns at the front lines whole streets of houses are destroyed by artillery during battles. Prisoners of war are moved along the streets outside of the towns, displaced persons migrate to safer areas and supply columns move toward the front line. Sometimes this leads to the supply chain being cut off. In a note by the First German Kavallerie-Division the following was observed during the battle at Tannenberg in August 1914: “The flight of refugees has to be prevented by the civil authorities, all streets are crowded with carts and livestock posing serious risk to the movement of troops and the risk of col. (collision), food supply is seriously complicated.”
