'La Grande Guerre'

 

 

the Siege of Antwerp from a Belgian History Magazine

several full pages from 'La Grande Guerre'

 

A very inexpensive, if not to say cheap magazine, 'La Grande Guerre' was a 2000 page long, ultra-patriotic account of the Great War
as seen through Belgian eyes. At times it appeared as if the printing were done by mimeograph machine rather than on a printing press. The issues contained a large amount of illustrative material, most of it atrociously printed. It appears as if this publication was hurriedly put to press almost immdiately after the Armistice, while public interest in the war was still great, especially in recently liberated Belgium, which had previously had to make do with magazines published under German censorship.
 
'La Grande Guerre' was advertised as being the only Belgian serial history publication on the Great War. For all its otherwise unavoidable qualitative faults due to immediate post-war shortages, it was a profusely illustrated publication, containing a wealth of otherwise difficult to find photos and illustrations regarding the war in Belgium. This was certainly so in regards to the events during the siege of Antwerp. Usually quickly glossed over in post-war publications, in 'la Grande Guerre' a very detailed and well illustrated account can be found of the situation and the fighting around Antwerp from August to October 1914.
 
Since most of the illustrations in 'la Grande Guerre' were rather small-sized, a number of full page scans are reproduced above to give a general idea of their appearance, while the following links will contain enlargments of the photographs only.

 

to Photographs

Page 01
Page 02
Page 03
Page 04
Page 05
Page 06
Page 07
Page 08
Page 09
Page 10

 

Next
Back to Index
Back to Siege of Antwerp
Back to Antwerp Magazines