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Description: | obverse design: Gallic cock, facing left, standing on an unrolled document which bears the words "GEN FER KONVENTION". To
the right of the cock and document three "dum-dum" cartridges, two positioned vertically and one lying flat. One of the vertical cartridges
bears the words "DUM DUM" in small indented characters
obverse text: "ALLEN.RE SPEKT! VOR DER ,,GRANDE NATION''"
reverse design: Marianne as the "Sower", see Notes, standing facing left wearing Phrygian cap and classical robes, carrying a seed apron
and casting seed. At her feet and in the field in the distance serpents' heads and bodies arise from the ground. In the right background,
partly obscured by the horizon, the shining sun, the rays of which resemble an elaborate semi-circular arrangement of outward pointing
swords
reverse text: "RACHE SAETEST DU BEI ZEITEN SCHON"
In this early satirical medal Goetz counters Allied criticisms of German 'barbarity' by alleging French infringements
of the Geneva Convention, in allowing her military forces to use outlawed 'dum-dum' small arms ammunition. The ironic text on the obverse
is translated as 'All respect for the Great Nation'. In the reverse design Goetz employs a parody 'The Sower' ('La Semeuse', by Roty) to
personify a France sewing her crimes of inhumanity. The reverse text, a reference to the aggravated sense of vengeance fostered in France
after her defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, is translated as 'You have already sown revenge before'.
Allegations concerning the use of illegal expanding bullets were made by all sides during the war, which often reflected an initial
ignorance on the part of combatants of the terrible wounds that could be inflicted by conventional 'legal' ammunition used in modern high-
powered rifles and machine guns. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | First World War & (?) 1914 satirical | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Goetz, Karl | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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