The Role of Photography and Film in post-World War I International Humanitarian Operations

Abstract

In the political chaos caused by World War I and the post-war revolutions, Hungary drifted to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The country’s decision makers soon realized that the crisis could not be resolved on its own. Prime Minister Károly Huszár, leading the so-called concentration government, recognized that the aid campaign he had announced could only be effective if the conditions in the country were presented to the international community. To this end, a number of informative lectures, publications and articles have been produced. This propaganda for humanitarian cooperation also helped Hungary to break out of its foreign policy isolation.
This critical period meant the biggest ordeal for children. It is no coincidence that the post-World War I charity propaganda was aimed primarily at helping infants. International attention to the ordeals of war has also resulted in increased visual representation of children’s suffering. In my paper, I present propaganda photographs, which were created in connection with the charity actions announced several times during the early 1920s, related mainly to the so-called children's train actions.
During World War I the latest genre of urban popular culture, cinema, became increasingly popular. The opportunity to utilize movies as a means of propaganda was soon discovered, so the cinema was used by the warring parties during World War I to mobilize the audience. This function of films remained in the post-war period, in our case however it was much more to present the hopeless situation of Hungary on the side of the losers. In the second half of my study, I present such propaganda films made after the war, with the aim of gaining the support of the international community, particularly in connection with the children's train actions.

Photo: János Müllner, Budapest Hisory Museum, Kiscell Museum. Photo Archives.