Post by Administrator on Jun 19, 2008 17:30:08 GMT 10
One of the more interesting photographic records left behind by Castellorizo's twentieth century occupiers is the wide array of postcards that were produced and distributed by them to promote the island. France first, and then Italy, both used the popular and expanding format of the postcard to disseminate images of the island and these represent today a valuable record of events on the island and of its changing landscape during the tumultuous first half of the twentieth century.
The postcards produced by the French navy during its occupation of Castellorizo between 1915-1921 deal predominantly with the hostilities of the period when the island became a staging post for French operations in the eastern Mediterranean. As they were designed to demonstrate French might, the postcards are largely representations of the military strength of the French forces. One of the most common postcards of the period is the one that shows the French warships Jeanne d'Arc and Amiral Charner in the harbour of Castellorizo on the first morning of the occupation, 28 December 1915:
The far longer period of occupation by Italy between 1921-1943, combined with Italy's greater appetite for colonial expansion under Benito Mussolini, led to a far broader series of postcard issues that ranged from traditional views of the island to images of the public buildings erected by the Italian regime and even the scenes of devastation that gripped the island in the aftermath of the 1926 earthquake. An example is shown here:
Members of the Castellorizo Forum who have access to other postcards from these periods are encouraged to display them here.
Nicholas
The postcards produced by the French navy during its occupation of Castellorizo between 1915-1921 deal predominantly with the hostilities of the period when the island became a staging post for French operations in the eastern Mediterranean. As they were designed to demonstrate French might, the postcards are largely representations of the military strength of the French forces. One of the most common postcards of the period is the one that shows the French warships Jeanne d'Arc and Amiral Charner in the harbour of Castellorizo on the first morning of the occupation, 28 December 1915:
The far longer period of occupation by Italy between 1921-1943, combined with Italy's greater appetite for colonial expansion under Benito Mussolini, led to a far broader series of postcard issues that ranged from traditional views of the island to images of the public buildings erected by the Italian regime and even the scenes of devastation that gripped the island in the aftermath of the 1926 earthquake. An example is shown here:
Members of the Castellorizo Forum who have access to other postcards from these periods are encouraged to display them here.
Nicholas
