1917 Delattre World War I French Propaganda Poster of the United States

This is a c. 1917 G. Delattre World War I French propaganda map of the United States. The map celebrates American declaration of war just weeks after the event. France and the other Entente powers had been fighting Germany and the Central Powers since August 1914. The French suffered greatly during these nearly three years. Nearly one million were killed and tens of thousands wounded. Large sections of France's industrial northeast were destroyed or occupied by the static trench war.

A Closer Look

After years of hardship and privation, this map aims to raise national morale and promote the fresh supplies en route from the now involved United States. Text in the upper right lists incoming goods, including ammunition, wheat, gasoline, cotton, machinery, ships, and, of course, soldiers. Other supplies are scattered across the U.S., such as gold, silver, iron, beef, and corn. The phrase above the map is a quote from Woodrow Wilson and states 'We are brothers in the same cause'. Wilson said this in his farewell speech to the French Minister of Justice (and former Premier) Rene Viviani, who visited Washington after the American declaration of war. Viviani repeated the phrase several times in public remarks after returning to Paris.

Publication History and Census

This posted was created c. 1917 and printed by G. Delattre. We note a single example cataloged in OCLC, at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. We also note cataloged examples in the French National Archives, the PJ Mode Collection at Cornell University, and the archives of the French Department of Calvados. The map appears occasionally on the private market.