World War I Trench Newspapers

Trench newspapers are publications produced, published, and circulated by soldiers on the Western and Eastern fronts during the First World War. In the standoffs that persisted from 1914 to 1918 on the Western and Eastern fronts, trench warfare transformed the reality of warfare in Europe. In the wake of the tragedy and suffering that trench warfare created, Trench Newspapers arose as a source of news, entertainment, and distraction for soldiers in the British, French, German, and Canadian militaries, with limited publications among other national militaries. Trench newspapers were most often produced as satirical journals, by hand, on a limited basis by officers at war. They took advantage of a wide array of hand publishing techniques and provide insight into the attitudes and emotions of soldiers on the front lines of the First World War. A large collection of French trench newspapers are currently housed at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kisalak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Production, Circulation, and Provenance

Trench newspapers, including those produced by the British and French militaries, were most often drafted and produced by “middle-class, low ranking officer[s]” with backgrounds that would lend themselves to writing and publishing. They frequently consisted of older men with teaching or printing backgrounds, with many working as lawyers, artists, teachers, and journalists (Nelson) before being conscripted into their respective militaries. While a significant portion of newspapers were produced by soldiers in the lower ranks, the majority were produced and circulated by officers and junior officers (Nelson). Most trench newspapers were produced behind fixed front lines, most often in lulls in combat, separated from enemy lines. In the case of French newspapers, most newspapers were printed in Paris before being distributed among the ranks of soldiers, but few used large-scale printing technologies on account of their relatively short-runs and limited financial backing. Most Trench newspapers were purchased by soldiers before being printed as a part of a pseudo “subscription service” (nelson), mostly to cover the costs of production. Once produced, most trench newspapers were distributed via military post (Nelson). To accommodate their short print runs, newspapers were rarely printed en masse: most copies were printed on an extremely limited basis, and then passed from hand to hand among soldiers (Kurth). In many cases, Trench Newspapers would have been tacked onto bulletin boards or in plain view for soldiers to see (Kurth).

Provenance

The Trench newspapers collected and maintained as a part of their World War I Print and Media collection are mostly French newspapers, likely collected and donated by a single party. Of the newspapers examined, a few samples showed penciled price tags in the upper-righthand corner, indicating that some Trench newspapers were sold and collected after the conclusion of the First World War.