
1914-1918 : The occupation
“See you soon!!!”
Two well-known personalities appear on this postcard. Mayor of the city, Adolphe Max directly and openly opposed the occupier already in September 1914, which caused his deportation to Germany. King Albert left Brussels too, after rejecting the German ultimatum, and led Belgian troops at the Yser to defend the last free Belgian plot of land. With these two symbols of refusal, this postcard could only circulate covertly. Secretly sold in Brussels, it represented the resistance to German domination. Yet contrary to what this image suggests, resistance was not only a matter of “great men”.
© Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles