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Ágnes Tamás
Serbian satirical papers: the magazine published in Belgrade, Brka, had hopeful
prospects for the new year, 1913 (ill. 129 Brka, 1 January 1913), while the satirical
paper of Novi Sad, Vrac Pogada¢, depicted the war and the expected continuation
of the war similarly to Borsszem Janké (ill. 128).'°
In the Belgrade satirical magazine, the angel Gabriel greeted the new year by
bringing the news of victory of the Balkan kingdoms, riding an olive branch to the
three great powers, France, Russia, and Great Britain, who are looking up at him in
the sky. Nevertheless, one has to note that this positive representation of the coun¬
tries of the Balkan League is unique. During the period of another religious holiday,
Easter of 1913, the First Balkan War was approaching its end. In the depiction of
Borsszem Jank entitled “Easter sprinkling,” the ships of the Austro-Hungarian
navy pour water over Peter and Nikita, referring to the blockade of the Adriatic Sea
and the crisis in Skutari (Borsszem Jank6, 23 March 1913). In the picture published
in Brka, the Russian figure distributes Easter eggs carrying the names of the desired
territories of the Balkans (Brka, 14 April 1913). Finally, Vraé Pogada¢ celebrates the
resurrection of Christ with the following caricature: “The Ottoman Empire failed,
but the Balkan nations can come back to life and their armies can leave the area”
(Vraë Pogadaë, 29 April 1913).
Conclusion
Even though after the Balkan Wars the map of Europe changed, it did not yet
take its “final” form since all of the participants were dissatisfied with the new
borders and the great powers formulated their demands for the Balkans again.
Italy wanted to expand its territory in the direction of the Adriatic Sea, while the
Habsburg monarchy and Russia were afraid of losing their influence in the region.
The contemporaries were afraid of a European war as well as further clashes of the
Balkan states—as suggested by the caricatures shown in illustration 130. A dove
flies over a bloody sea and we cannot see the olive branch (a symbol of peace by
the twentieth century) in its beak. If we think of the Biblical story in which Noah
sent the dove out from the ark twice, and the second time the bird came back with
an olive branch, indicating that the waters had receded and people and animals
could live on the Earth again, then it can be plausibly argued that the caricature
means that the “blood flood” was not over yet in the Balkans, and it was not the
safest place in the world (Borsszem Jankó, 24 November 1912). The message is the
same in the caricature of a German satirical paper (ill. 131: the angel of peace sits
on a barrel captioned “Pulver” (“Gunpowder”).
16 One can observe another difference between the two Serbian satirical papers as well. The language
of the captions of Brka was ruder than that of Vrac Pogada¢ or that of the other satirical papers. The
Serbian figure said, for example, “Go to the devil” to his enemy (Brka, 25 December 1912).
'7 Tn Hungary, traditionally on Easter Monday, men sprinkle women with water (or, nowadays, per¬
fume) as a modern manifestation of a fertility rite.