A mass of German troops bear an enormous egg striped in the black, white, and red of the german flag. Atop the egg, a cannon is fired by troops with a Hungarian flag. The target, diminutive in the distance, is Paris, Eiffel Tower gray against the brown city.
The watercolor is labeled,
Husvét . Páris piros tojása . 1918
Easter . Red eggs for Paris . 1918
The front of the card is postmarked 1918-04-05 from Melököveso.
The card is a Feldpostkarte, a field postcard, from Asbach Uralt, old German cognac. Above the brand name, two German soldiers wheel a field stove past a crate containing a bottle of the brandy under the title Gute Verpflegung, Good Food. Above the addressee is written Einschreiben, enroll, and Nach Ungarn, to Hungary. The card is addressed to Franz Moritos, and is postmarked Hamburg, 1918-03-30. A Hamburg stamp also decorates the card.
A hand-painted postcard by Schima Martos. , Germany on registered fieldpost card, 1918, message: Red Egg for Paris, Easter, 1918.
The German advance in Operation Michael in the March, 1918 nearly broke the Allied line, and threatened Paris, putting it once again in range of a new German supergun capable of hitting the city from 70 miles away.

Husvét . Páris piros tojása . 1918



Easter . Red eggs for Paris . 1918



The front of the card is postmarked 1918-04-05 from Melököveso

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Wednesday, April 3, 1918

"General Foch is charged by the British, French and American Governments with the co-ordination of the action of the Allied Armies on the Western Front. To this end all powers necessary to secure effective realization are conferred on him. The British, French and American Governments for this purpose entrust to General Foch the strategic direction of military operations. The Commanders-in-Chief of the British, French and American Armies have full control of the tactical employment of their forces. Each Commander-in-Chief will have the right of appeal to his Government if in his opinion the safety of his Army is compromised by any order received from General Foch."

Quotation Context

Statement of the Beauvais conference on April 3, 1918, superseding the previous agreement reached at Doullens. On March 26, in response to the success of Germany's Somme Offensive, Operation Michael, a Franco-British agreement charged Foch with 'coördinating the action of the Allied armies on the western front', subordinating their commanders, Henri Philippe Pétain and Douglas Haig, to the coordination of Ferdinand Foch. On March 28, American commander John Pershing had offered Foch, 'all that I have I put at your disposal.' Neither British Prime Minister Lloyd George nor Haig trusted the other, and the Prime Minister was happy to see Haig subordinate to Foch. Foch had for months pressed for a unified command and reserve force that could seize the offensive when the opportunity presented itself.

Source

1918, the Last Act by Barrie Pitt, pp. 111–111, copyright © 1962 by Barrie Pitt, publisher: Ballantine Books, Inc., publication date: 1963

Tags

1918-04-03, 1918, April, Doullens, unified command, Foch, Marshall Foch, Ferdinand Foch