Houp la! Douamont

Category

Library Item

Item no

32918

Title

Houp la! Douamont

Description

"On 24 October 1916 the French at Verdun, who had long and secretly been organizing an attack, recovered by a sudden assault the fortress of Douamont, and held their new front successfully in the face of four furious German counter-attacks backed up by an intense artillery fire."

Artist / maker

Raemaekers, Louis

Date

1917

Size

36.8 x 27.2 cm

Type

Chromolithograph

Location

Art and Design Library

Copyright

Louis Raemaekaers' drawings are reproduced by kind permission of the Louis Raemaekers Foundation.

Fort Douaumont was a major French fort that guarded Verdun. German troops captured the fort in February 1916, and French troops recaptured it in October of the same year. However, hundreds of thousands of soldiers died during the Battle of Verdun, which lasted most of 1916. Raemaekers shows an Allied soldier kicking Crown Prince Wilhelm into the air, away from a piece of land marked 'Douaumont.' The term 'houp-là' in French is used to tell a child to move. Used in this context, it treats the Crown Prince as a silly child and celebrates the Allies' victory over German troops.

The Louis Raemaekers Foundation have published a book of his works entitled, 'Louis Raemaekers - with pen and pencil as a weapon'.

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Events > Wars

Events > Wars > World wars

People > Military activities > Soldiers

People > Politics and government > Princes