OPUS 19
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Summary :
OPUS is AEP's flagship publication. This 2019 edition is devoted to the Treaty of Versailles and its consequences with 20 articles, summaries of which can be seen below.
1) Le traité de Versailles, naissance de la Société des Nations et du Bureau international du travail
Arnold Ottonin
The author gives us a very comprehensive overview of all the organizations and institutions that worked, unfortunately without much success, for peace in the first half of the 20th century. Eachy step in this global search for peace is illustrated by splendid postal documents.
2) La Belgique et le traité de Versailles
Hubert De Belder
The author tells us about the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and all the international conferences surrounding it, while focusing on the Belgian role in these events. The entire article is enhanced by a wide variety of cards and letters, which bear the cachets and postmarks of these conferences.
3) The first postal year of the Free City of Danzig
Ton Hulkenberg
The author describes the origins of postal activity in Danzig. The Free City of Danzig (Freie Stadt Danzig) was created by the Treaty of Versailles and therefore had to organize its own postal service. The author takes us through the successive stages in the development of the Danzig post office during the first year of its existence.
4) L’occupation française à Arad
Cristian Scaiceanu
The author shows us some cards and letters from Arad, Hungary, which date back to the brief French occupation in 1919. He shows us some quite rare pieces, with Romanian, Serbian and French censor cachets.
5) On the road to Victory
Lorenzo Carra
The author tells us about a moving and interesting letter, which was written on 4 November 1918 by a member of the medical service of the Italian army. It accurately describes his journey to a location in Northern Italy where the Italian army had just driven out the enemy. The title of the letter leaves us in no doubt: “Sulle vie della Vittoria” (on the road to victory).
6) The first Croatian postage stamps. Issue 29.10.1918
Mladen Vilfan
The author tells us about a very detailed study of the first Croatian issue from 1918. This series of four stamps was only valid for one day - 29 October 1918. After providing us with a historical overview, the author describes the origin of these stamps, essays, different types of paper and concludes by showing us a few rare examples of the short-lived postal use of these stamps.
7) The Međimurje and Prekmurje issues 1918-1919
Nenad Rogina
The Croatian region of Međimurje, in the north of Croatia, between Hungary and Slovenia, and the Slovenian region of Prekmurje, between Austria and Hungary, rebelled against the Hungarian occupation towards the end of the First World War. This gave rise to many different provisional overprints on Hungarian stamps. The author examines these issues in detail, using a wealth of different examples and distinguishing between surcharges that are unquestionably postal and those of a simply philatelic or clearly abusive nature.
8) Stamp production in a post-war economy
Henk Buitenkamp
With incredible attention to detail, the author examines all the technical aspects of the first stamps of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which was created after the war and would later become Yugoslavia. From the types of paper used to perforations, inking, printing techniques and colours, everything is analysed in relation to postage stamps, postage due stamps and newspaper stamps. An extremely impressive piece of work.
9) The first Russian airmail stamps
Andrey Strygin & Sergey Tkachenko
The authors explain how the treaties that followed the First World War laid the foundation for the creation of the first Russian air mail stamps. These stamps from 1922, known as “Consulars”, include one example with the 1200 mark overprint on 50 kopeks, which has become, due to its extreme rarity, a legendary stamp known as the “consular fifty”.
10) Reorganization of the Belgian post after WWI: provisional measures
Mark Bottu
The author, who has worked on a major study of the organisation of the post office in Belgium after the First World War, explains all the provisional measures taken by the postal administration to ensure that things returned to normal as quickly as possible: provisional measures, improvised cachets, use of old postmarks, etc.
11) The creation and the beginnings of the Polish army in France, in postal documents 1917-1919
Jacek Kosmala
The author, a major specialist in Polish history during and after the First World War, explains in detail the creation and activities of the Polish army in France from 1917-1919. This remarkably accurate and detailed analysis is accompanied by a rich variety of cards, letters and documents, which bear witness to this very important period of history for Poland.
12) After the end of the terrible war: using up stationary-postcards of the Austrian imperial Empire Monarchy in the succession countries Czechoslovakia, Poland, S.H.S. State, German-Austria, in the Kingdom of Italy and in the Principality of Liechtenstein
Helmut Seebald
The author uses a wide range of examples to explain how the new states created after the break-up of the AustroHungarian Empire adapted the old imperial postal stationery, so that it could be used in their territories, by adding overprints or postmarks, stamps and other provisional measures, while they waited for their own postal stationery to be issued.
13) Les plébiscites d’Allenstein et de Marienwerder
Bernard Jutteau
The author tells us about the plebiscites held in Allenstein and Marienwerder in 1920, both from the historical and the philatelic point of view. With reference to the two plebiscites, he shows us some fine examples of cards, postal stationery and letters from the period.
14) Les incidences du traité de Versailles sur les coupons-réponse internationaux
Jean-François Logette
The Treaty of Versailles redesigned the map of Europe, by creating new countries and removing others. The consequences can also be seen in postal terms and the author describes all the changes that followed this treaty, which also affected international reply coupons. These changes are illustrated using about twenty examples.
15) (In)justice for Hungary
Jean-Claude Vasseur
After the Treaty of Versailles, the Hungarian people rightly considered themselves highly aggrieved. In order to attract international attention to the unjust fate inflicted on their country, some Hungarians living in the USA organised the first flight between America and Budapest in 1931. The author describes the successive stages of this flight, while analysing the letters and postcards that it generated, together with their commemorative cancellations.
16) La Pologne dans la tourmente (1914-1921)
Guy Coutant
In this article, the author provides us with an overview of the complicated and troubled history of Poland from 1914–1921. He uses a wide variety of examples to tell us about the continuous changes caused by the rapid succession of events for the Polish philately of this period.
17) Le Maroc et les conséquences du traité de Versailles
Maurice Hadida
The author - who provided the only article showing that the Treaty of Versailles also had consequences beyond Europe - explains how this treaty caused the closure of German postal services in the German protectorate in Morocco.
18) The Austro-Hungarian Empire and its stamps and cancellations on the territory of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, later Romania, 1800-1870
Heinz Glättli
Tchilinghirian/Stephen 1966 listed and showed 111 postmarks and 33 places (towns or villages) for the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (now Romania) in their monumental work of 1966 “Austrian Post Offices abroad; part 6”. 48 years later, Gmach 2014 lists 146 postmarks in his work “Österreichische und Ungarische Posteinrichtungen in den Donaufürstentümern 1782-1880”. The author, H. Glättli considers some aspects of this evolution and shows 30 items from his own collection to illustrate the postal history of this fascinating area (24 letters, 3 stamps, 2 seals & 1 marking).
19) Illyrian Provinces (1809-1813), Provinces of Carniola and Istria
Peter Suhadolc
The author examines the Napoleonic period, from 1809-1813, of two provinces, Carniola (Ljubljana) and Istria (Trieste), which formed part of the Illyrian Provinces, created by the Emperor Napoleon I. He explains postal activities in these two regions (the routes used, post offices, postal rates, postmarks, etc.), using many different rare postal documents from the period.
20) Space mail regarded to Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and Czech Republic
Igor Rodin
The author describes the Czechoslovakian and later Czech/Slovak participation in the Russian space programme. This participation began in 1978, with Soyuz 28, which included a Czechoslovak cosmonaut, the first of a nationality other than that of the Soviet Union. The author shows us some philatelic documents arising from this collaboration.
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