The Amaroc News
The Amaroc News was an American daily newspaper that appeared in Koblenz from 1919 to 1923 . The name of the newspaper is made up of the initials of the Am erican Ar my of Oc cupation, he became synonymous with the American occupation troops in the Rhineland after the First World War . "For almost four years," says Helmut Kampmann, the "newspaper brought fresh American journalism to the Koblenz area."
history
In the American zone of occupation , various newspapers ensured that the soldiers were supplied with news and for diversion. B. In the bridgehead on the right bank of the Rhine the Bridgehead Sentinel , The Indian in the area of the 2nd division around Trier and perhaps the most famous, the Stars and Stripes , which appeared for the last time on June 13, 1919.
As early as March 1919, a contract was signed with the Koblenzer Volkszeitung so that the new newspaper could be printed on their printing machines in the Görresdruckerei. The first issue of Amaraoc News finally appeared on April 21, 1919. While the initial print run was 10,000, the print run could be increased to 63,000 by June 1919. When the American occupation forces were radically reduced in size after the conclusion of the Versailles Treaty, the circulation fell to 650 copies a day by 1920. Considerations were given to the discontinuation of the newspaper, the last edition should appear on July 15, 1919. However, since the new commanding general Henry T. Allen wanted the newspaper to continue operating as an information and entertainment medium, the planned suspension was postponed and the newspaper's funding was reorganized.
With the departure of the last American soldiers on January 24, 1923, the last edition of the newspaper finally appeared.
Mission and content
The Amaroc News provided information and entertainment for the soldiers of the Army of Occupation in the Koblenz occupation zone. In addition to the daily reporting from all over the world, the sports news in particular took up a large part of the newspaper. Tips for the soldiers' leisure activities such as B. Excursions in the surrounding area on the Rhine and Moselle and the entertainment offer of the YMCA were included as well as advertisements of local Koblenz shops. The daily comic strips were new for the Koblenz readership .
The newspaper was also a forum for letters and poems by the soldiers, which reflected their concerns and concerns. Many soldiers were plagued by homesickness and a lack of understanding for their stay in Germany, even though the war was over. This brought z. B. a soldier in a contribution from April 27, 1919 to the point:
Ballad of a soldier
I want to go home, I want to go home,
We crossed the sea to fight Gemanee
The war is finished so what good are we?
We want to go home.
(Repeat until exhausted)
Due to the diversity of the articles, also with a local reference, the Amaroc News is a very good source for the American occupation in the Rhineland after the First World War.
literature
- Cornebise, Alfred E .: The Amaroc News: The Daily Newspaper of the American Forces in Germany, 1919-1923 , Carbondale 1981
- Kampmann, Helmut: Koblenzer Press Chronicle: 80 newspapers from 3 centuries , Koblenz 1988, p. 190f.