---
title: Gli autori dell'ecatombe Europea davanti alla Civiltà (The authors of the European hecatomb before Civilisation)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gli-autori-ecatombe-europea-ducci-1915/
description: A woman labelled CIVILTÀ, a star over her brow, points at four uniformed rulers in German, Austrian, Ottoman and Bulgarian dress who stand before corpses…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

**Content note:** Chromolithograph showing corpses on a battlefield, a bloodied sword and burning ruins, with four rulers of the Central Powers shown as the cause; wartime enemy-leader caricature. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Gli autori dell'ecatombe Europea davanti alla Civiltà (The authors of the European hecatomb before Civilisation)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gli-autori-ecatombe-europea-ducci-1915.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gli-autori-ecatombe-europea-ducci-1915.jpg)

# Gli autori dell'ecatombe Europea davanti alla Civiltà (The authors of the European hecatomb before Civilisation)

A woman labelled CIVILTÀ, a star over her brow, points at four uniformed rulers in German, Austrian, Ottoman and Bulgarian dress who stand before corpses and burning ruins, while a seated figure labelled STORIA writes in a ledger. The legend calls them 'carnefici dell'umanità' (executioners of humanity) and 'barbari'; the enemy is named by epithets, and Civilisation, Liberty and Justice are set as Italy's side.

## Text on the object

Original (Italian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Gli autori dell'ecatombe Europea davanti alla Civiltà

Sulle rovine, prodotte dall'insanità di un vecchio tiranno — Dal carnaio umano, voluto da un prepotente ambizioso — Alto si eleva il grido di maledizione eterna ai quattro carnefici dell'umanità — Grido di madri e di figli — Pianti di vedove e orfani — L'invocata vittoria dei difensori della Libertà è giunta — Giustizia trionfa — La Storia registra i nomi dei barbari, maledicendoli ai posteri.

Approvato dalla CENSURA
Firenze, Stab. Tipo-Litografico E. DUCCI, Via dei Pilastri, 32

[on the figure] CIVILTÀ
[on the book] STORIA
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
The authors of the European hecatomb before Civilisation

On the ruins, produced by the insanity of an old tyrant — From the human charnel-house, willed by an overbearing ambitious man — High rises the cry of eternal curse on the four executioners of humanity — Cry of mothers and of sons — Weeping of widows and orphans — The longed-for victory of the defenders of Liberty has come — Justice triumphs — History records the names of the barbarians, cursing them to posterity.

Approved by CENSORSHIP
Florence, E. Ducci Typo-Lithographic Establishment, 32 Via dei Pilastri

[on the figure] CIVILISATION
[on the book] HISTORY
```

Caption text read from a high-resolution IIIF crop of the printed legend. English is a literal machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader. 'Ecatombe' is rendered 'hecatomb' (mass slaughter).

[← Vote Against Woman Suffrage](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/georgia-vote-against-woman-suffrage-1915/) [Karl Goetz "Lusitania" medal (Germany, 1915) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/goetz-lusitania-medal-1915/)

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- [Anacoana fut pendue sans raison (engraving in Le miroir de la cruelle et horrible tyrannie espagnole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/anacoana-hanged-miroir-tyrannie-espagnole-1620/) (Dutch Republic · 1620 · Fear appeal, Name-calling). Content note: Engraving of a hanged, bare-breasted Taino woman, burning huts and people being killed by Spanish soldiers.
- [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [The North Briton, No. XLV, 23 April 1763 (John Wilkes), opening page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/north-briton-no-45-wilkes-1763/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Apr 23, 1763 · Name-calling)
- [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd.
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (France · 1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Sans-Culottes, feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sans-culottes-bread-of-liberty-gillray-1793/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Jan 12, 1793 · Fear appeal, Name-calling)