‘The War of the Wooden Soldiers’ is interesting for several reasons, yet there is little verified information about this edition. There are many unanswered questions.

Who is hiding behind the pseudonym ‘Uncle Litik’? Where did the Irishman come from? Why was he friends with Baba-Kiba? Why was Napoleon the leader of the Allied forces that defeated Kaiser Wilhelm?

The answer is: this is a toy war, so anything can happen. Toy soldiers from different sets ended up in one box.

One set was about the war of 1812, and it included Napoleon. Meanwhile, other soldiers had to do with the modern events of 1916 - the First World War, in which representatives of all its colonies and territories fought on the side of England’s allies. Hence the Irishman.

The army was multinational: there were Hindus, Montenegrins, and Cossacks.
The text in the book is deliberately simple or even primitive.

The book is meant to resemble a handwritten album with drawings; even its pages are tied with a string instead of a proper binding.

The book is about the favourite boys’ game - toy soldiers. Alexandre Benois loved to play with toy soldiers. On the ‘G’ page of the ABC book, he depicted his son Kolya as a general on horseback, playing with soldiers in a toy city. In addition, Benois’s daughter is a nurse, which was a role very popular with girls.

Playing with toy soldiers was viewed as way to release children’s aggression. Maybe.