Explain the Cartoon
By Maggie Yang
1)Identify the countries:
A: Serbia
B: Austria
C: Russia
D: Germany
D
E: France
F: Britain
A
B
C
E
F
2)Identify the theme and
explain the history
-The Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria, Italy
The Triple Alliance, was a secret agreement between
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed on 20
May 1882 and renewed periodically until World War I.
However, when the war broke out in 1914, Italy did
not follow the Triple Alliance into battle. Instead it
joined the war in 1915 on the side of the Triple
Entente. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been
closely allied since 1879. Italy sought support against
France shortly after it lost North African ambitions to
the French. Each member promised mutual support
in the event of an attack by any other great power.
-The Triple Entente: Serbia, Britain, France, Russia.
The Triple Entente was the understanding linking the
Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the
signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente on 31 August
1907.
3)Identify the theme and
explain the history
-Nationalism
An intense loyalty toward and desire to
preserve one’s own cultural identity,
language, and traditions—simmered in the
colonized countries. The Austro-Hungarian
Empire also controlled several Slavic nations
that wanted independence and rebelled
against Austrian rule. Bosnia, in particular,
was highly contested as Serbia wanted to
include this territory within its borders. Some
Bosnian Serbs formed the Black Hand, a
group willing to fight for their nationalistic
goals. They wanted to unite the Slavic
peoples to form “Greater Serbia.” To AustroHungarian imperialists, Serbian nationalism
was a deadly idea that had to be crushed at
all costs. 4)Identify the theme and
explain the history
-Imperialism
At the beginning of the 20th century,
Germany was struggling to establish itself
as an imperial power. Its colonies in Africa
were not as economically or strategically
advantageous as the areas controlled by
Britain. Germany’s leaders wanted their
country to have its own “place in the sun”
and to extend its sphere of influence.
Germany’s aggressive pursuit of this goal
brought it into conflict with other imperial
powers, in particular Britain and France. 5)Identify the theme and
explain the history
-Militarism
Britain had a “two power
standard”. Their navy had to
be equal or better than any
two other nation’s navies
combined. Germany starts an
arms race (naval) with Britain
6)Explain the sequence of
events
If Austria attacks Serbia, Russia
will fall upon Austria, Germany
upon Russia, and France and
England upon Germany.
7)Analysis
a)Who’s perspective does this represent? How
do you know?
Political cartoons are a useful source of
information about historical or current issues.
They simplify an issue by portraying political
personalities or events in an exaggerated way
and using symbols to represent ideas. b)Why is the first country depicted as a child?
Serbia is shown as a child because the size
and power of that country was and is small in
relation to the large Austria-Hungarian Empire. c)What is the meaning of the title? Is it ironic or
sarcastic? Explain.
Ironic. Because given that there are friends
and enemies within this chain, and with deeper
knowledge of the war, we will see that these
“friendships” were broken as Russia changes
sides during the war.