1. LO: SKILLS – Analysing political cartoons
What is the message of the cartoon? Use the details of the cartoon and your knowledge to explain your answer.

2. THINK about cartoons this way…
Look at the date. What was happening at the time? = CONTEXT
What is happening in the cartoon? = CONTENT
How does the CONTENT link to the CONTEXT?
What is the cartoonist’s main message?

3. WRITE about the cartoon like this…
“The message of the cartoon is…”
[CONTENT] “I know this because the cartoon shows…”
[CONTEXT] “At the date that the cartoon was drawn, X was happening…”
MESSAGE + CONTENT + CONTEXT = FULL MARKS

4. A German cartoon from 1919 called “The Execution”

5. A German cartoon from 1919 called “The Clemenceau Vampire”

6. A cartoon from 1920 by an Australian cartoonist called “Peace and Future Cannon Fodder”.
At the bottom “The Tiger” is saying: "Curious! I seem to hear a child weeping!”

7. A British cartoon from 1919

8. A British cartoon from 1919 called “Giving Him Rope?”
The bit at the bottom reads:
German Criminal (to Allied Police) – “Here, I say, Stop! You’re Hurting me! (Aside) If I only whine enough I may be able to wriggle out of this yet.”

9. A British cartoon from 1919 called “The Reckoning.”
The bit at the bottom reads:
German: “Monstrous, I call it. Why, it’s fully a quarter of what we should have made them pay, if we’d won.”

10. How did I do? – max 7 marks
L1 – Uses surface features of cartoon only [1-2]
L2 – Interpretation only [3]
L3 – Main message only [4]
L4 – Main message supported by details of the cartoon [CONTENT] OR CONTEXTUAL knowledge [5-6]
L5 – Main message supported by details of the cartoon [CONTENT] & CONTEXTUAL knowledge [7]
The main message of the cartoon is that Germany cannot be trusted and should not be believed when it says the terms of the ToV are too harsh.
The man in the cartoon represents Germany. He is holding a piece of paper listing the financial terms of the ToV. He looks shocked and horrified. But, according to the cartoonist, his (and Germany’s) real nature is shown by what he is saying: “it is only a quarter of what we would have made them pay if we had won”.
This could be a reference to the Treaty that Germany made Russia sign in 1917, which made Russia give up land including 25% of its population. The cartoonist is saying that Germany cannot be trusted and has no right to complain. It should pay the £6.6bn penalty imposed by the ToV.