Kaiser Cartoons

Abstract

The last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II (who reigned from 1888 to 1918), is still among history's most recognisable personalities. His distinctive upturned moustache was a gift to cartoonists in particular: well before the outbreak of the First World War, Wilhelm was already the world's most famous cartoon character. But it was the particular genre of cartoons that appeared during wartime that cemented his image for posterity. As the nominal commander-in-chief and Supreme War Lord of the German Reich, it was Wilhelm who was most readily blamed for Germany's wartime atrocities, as well as being held responsible for having started the war in 1914. "Kaiser cartoons" are notable among the well-known hate cartoons of the First World War. Not since Napoleon Bonaparte had a head of state been subjected to such a concerted campaign of defamation through caricature (with the possible exception of President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War). Before the war, Wilhelm II had occasionally been lambasted for his policies and performance, but cartoon depictions of him were generally quite mild. As Qyeen Victoria's eldest grandson, he got better treatment from the cartoonists of the famous London 'Punch' magazine than is generally remembered. Only in France was the Kaiser really attacked in vicious style and (for the time) poor taste, with even his withered left arm sometimes on display.