"The Honor Guard," Caricature from Simplicissimus (March 1923)

German anger at the occupation of the Ruhr revived negative stereotypes of the French from the war years. Many anti-French cartoons featured racist caricatures of the colonial African soldiers who were deployed by France on the Western front and in the occupation of the Rhineland between 1917 and 1919. This cartoon presents the French military as an army of unfit conscripts led by an effete, pleasure-seeking officer corps under the protection of hulking, menacing Africans. The caption reads: “The general’s lady friend is escorted to her quarters.” [Die Freundin des Herrn Generals wird in ihr Standquartier eskortiert.]

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© 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz