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Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5171255
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
It is not Germany's fault if Peace is still withheld from the nations of Europe - from Germany’s reply
Artist
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
47 x 32 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1916
Country
Language
Details
Original brush and ink editorial cartoon drawing on art card, 1916, published in the New York Sun, shows the German Kaiser Wilhelm waving a white flag as if in surrender. In 1916 the Sussex, an English Channel passenger ferry, became the focus of an international incident when she was severely damaged by a torpedo from a German U-Boat. The boat was severely damaged and at least 50 people were killed and many injured, including a number of Americans. The incident enraged public opinion in the United States, and caused a heated diplomatic exchange between the US and German governments. The American note on the submarine issue of May 8 1916 included the threat that: ‘unless the Imperial German Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of warfare against passenger and freight-carrying vessels, this Government can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the Government of the German Empire altogether’. The title of the cartoon is quoted from Germany’s reply to the US government undertaking to effectively suspend the U-boat campaign, represented by the Kaiser’s white flag. But does Germany really want peace? The cartoon was included in Cesare's book "100 Cartoons" published in 1916, p. 183. Card size 47 x 32 cm (18.5 x 12.5 inch), image size 33 x 26 cm. Printing instructions in bottom margin. Signed lower right, in overall good condition.