‘Did the Prussians really used to cut children’s hands off? No, of course not!’ In January 1985, French cartoonist Cabu portrays the ceremony held to commemorate the Battle of Verdun, during which French President Mitterrand and Federal Chancellor Kohl hold hands as a sign of reconciliation and friendship between the two countries. François Mitterrand (on the left) cites French and Allied propaganda on the supposed atrocities committed by the German invaders during the First World War, in which German soldiers were described as armed barbarians who cut off children’s hands. On the right, Chancellor Helmut Kohl strongly refutes these allegations, a wicked smile forming on his lips as he stealthily wields a short sabre with a serrated blade.