Cartoon by Effel on the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany (28 July 1949)

Image
‘ … We even provide the user manual.’ On 28 July 1949, as plans are being made for the organisation of European defence, French cartoonist Jean Effel harshly criticises the prominent role played by the United States (on the right, Uncle Sam) in the efforts to rearm the fledgling Federal Republic of Germany. The FRG is depicted as a Germania with aggressive, militaristic features, who is being handed a gun and user manual by Uncle Sam. Her steel horned helmet with a crossed-out swastika recalls the misdeeds and atrocities of Nazi Germany during the Second World War and emphasises France’s distrust of post-war Germany. In the background we see Britannia and Meisje, the personifications of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, carrying their guns on their shoulders for military training. In the context of the Cold War, the United States is calling on France to accept the rapid rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany because it is increasingly afraid that the Soviet Union will launch an offensive military campaign in Western Europe. But the majority of the general public, especially in France, does not seem ready to accept a new German army, with memories of the Second World War and the Nazi occupation still painfully present.

Source and copyright

Source: EFFEL, Jean (François LEJEUNE, dit). ".On fournit même le mode d'emploi." dans Action Hebdomadaire de l'indépendance française. 28.07.1949-03.08.1949, n°252, p.2.

Copyright: (c) Effel, ADAGP

This document is also available in…

Cartoon by Effel on the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany (28 July 1949)