Abstract
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.]