Political Cartoons
Source 9
Source 13
Origin: Published 19.9.1923 in the Punch Magazine (9). The Punch Magazine was a british magazine, which came out every week and based its content on humour and satire. Punch Magazine contributed to the term 'cartoon' to be coined as a funny or exaggerated illustration(10).
Purpose: Because this cartoon was published by the punch magazine, I think that the cartoon serves to portray a political view. As the punch magazine was specialized in satire and humor this cartoon is humorous, probably to make it more appealing to the audience.
Values: Although the punch magazine is British, this political cartoon makes the french look hypocritical. This is a little unusual, as the British and French are allies(11). In the little dialogue below the cartoon Dialogue Mussolini says: "j'y suis, j'y reste", which means: Here I am, here I remain(12). Then, Poincare asks him from where he picked up the french idiom, to which Mussolini answers:guess?. This implies that Mussolini is doing the same in Corfu as the french in the Ruhr, so the french really shouldn't criticize Italy. The values presented in this image seem fairly unbiased to me and just a critical observation of an objective observer.
Limitations: Although this cartoon is very effective in reflecting an opinion, which is very easy to pick up by the reader, it doesn't provide any background information about the incident, nor does it present evidence or justification for an opinion. Therefore, a reader wouldn't know if this opinion is at all valid, if they have little to no knowledge on the Corfu incident.
Purpose: Because this cartoon was published by the punch magazine, I think that the cartoon serves to portray a political view. As the punch magazine was specialized in satire and humor this cartoon is humorous, probably to make it more appealing to the audience.
Values: Although the punch magazine is British, this political cartoon makes the french look hypocritical. This is a little unusual, as the British and French are allies(11). In the little dialogue below the cartoon Dialogue Mussolini says: "j'y suis, j'y reste", which means: Here I am, here I remain(12). Then, Poincare asks him from where he picked up the french idiom, to which Mussolini answers:guess?. This implies that Mussolini is doing the same in Corfu as the french in the Ruhr, so the french really shouldn't criticize Italy. The values presented in this image seem fairly unbiased to me and just a critical observation of an objective observer.
Limitations: Although this cartoon is very effective in reflecting an opinion, which is very easy to pick up by the reader, it doesn't provide any background information about the incident, nor does it present evidence or justification for an opinion. Therefore, a reader wouldn't know if this opinion is at all valid, if they have little to no knowledge on the Corfu incident.
Source 13
Origin: same as other cartoon, but a magazine issue which is one week older.(13)
Purpose: Below the cartoon, it says that Mussolini is speaking 'a little above himself', which suggests that the author of this cartoon and the Punch Magazine think that Mussolini is exaggerating his position. In the picture he's looming over Italy and Corfu, with a roman robe and a sinister look. Below him the caption reads: 'The latest Caesar'. This cartoon is very mocking and looks like it's meant to tell readers that Mussolini is an empty threat and that he thinks much too much of himself for the mere annexation of a little island.
Values: Because the cartoon is ironic, I think the values held in this cartoon a little skeptic. While some people may be alarmed, because tension between Italy and Greece were high, this cartoon discards Mussolini as a wannabe.
Limitations: Once again, this cartoon gives no background information or evidence. It's evident that these magazines and cartoons are targeted towards a politically informed audience, as you need to know about the incident, as a premise to understand the jokes/opinions. So, for people who want to build their own opinion, by discovering more facts, these cartoons wouldn't be much use. However, it gives us a good insight, in the present day, as to what mindset people had during the incident itself.
Involvement of the LON
After the Italians bombarded and occupied Corfu, martial law was declared throughout Greece. Worried that they were on the brink of war, the greeks appealed to the League of Nations. While the British were in favour of the LON arbitrating the issue, the french were reluctant, because they feared this would give the league a pretext to get involved in their occupation of the Ruhr (source 2). So, the problem was referred to the conference of ambassadors. The decision they reached was for Greece to apologise to Italy and to pay them a sum of 50,000,000 lire. In september 27, 1923 Italy was satisfied and left the island of Corfu. The Greeks were left a little depressed and angry, whilst Mussolini came home to citizens that were full of praise for him (source 8).
Success or Failure?
The one thing that speaks in favour of the League of Nations is that they avoided any further military conflict and a potential war between Greece and Italy. However, the way in which they did so was not very convincing. The Italians got practically everything they demanded from the beginning and the greeks were forced to comply. This shed a negative light on the league, because it showed that big forces could still bully a little country and get away with it. I think this event was more of a failure for the league, because it weighed heavy on their reputation and showed other world leaders in Europe, that perhaps were thinking about starting some conflict, that the league was weak and wouldn't be a big obstacle if they were to disagree.
Source 1:
Portrait of Enrico Tellini. Digital image. Geheugenvannederland. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Source 2:
"Corfu Incident." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Feb. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corfu_incident>.
Source 3:
google maps
Source 4:
"Italians Incensed." The West Australian [Perth] 1 Sept. 1923: n. pag. Trove. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/31186323>.
Source 5:
"The Albanian Murders." The Recorder [Port Pirie] 1 Sept. 1923: n. pag. Trove. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/9215626?zoomLevel=1>.
Source 6:
"1923." World History Timeline,. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.fsmitha.com/time/1923.htm>.
Source 7:
1923 Corfu Incident Photographic Print. Digital image. PostersGuide. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.postersguide.com/posters/1923-corfu-incident-6845069.html>.
Source 8:
Young, Noah, and Charice Chan. "The Corfu Incident, 1923." Prezi.com. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://prezi.com/k3gkqvqtivqm/the-corfu-incident-1923/>.
Source 9:
Hill, Leonard R. The Occupationists. Digital image. Photoshelte. N.p., 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. <http://punch.photoshelter.com/image/I0000pUFpvvAY6w8>.
Source 10:
"Punch (magazine)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 May 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
Source 11:
"Entente Cordiale." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entente_Cordiale#Commemoration>.
Source 12:
Luis Costa, official MYP phase 3 french student.
Hill, Leonard R. The Occupationists. Digital image. Photoshelte. N.p., 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. <http://punch.photoshelter.com/image/I0000pUFpvvAY6w8>.
Source 10:
"Punch (magazine)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 May 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
Source 11:
"Entente Cordiale." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entente_Cordiale#Commemoration>.
Source 12:
Luis Costa, official MYP phase 3 french student.
"Interwar Cartoons." Photoshelter. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://punch.photoshelter.com/image/I00000CB9jfVWurQ>.
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