Primary Source

Cartoon about the Ottoman Empire

Cartoon of the Ottoman Empire

Annotation

This cartoon appeared in the popular British magazine Punch on September 15, 1853. In it, France is personified based on the mustachioed Emperor Napoleon III, and Britain appears as the symbolic figure John Bull. They confer at the apparent deathbed of Abdulmecid I, the Sultan of Ottoman Empire, popularly referred to as Turkey. The specter of Russia with a cat 'o nine tails whip hovers above the bed of the sultan, in anticipation of his demise and the break-up of the Empire.

Credits

Leech, John. “A Consultation About the State of Turkey.” Punch. September 17, 1853. Courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University. https://www.brandeis.edu/library/archives/spotlights/special-collections/2017/crimean-war.html. Accessed June 4, 2021.

How to Cite This Source

"Cartoon about the Ottoman Empire," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/cartoon-about-ottoman-empire [accessed December 7, 2024]