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Historical Military Cartoons

A collection of satirical cartoons from World War I, showcasing humorous perspectives on military conflict and social commentary during wartime.

Cartoon, After the Battle of Meaux, in the early stages of the First World War. The only occasion on which the British Tommy was known to quail -- not during the battle itself, but when a happy French soldier gave him a hug and a kiss afterwards! Date: September 1914
Cartoon, After the Battle of Meaux, in the early stages of the First World War. The only occasion on which the British Tommy was known to quail -- not during the battle itself, but when a happy French soldier gave him a hug and a kiss afterwards! Date: September 1914
153 assets in this story
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American 19th Century, We Go for the Union, c 1840 1850 We Go for the Union
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Cartoon - Nikita's Little Helpers. John Collins (1917-2007)
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Horatio, Lord Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum(1850-1916). Soldier; caricatured as 'El Lord', surprising the gods of Egypt.
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Middle Ages crusades crusader on their way Palestine after a manuscript from the 9th century,
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The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, Anti-French War, Franco-Vietnamese War, Franco-Vietminh War, Indochina War, Dirty War in France, and Anti-French Resistance War in contemporary Vietnam) was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bao dai's Vietnamese National Army against the Viet Minh, led by Huo Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia. The war ended in French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
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Illustration by Loys Petillot celebrating the struggle for liberty in Alsace & Lorraine at the end of world war Two. A German officer is enraged as he runs out in the snow holding a telephone which has had its wire cut by resistance fighters
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A man tries on civilian clothes in a tailors or draper and considers his reflection which brings back memories of his time spent serving as a British soldier during World War One. Date: 1919
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Historia de Argentina. Siglo XIX. Llegada del general San Martín a Buenos Aires en marzo de 1818. Author: FORTUNY FRANCISCO.
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Artwork: "Little Sergeants" Artist: Elliot Hutkin. Country: Unknown
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Deez 'print shows you, dear youth, / a number of heroes, who give their lives, / money the honor of the country, with joy, / and heroism. Sheet with 20 representations of soldiers. Under each image a two-legged fresh. Numbered upper left: No. 57.
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The trials and tribulations of the transferred 'coburger.' , Military officers, Family members, Railroad stations
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What could we do He was so homesick! , Beds, Sleeping, Military personnel, Military facilities, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905: Two men (Russia and Japan) fighting with boxing gloves as a Japanese torpedo blows up a Russian battleship. Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) Japanese artist.
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At the national guards of Paris / the commander it takes ...
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Series Children and Children's Play, Children Playing Soldiers, digitally enhanced reproduction of a collector's picture from c. 1900
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Artwork: "German Flak Tower Near Railroad Yard," 1942. Artist: Funders. Catalog Number: G.W.1.2090.47. US Army Art Collection. Country: Unknown
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Third Carlist War (1872-1876). Spain. Madrid. Preliminary work to build the Amanie's camp. Soldiers at the entrance to the canteen. Engraving. La Ilustración Española y Americana,, 1876.
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Cartoon image of militants from the Air Force, 1930s Caricature image of military from the Air Force, 1930s. Labeled 'Knu', 'Luke'. Fall photographed drawing.
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Cartoon image of military myrman from the Air Force Caricature image of military myrman from the Air Force, 1930s. Marked 'my'. Fall photographed drawing.
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Cartoon - In Flanders Fields. John Collins (1917-2007)
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Dauphin, elegant young soldier, person who wants to attract social attention with exaggerated, affected elegance, around 1885, historical, digitally restored reproduction of a model from the 19th century.
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There are any number of reasons why I haven't got in touch with you before now , Military personnel, Telephones, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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During the early introduction of rockets to Europe, they were used only as weapons. Enemy troops in India repulsed the British with rockets. Later, in Britain, Sir William Congreve developed a rocket that could fire to about 9,000 feet. The British fired Congreve rockets against the United States in the War of 1812.
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Cartoon - Not Exactly On a War Footing. John Collins (1917-2007)
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The Consolidated B-24 "Liberator," 'Hit Parade', At An Airfield On Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, July 1944.
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There are any number of reasons why I haven't got in touch with you before now , Military personnel, Telephones, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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'Soviet propaganda postcard showing a smiling soldier in a winter landscape, a tank behind him. Card posted 19 March 1942 during World War II.'
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Hun or Home, US War Bonds
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A commercial artist, he did this sketch to advertise the guns he makes. He started shooting at fish first with imported weapons. May 29, 1953.
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Cartoon image of militants from the Air Force, 1930s Caricature image of military from the Air Force, 1930s. Marked 'eel', 'pos'. Fall photographed drawing.
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A British Army Field Cashier exchanging currency for soldiers stationed in Cologne, Germany following the end of the First World War. Silhouette by the artist H. L. Oakley to illustrate the regular Bystander in Occupation column in The Bystander magazine. Date: 1919
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Cartoon - The Forty-Eight Star General. John Collins (1917-2007)
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They caught me 'flat-footed' - but you oughta see me now! , Military personnel, Medical examinations, Military facilities, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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Personified map, c. 1880, Italy depicted with an Italian soldier, Historical, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original
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World War One was to have a devastating impact on Russia. When World War One started in August 1914, Russia responded by patriotically rallying around Nicholas II. Military disasters at the Masurian Lakes and Tannenburg greatly weakened the Russian Army in the initial phases of the war. The growing influence of Gregory Rasputin over the Romanovs did a great deal to damage the royal family and by the end of the spring of 1917, the Romanovs, who had ruled Russia for just over 300 years, were no longer in charge of a Russia that had been taken over by Kerensky and the Provisional Government. By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin had taken power in the major cities of Russia and introduced communist rule in those areas it controlled. The transition in Russia over the space of four years was remarkable - the fall of an autocracy and the establishment of the worlds first communist government.
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Siege of a fortress. 16th cent. woodcut. GERMANY.
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There were heavy aircraft losses during the Vietnam War. Hundreds of U.S. fixed-wing aircraft were lost to ground fire of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and fighter interceptors (MiG)s. The great majority of U.S. combat losses in all areas of Southeast Asia were to AAA. In 1972, Following the bombing of Hanoi and the North during Operations Linebacker 1 and Linebacker 2, North Vietnam announced that the 4,000 USAF planes had been shot down during the Second Indochina War / Vietnam War to date. The USA disputes this figure but concedes that during the course of the war the US Air Force flew 5.25 million sorties over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, northern and southern Laos, and Cambodia, losing 2,251 aircraft: 1,737 to hostile action, and 514 to operational causes. 110 of the losses were helicopters and the rest fixed-wing.
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WW1 - Cute patriotic British postcard - a little boy strives to emulate the military feats of our ancestors, or in this case his elders! Date: circa 1916
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This Fight is a Family Affair . 1942 - 1945. Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. 3/9/1943-9/15/1945. World War II Foreign Posters
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J. & P. Best Six Cord, 200 yds. We beat them all.. J. & P. Best Six Cord, 200 yds. We beat them all.
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A jolly jumper: "come along Bismark, I bet you don't got me left." 1888 A man jumps on to a leaving ship with his dog behind
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We're waitin' fer you in - ya better show up mighty quick! , Rifles, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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Good Arc Welders Watch - Good Welds Help Win the War!. Country: England Printed By: Flemings. 1942 - 1945. Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. 3/9/1943-9/15/1945. World War II Foreign Posters
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Guard duty's a cinch now - these army dogs never leave their posts! , Military personnel, Dogs, Guards, Bayonets, Tichnor Brothers Collection, postcards of the United States
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A soldier sending good luck and wishes to his sweetheart through good luck charms. Chromolithograph after E.M.
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Poster against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Whitehall, London. Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. It is the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II
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Undersea Guardians, Silent Service - Submarines
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Military Motor series, 1916: Serbian Armoured Cars.
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Vintage photograph of Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy-Aosta, Count of Turin crossing a river with his horse. Vittorio (1870 - 1946), was a grandchild of King Victor Emmanuel II and a member of the House of Savoy. He was a cousin of Victor Emmanuel III. In 1897 Vittorio Emanuele challenged Prince Henri of Orleans to a duel, after Henri described, in several articles in the newspaper Le Figaro, the Italian soldiers being held captive in Ethiopia during the First Italo-Ethiopian War as cowards.
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First World War advertisement for Beecham's Pills featuring a Scottish Highlander's kilt caught on some barbed wire fence saying that he'd "rather lose m' kilt than lose m' Beecham's Pills". Date: 1917
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Field-Marshal 'Potato Pete'. Country: England Printed By: James Haworth & Brother, Ltd. Contributor: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1942 - 1945. Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. 3/9/1943-9/15/1945. World War II Foreign Posters
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Official Instructions Issued by the Ministry of Home Security - Gas Attack. Country: England Printed By: Fosh & Cross Ltd.. 1942 - 1945. Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. 3/9/1943-9/15/1945. World War II Foreign Posters