The Caricature of the Enemy in the Press of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the First World War: from Ridicule to Demonization

Abstract

The article examines the caricature images of enemies on the pages of the Russian press published at the beginning of the First World War (July 1914 – January 1915). The authors apply an iconological analysis of anti-German, anti-Austrian and anti-Turkish images, including their description and identification of visual markers identifying the enemy, the definition of plots, decoding symbolic meanings and inner meanings. The techniques of ridiculing opponents and demonizing them are identified, described and illustrated with specific examples. The article examines the historical allusions used in the caricature, which create an ironic context. The image of Kaiser Wilhelm II and a number of his caricatured recognizable features became symbols of hostile Germany, its militarism, aggressive foreign policy and military ambitions. The demonization of the Germans and the Kaiser turns them into symbols of universal evil, giving the war an existential significance. The anti-German caricature and satirical narrative is characterized by: debunking the images of pillars of culture and thinkers; reduction of militarism and drill to absurdity; hyperbolization of "German atrocities"; antiheroization and immoralization of German soldiers and lay population. Various anti-Austrian caricatures are based around the image of the elderly Emperor Franz Joseph. The anti-Turkish ironically caricatures reinterpret the cliche of the "sick man of Europe." In the caricature representations of Austria-Hungary and Turkey, ridicule prevails over demonization, the internal problems of these states and their dependence on Germany are exaggerated.