Das Antlitz Frankreichs im Kladderadatsch und Wahren Jacob: Gesichter als Träger von Diskursen in antifranzösischen Karikaturen während der Ruhrbesetzung 1923

In January 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr, Germany’s industrial heartland, as the Weimar Republic defaulted on reparations payments. Unable to resist the Allies militarily, Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno declared passive resistance, and a veritable propaganda campaign was unleashed. Satirical magazines such as Der Wahre Jacob, close to the SPD, and the Kladderadatsch, a right-wing periodical, took part, publishing numerous caricatures denouncing, for example, French militarism. By doing so, these periodicals perpetuated well-established discursive traditions, which this article examines. It explores to what extent the faces of the people caricatured carry these discourses. To answer this question, the text focuses on satirical drawings showing Marianne, French soldiers, and Raymond Poincaré, as well as animals that embody France.