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A fox labeled “France” and the Russian Bear walk away from a grape arbor labeled “Anglo-Japanese Alliance.” They have tried the grapes and found them not palatable.
Comments and Context
This seemingly innocent anthropomorphic cartoon ably suggests the troubling and complicated situation of international politics leading to the Great War a dozen years in its future. Treaties, “understandings,” secret alliances — some of them broken, and shifting — starting about the time of this cartoon are major factors in the cauldron that armed the Guns of August (1914, the commencement of continental hostilities). Great Britain ended a generation of “splendid isolation” — avoiding entangling alliances — with the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902, the grape arbor of this cartoon. England’s concern partly was animated by a desire to counter Russia’s stated expansionist goals. France, which had treaty “obligations” with Russia, suddenly realized the possibility of being squeezed by powers from the east and west in the event of conflict. So Russia and Japan had reasons not to savor the grapes in the cartoon. A significant aspect of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty inured to the benefit of the United States and Theodore Roosevelt. During the negotiations he hosted to end the Russo-Japanese War two years subsequent, he was able to call upon Great Britain and its special relationship with Tokyo for assistance and back-channel communications. In the same manner also, Germany, tellingly absent from the 1902 round of alliances, was useful when Roosevelt recruited Kaiser Wilhelm to play a role with his cousin Czar Nicholas.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1902-03-19
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
“Sour grapes!”. [March 19, 1902]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o276210. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. “Sour grapes!”. [19 Mar. 1902]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o276210.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1902, March 19]. “Sour grapes!”.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o276210.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
