The vacant plate
Subject(s): Austria, Bears, Dogs, France, Germany, Great Britain, International relations, Lion, Lions, Russia (Federation), Thanksgiving Day, Turkey
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The British Lion, the Russian Bear, a cat labeled Austria, and three dogs labeled “France, Italy, [and] Germany” gather around a table for Thanksgiving dinner. The British Lion is holding a large knife labeled “Dismemberment of Turkey,” but the platter is empty. Looking in from the left is a turkey wearing a fez labeled “Turkey.” Caption: Turkey — Ha! Ha! How disappointed they look! Now I have lots to be thankful for.
Comments and Context
In cartoonist Pughe’s drawing the only thing that the symbol of Turkey, the turkey in the doorway, can really be happy about is the frustration on the faces of those neighboring powers who were prepared to gobble it up. The once-mighty Ottoman Empire, reduced to the country of Turkey but slowly chipped away, province by province, people by people, tribe by tribe, for more than a century.
In 1813 the Serbs begun their revolts, ultimately a successful secession. In 1821, Greece declared independence, formalized in 1832. In 1830 Algeria had been ceded to France; in 1831 a war for independence commenced with Egypt. In 1853 the Crimean war began, formally against Russia but, famously, with British participation (“Charge of the Light Brigade”). In rapid succession, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Cyprus slip from control of the Ottoman Empire, scarcely an empire any more. In the days before the Great War, Turkey declared itself a nation (although not an independent Republic until 1923 under Ataturk), and quickly, as “the Sick man of Europe,” lost Libya in Africa, and Albania; and all of its lands in continental Europe except for the city of Constantinople, now Istanbul.
In the middle of this timeline of the Ottoman dissolution came, as depicted in this Puck cartoon, a “concert of nations” ostensibly concerned with the security of the ancient empire and its peoples… but its people, as depicted here, were mostly scattered already. The scores of countries and tribes, now disorganized and involved in fraternal or internal squabbles, set part of the table for World War I in 1914.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-11-25
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:
The vacant plate. [November 25, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277640. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. The vacant plate. [25 Nov. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. July 15, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277640.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1903, November 25]. The vacant plate.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277640.
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. July 15, 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.
