Nearing the end
Subject(s): Horses, Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918, Russia (Federation), Sleds, Sleighs, Wolves
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Czar Nicholas II of Russia clutches against his chest a doll that is wearing a crown labeled “Autocracy” as he races through the woods in a troika pursued by a pack of angry, ravenous wolves.
Comments and Context
Keppler’s cartoon is a simple depiction of a simple situation, or, in the eyes of the Czar and his dwindling number of supporters, a complicated situation.
After three centuries of autocratic rule (since 1613) by the Romanovs over “the Russias” — the vast homeland, satellite peoples and countries, brutal serfdom, oppression of minorities and suppression of freedoms — the world of Czar Nicholas II was unravelling at the time of cartoonist Keppler’s drawing.
The neighboring peoples and states on the borders flouted St Petersburg’s authority; a losing war against Japan drained prestige and the economy; massacres of Jews and democracy-seeking bourgeoise petitioners earned the world’s opprobrium. His own court showed signs of mutiny. Socialist and Communist agitators stirred the people. And the Czarina would fall under the spell of the Orthodox monk Rasputin.
Hastily-planned reforms were announced and implemented too half-heartedly and too late for the masses. The end of serfdom and the establishment of a duma — a peoples’ assembly — sated the third of few.
This was the situation that Keppler depicted. Whether “autocracy” itself were actually being sacrificed and thrown to the wolves made little difference to the fate of the doomed Czar. The inexorable march to the Romanovs’ overthrow was interrupted by World War I but ended in 1917 with the murder of the royal family. This event was presaged in the cartoon by the astral specter of death behind the trees.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-04-05
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
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:
Nearing the end. [April 5, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278091. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Nearing the end. [5 Apr. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278091.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1905, April 5]. Nearing the end.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278091.
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.
