The struggle of the Slav
Subject(s): Boats and boating, Monarchy, Octopuses, Revolutions, Russia (Federation)
Click on image to zoom in
A Russian man stands on a rowboat, using an axe labeled “Nat’l Assembly” to battle an octopus labeled “Bureaucracy.” The octopus wears a crown and royal robe, and its tentacles are labeled “Graft, Exile, Oppressive Taxation, Despotism, Religious Intolerance, Cossackism, Incompetence, [and] Greed.”
Comments and Context
In cartoonist J. S. Pughe’s centerspread Puck cartoon, the embattled man is beset by many identified dangers, all parts of the same autocratic monster. The caption calls him a Slav, where it might have called him a Russian just as easily; and the crown and “Cossack” reference suggest that Russia, and not the Slavic lands and peoples, were the object of attention.
However, the ambiguity might have been intentional, because the Slavic peoples and tribes and countries on the periphery of Russia at this time were chafing, and in the process of escaping, the imperial hand of the Czar in faraway St. Petersburg.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-06-21
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
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:
The struggle of the Slav. [June 21, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278113. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. The struggle of the Slav. [21 Jun. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278113.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1905, June 21]. The struggle of the Slav.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278113.
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. March 5, 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.
