Kruger, Paul, 1825-1904

A bruised John Bull offers a “Tonic” of “Financial Help” and “Liberal Treatment” to an injured and battered Paul Kruger, President of the South African Republic, following the end of the fighting in South Africa.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck consistently had taken the side of Great Britain through the Boer War in its editorials and cartoons. In similar fashion, as the South African nationalists under “Oom Paul” finally were defeated in the Transvaal and Orange Free State, cartoonist Pughe almost immediately depicted the terms of surrender in the most generous light. After negotiations, some of them contentious, a treaty  was signed, stipulating that the “Republic of South Africa” and the Orange Free State would be formal colonies of Great Britain, with promised timetables for increased rights and eventual independence.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

South African President Paul Kruger wanders Europe in exile.

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Comments and Context

The figure represented, the Wandering Jew, has been a character in myth, legend, poetry, and fiction for more than a millennium. One version of the legend maintains that a Jew taunted Christ on His way to crucifixion and was as punishment was condemned to roam the earth, homeless, until Christ’s Second Coming. Keppler’s depiction is almost exactly the conception of the French illustrator Gustave Dore. In the Puck cartoon, “Oom Paul” of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the Boer War, is seen as rejected by the world’s powers, not only England against whom the South Africans rose up during the Boer War at this time. It was solidarity among Colonial states; but not less did those nations covet the Tip of Africa for themselves.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Illustration showing John Bull as Gulliver being tied to stakes with ribbons labeled with the names of battles from the Second Boer War. Some of the Lilliputians are identified as South African generals and presidents, such as “Botha,” “Joubert,” “Kruger,” “Cronje,” and “Steyn.” A broken sword, labeled “British Prestige” lies on the ground next to John Bull.

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Comments and Context

Pughe’s cartoon, with the numerous battles and leaders labeled, reveals with what great interest Americans followed the Boers’ insurrection and the difficult suppression undertaken by the British.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Illustration showing two concerned citizens and Joseph Pulitzer imploring Uncle Sam, dressed as a U.S. policeman, to break up a fight taking place in the background labeled “South Africa” between John Bull and Paul Kruger.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The concerned citizens in Pughe’s cartoon are meant to represent missionaries and clergymen, appealing for humanitarian intervention in the Second Boer War. Joseph Pulitzer, as Publisher of the New York World and de facto leader of the Democrat Party press, urged intervention as he had previously in Cuba. The fight between Great Britain and the Boers (“Farmers”) is depicted by John Bull, the traditional symbol of England, and “Oom” (Uncle) Paul Kruger, leader of the insurgent Transvaal (South African Republic) and the neighboring Orange Free State.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

John Bull, the symbol of Great Britain, shovels British soldiers into the “British Empire Shute.” They end on the shoulders of “Oom” Paul Kruger who sits on a rock with a rifle across his lap, on soil labeled “Dutch Republic.” Overwhelmed by the soldiers, he has dropped his copy of the Bible that he was reading.

comments and context

Comments and Context

By 1900 the notable failures of the British Empire to defeat the “Farmers” (Boers) in South Africa were reckoned to result in British defeat or an outright campaign of attrition. The latter strategy, recorded by Winston Churchill and others, was adopted with reasonable success despite much of world opinion on the side of the longtime Dutch settlers. Oom Paul was a beloved leader who rallied his followers in the South African Republic and the neighboring Orange Free State. Their language and identity was “Afrikaans,” closely related to Dutch. Paul Kruger and his followers were quite religious, and had support around the world from Christian and missionary groups, hence the Bible falling from his lap in this symbol-laden cartoon.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Illustration showing President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic as a frog attempting to make himself as big as the British John Bull, here actually shown as a bull. The cartoon makes light of the South African Republic, a small country, attempting to fight Great Britain in the South African War for independence.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1900-04-11

Creator(s)

Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909

British Foreign Secretary Grey informs President Roosevelt that Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand will be replaced, and while he understands Roosevelt’s desire to have Arthur Lee in his place, that is politically impossible. Temporarily, Esmé Howard will be sent to Washington as Councillor to the Embassy. Grey appreciated Roosevelt’s explanation of his telegram to German Emperor William after the Portsmouth Peace. Grey explains that his foreign policy is not anti-German, but to be independent he feels it necessary to strengthen the entente with France and come to an agreement with Russia. Grey believes that his generation has had enough of war, and the British people feel a special bond with the United States. Grey hopes the dispute between Canada and the United States over Newfoundland will soon be settled. He also adds that many in Great Britain are upset over reports of slavery and plunder in the Belgian Congo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-04

Creator(s)

Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, Viscount, 1862-1933

President Roosevelt sits at his desk studying a “map of Africa.” Kermit Roosevelt cleans a gun beside him. President Roosevelt’s “big stick” “malefactor of great wealth” costume, “mud,” “undesirable citizen,” and “big noise” drum are hanging up on the wall. To the right of his desk are a number of books with African explorers’ names in them: David Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley, Paul Kruger, John Hanning Speke, and Richard Francis Burton.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-30

Print shows South African President Paul Kruger labeled “Oom Paul” sitting on a throne labeled “Transvaal Republic” on the seashore. Kruger is about to be swamped by a large wave labeled “Industrial Progress.” He attempts to open an umbrella labeled “Old Fogyism” in an effort to mitigate the blow.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-09-27

Creator(s)

Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905

Print shows the British Lion, wearing a helmet, circling around Paul Kruger who looks like a South African porcupine, his back covered with bayonets. The Lion finds Kruger unapproachable.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-10-11

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

Print shows Paul Kruger taking “John Bull” by the horns above a notice that states “‘Oom Paul’s Ultimatum to John Bull”; then shows Kruger being tossed into the air by the bull.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-11-08

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

Montagu White would like to speak with President Roosevelt about President Kruger’s proposed visit to the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-05-28

Creator(s)

White, Montagu, 1857-1916

The Boer delegates; Montague White, A. D. W. Wolmarans, and Cornelius Hermanus Wessels; would like to meet with President Roosevelt and deliver a letter from Paul Kruger, the former President of the South African Republic. In a handwritten note, President Roosevelt agrees to the meeting and asks if it will be informal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-03-05

Creator(s)

Hay, John, 1838-1905

Goldwin Smith believes that Paul Kruger will call for American intervention in the South African War. President Roosevelt will refuse to intervene, but the manner of refusal offers an opportunity to help mitigate the “spirit of violence and vengeance” of the war.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-09-21

Creator(s)

Smith, Goldwin, 1823-1910