Russia (Federation)

The Russian Bear eyes a house of cards. Each card is labeled a different country, “England, France, Germany, Japan, U.S., Austria, China, Italy, [and] Turkey”, and the king on each card bears some facial characteristics of the ruler of the country, including Uncle Sam. A dove of “Peace” has landed on top of the cards. The bear’s right paw and claws are touching the “Japan” card.

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In this cartoon, remarkable for its cleverness and caricatural details, Joseph Keppler illustrates the threats to peace in daily news, and the larger situation in international relations. The “house of cards” is dispositive in two ways: the cartoonist has pictured the major nations of the world, and their leaders, when challenges to the world order arose; and the meaning of the phrase — a precarious situation — is perfectly portrayed.

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.

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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.

A puppeteer labeled “Russia” with marionettes labeled “Bulgaria” and “Macedonia” engage in a sword fight. The Bulgarian puppet is about to cut the head off the Macedonian puppet who has dropped his sword. Hanging on the side of the theater, to the left, are three puppets labeled “Roumelia, Servia, [and] Roumania.” Caption: A continuous performance since Peter, the Great.

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It was not a mere hobby-horse of Puck cartoonists and editorial writers, but other publications, diplomats, and the world at large, to take note of Czarist Russia’s adventurous and irresponsible actions on the world stage in the first years of the twentieth century. Czar Nicholas’s own cousins, German Emperor William II and English King Edward VII, routinely were wary of Imperial Russia’s intentions, and irrational policies.

The Russian bear blows soap bubbles labeled “Promises” through a meerschaum pipe with a Chinese face, using liquid from a bowl labeled “Manchurian soft soap.”

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This Keppler cartoon about Russia’s troubling habits is from the interregnum between the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War.

A larger-than-life “Spirit of Civilization” points with contempt to a man on a pedestal labeled “Russia.” Standing around the pedestal are John Bull, Uncle Sam, and symbolic representatives of other nations.

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Czarist Russia, so recently applauded by the world for land reforms, abolition of religious restrictions and other measures announced in a Ukase issued by Nicholas II, attracted universal condemnation for immediate reversals and counter-measures, especially pogroms against the Jews in his domain.

On a desolate shore, a woman labeled “France” is playing the role of Elsa in Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin. She is embraced by Edward VII, King of Great Britain, who is playing the role of Lohengrin, and they are looking at a nasty knight labeled Russia playing the role of Telramund. The swan is in the background, chained to a stake on the shoreline. Caption: Elsa-France (to Lohengrin-England) — O, why did you not come sooner – before I was pledged to Telramund?

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France and Russia had engaged in secret talks in 1891 that led to the Dual Alliance, the Franco-Russian treaty of 1894, also secret. Its aim was to squeeze Germany in case of a continental land war — France was still smarting from its defeat by Prussia in 1871 — but it soon grew restive about the nature and reliability of the Czar. Meanwhile, Germany, which knew that secrets were never really “secret,” countered France and Russia with its own Dreibund (Triple Alliance) with Austria-Hungary and Italy.

Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, kneels on one knee before a pillow on which rests a scroll of papers labeled “Ukase civil and religious reforms.” Rays of light labeled “Enlightenment” beam down illuminating Nicholas II.

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The ukase, or edict, issued by Czar Nicholas the month before this cartoon ran, granted religious freedom (restrictions lifted in worship in other than Orthodox houses) and other reforms. There were celebrations noted throughout Russia, perhaps the happiest since the last wave of Romanoff reforms, the emancipation of serfs in 1861. History still debates whether the Czar felt revolution nipping at his heels (there would be a major revolt and bloody suppression two years later; and then his overthrow and execution in 1917), or whether reforms were liberal-minded and sincere. Cartoonist Keppler accorded the Czar the benefit of the doubt.

An eagle labeled “Germany” and the Russian Bear relax after eating. Bones labeled “Shan-Tung” and “Manchuria” lie at their feet. Caption: Russia and Germany — Of course we want peace. It isn’t wise to exercise on a full stomach.

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Pughe’s cartoon is a bit disingenuous, or at least only a partial treatment of the Chinese situation in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion, but the matter was muddled. In the midst of troop withdrawals and the imposition of punitive indemnities on the Chinese, there was a scramble for lands, ports, and territories. The Empress, faced with reality and desiring to keep her throne, acceded to carve-outs from her nation. It was not only the Russians and Germans who feasted. Russia and Japan, neighbors of China, received the most real estate, and Russia outright occupied Manchuria. Among other countries granted spheres of influence and long-term concessions were Great Britain (Hong Kong), Portugal (Macau), and Japan was even granted control of Taiwan. 

Uncle Sam is in a tree, chased there by the Russian Bear which is standing at the base of the tree. Uncle Sam has dropped his rifle labeled “U.S. Duty on Russian Sugar.” Caption: Uncle Sam (to Russia). — Don’t shoot! I’ll come down!

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It might seem odd in our times that around 1900 one of the most controversial and contested commodities in the world was sugar. Perhaps it is even more of a surprise that Russia was a major sugar producer. Sugar’s uses might be clear, but it is a fact that much of the world’s sugar at the time was derived from not just from sugar cane, but also from sugar beets, beetroot, and other plants, and honey. Many countries had complicated systems of export penalties and incentives, depending on harvests, as well as assessed penalties for exports and bounties for production. Russia had rules more complicated than those of most countries, but it heavily relied on income from sugar exports. When the United States, in a position figuratively to be smothered in Cuban cane sugar after the Spanish-American War, sought to renegotiate details of its sugar trade, the Russian Empire was not happy.

A woman representing China struggles with the Russian Bear, while the German emperor and the British Prime Minister, Lord Robert Cecil Salisbury, implore Russia not to be so greedy and to share some of China with them. Uncle Sam sits on a fence in the background, whittling a stick. Caption: England and Germany (to Russia). — Hold on there! Don’t be so selfish! If she’s going to be saved, we want to have a hand in it!

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Just as Germany was comparatively late to the major nations’s scramble for colonies, Russia sought to capitalize on the disorder and crumbling central government in China at this time. A German-Anglo alliance, formed to check Russian expansion was, obviously, short-lived, but Russia’s primary frustration was its timing: the Boxer Rebellion, growing furious at this time, targeted all foreigners in China.

A diminutive soldier labeled “France” stands next to a large Russian bear gesturing with a sword toward John Bull standing opposite, while a battle rages in the background labeled “Transvaal” (the South African lands of the Republic and the Orange Free State). Caption: France–You may be able to whip the Boers, but I dare you to tackle the Russian Bear!

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Through the 19th century, France and Russia formed several alliances — some secret, some quite public; some to counter potential German or British aggression. Around 1900, the two nations considered Great Britain a threat, especially as London formed an alliance with Japan (1902) that emboldened Japan as it threatened Russia in the Pacific. That situation led to the Russo-Japanese War, which was ultimately meditated by Theodore Roosevelt. Also at this time, the Kaiser became belligerent against France when it denied German trade access to Morocco — a situation also diffused by Roosevelt’s mediation — with Russia and Britain both nervously looking on. At the time of this cartoon, the Franco-Russian alliance still viewed Great Britain as a potential common enemy.

The British Lion confronts two vultures labeled “France” and “Russia” who have come to see if the lion, labeled “England,” is dead. In 1907 the Lion was reassured when Imperial Russia, the French Republic, and the United Kingdom agreed to form the Triple Entente, a pincer that threatened, or potentially prepared against, Germany in the years before World War I.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1900-01-17

President Roosevelt asks that Cecil Spring Rice give his regards to Lord Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice Lansdowne. Roosevelt writes at length about the current state of international affairs and of relationships between different nations. He feels that it is not in Japan’s interest to extend the Russo-Japanese War for another year and explains his actions in pressing for peace negotiations between the two powers. Roosevelt also discusses his efforts urging the United States to interpret the Monroe Doctrine in an active way and remarks upon the recent death of Secretary of State John Hay.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-24

President Roosevelt tells Acting Secretary of State Adee they must have an immediate decision from the Russian representative regarding the Lena‘s disarmament and repairs. Roosevelt wishes to close the incident quickly. Roosevelt also considers what to do with the crew and officers of the ship.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Theodore Roosevelt approves of the memorandum to Russia about the contraband. If the Russians were victorious against the Japanese, the United States might be forced to take action.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-29

President Roosevelt encloses a letter from the President of Williams College, to which Secretary of State Hay may want to respond. Roosevelt is also pleased that Hay is working on a letter to Russia regarding contraband.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-25

Published in Deutsche Zeitung, this article comments on the conditions in the Russian Empire, in reaction to the ongoing revolution there.

We are unsure of some or all of the document’s content because of its language. If you have any information about the document or its contents, we would appreciate hearing from you. Contact dsu.trcenter@dickinsonstate.edu and be sure to include the item’s title and date.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Maurice Francis Egan sends Theodore Roosevelt notes written by a Russian with close connections to Czar Nicholas II. Egan was alarmed by the Czar’s negative attitude towards America and tried to convey to his entourage that the United States is not anti-Russian.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-15

Andrew Carnegie has enclosed Prime Minister Bannerman’s speech from the recent conference. Carnegie had showed President Roosevelt’s most recent letter to both Bannerman as well as John Morley and other Cabinet members. Morley referenced Roosevelt’s note again in a letter and was influenced by it in his decision making process about the Cabinet. Carnegie thinks Roosevelt’s policy will be welcomed and followed elsewhere. Elihu Root has sent Carnegie a confidential report on the Russians. Carnegie sends well wishes to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and notes that his wife Louise Whitfield Carnegie places the Roosevelts high on their book.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-27

George von Lengerke Meyer updates President Roosevelt on the situation in Russia. The Duma has been dissolved for over a week. The workers have been instructed not to conduct a general strike, and the workers at factories have been given work to do and have been similarly instructed not to strike. Meyer believes that disturbances are unlikely. He therefore plans to set out for Bavaria for a cure, but, per Roosevelt’s previous instructions, will remain ready to return to Russia at a moment’s notice if necessary.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-30