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Welcome to Cartooningthe
First World War
Cartooningthe First World War bringstogether all thewartimenewspaper
cartoonsof Joseph Morewood Staniforth (‘JMS’), which originally appeared in
theBritish Sunday paper the Newsof theWorld and theCardi! daily paper the
Western Mail. Over 1300cartoonsdocument thewar’schangingfortunesand
thewaysin which theconflict wasexperienced and represented by oneof the
most popular visual artistsof thetime. Each cartoon ispresented with
explanatory notesand with an open invitation to usersto comment on the
imageand itspossiblemeanings. Thecartoonsareaccompanied by a rangeof
resourceswhich help to contextualisethecartoonist, hiswork, and the
newspaperswhich published him.
Please note that the website currently holdscartoonsup tothe end of May
1917, with some from June 1917. In most casesthese are accompanied by
commentaries: any remainingcommentarieswill be supplied in the very
near future. In the next phase of work we will be uploadingfurther
cartoonsand commentariesup tothe end of 1917.
Cartooningthe First World War isa project supported by theHeritageLottery
Fund and based at Cardi! University, whereit isled by Professor Chris
Williams, Head of theSchool of History, Archaeology and Religion.
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THEPIEDPIPEROF
CRICCIETH
Western Mail, 22 September
1914
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Cartooning the First World War: Professor Chris Williams (Cardiff University)
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Cartooning the First World War: Professor Chris Williams (Cardiff University)
- 1. Cartooning the FirstWorld War in Wales Digriflunio’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf yng Nghymru Chris Williams Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd
- 2. Bruce Bairnsfather, ‘Well,If You Knows of a Better ‘Ole, Go To It!, Bystander, 24 November 1915’
- 3. Will Dyson, Daily Herald, 17May 1919
- 4. DAI PEPPER ON THESOMME Capt. T. E. Elias (ed.), New Year Souvenir of the Welsh Division (Cardiff and London, 1917), p. 55
- 5. 0 500 10001500 2000 2500 3000 Sunday Times (1918) The Times (1915) Observer (1916) Daily Express (1918) Daily Chronicle (1916) Daily News (1915) Daily Mail (1916) Daily Mirror (1916) Daily Sketch (1915) News of the World (1917) British Newspapers: Wartime Circulation (000s)
- 6. Staniforth’s First WorldWar Cartooning Year Western Mail News of the World Total 1914 120 7 127 1915 277 34 311 1916 276 41 317 1917 284 39 323 1918 215 44 259 Total 1171 165 1336
- 7. JMS’s First WorldWar cartooning 120 277 276 284 215 7 34 41 39 44 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 Western Mail News of the World
- 8. Western Mail, 31March 1915 LOWER THAN BARBARISM
- 9. Western Mail 12 November1918 RIGHT TRIUMPHANT
- 10. Western Mail, 22September 1914 THE PIED PIPER OF CRICCIETH
- 11. Western Mail, 28January 1903 THE PIED PIPER OF SOUTH AFRICA THE PIED PIPER OF SOUTH WALES Western Mail, 4 November 1910
- 12. A338, News ofthe World, 17 February 1918, ‘An Unwelcome Message’
- 13.
- 14. Quick Search... Home ContactUs Login FAQs Blog Resources My Lightbox Glossary Useful Links Report a Fault You are here: Home Welcome to Cartooningthe First World War Cartooningthe First World War bringstogether all thewartimenewspaper cartoonsof Joseph Morewood Staniforth (‘JMS’), which originally appeared in theBritish Sunday paper the Newsof theWorld and theCardi! daily paper the Western Mail. Over 1300cartoonsdocument thewar’schangingfortunesand thewaysin which theconflict wasexperienced and represented by oneof the most popular visual artistsof thetime. Each cartoon ispresented with explanatory notesand with an open invitation to usersto comment on the imageand itspossiblemeanings. Thecartoonsareaccompanied by a rangeof resourceswhich help to contextualisethecartoonist, hiswork, and the newspaperswhich published him. Please note that the website currently holdscartoonsup tothe end of May 1917, with some from June 1917. In most casesthese are accompanied by commentaries: any remainingcommentarieswill be supplied in the very near future. In the next phase of work we will be uploadingfurther cartoonsand commentariesup tothe end of 1917. Cartooningthe First World War isa project supported by theHeritageLottery Fund and based at Cardi! University, whereit isled by Professor Chris Williams, Head of theSchool of History, Archaeology and Religion. Enter Keyword... Day Month Year By Event By Individual By Topic Search You can search by free text, use the drop down menusor by keyword. or Search by Date: or Search material by: Search Image of the Week Resources View Resources My Lightbox View Lightbox Contact Us To get in touch with the project team pleasefollow this Register If you would liketo register as a project user pleasefollow Blog [Title]TheVisual Cultureof the First World War Twitter #OTD1915 #WW1 as#waterpolo. Commentary at cartoonww1.org pic.twitter.com/XjxbpxEesh 2 hoursago via iOS THEPIEDPIPEROF CRICCIETH Western Mail, 22 September 1914 Click here tofind out more
- 15. Home Contact UsLogin FAQs Blog Resources My Lightbox Glossary Useful Links Report a Fault You arehere: Home Search Results Enter Keyword... Day Month Year Lusitania Sinking (20) By Individual By Topic Username Password ADouble Event Western Mail, 15May 1915 View image details AFutile Dodge Western Mail, 2June1915 View image details ALabour Of Love Western Mail, 12April 1916 View image details ATugOf War Newsof theWorld, 5November 1916 View image details Absolutely Reckless Western Mail, 6February 1915 View image details Between the Devil and the Deep Sea Western Mail, 27July 1915 View image details Clutchingat Straws Newsof theWorld, 6June1915 View image details Greater Severity Needed Western Mail, 16October 1915 View image details NoThoroughfare ToPirates Western Mail, 8February 1916 View image details Search You can search by freetext, usethedrop down menusor by keyword. or Search by Date: or Search material by: Search Image of theWeek Login Login Now Not registered? Click hereto sign up now!
- 18. Major categories ofJMS wartime cartoons Theme Examples Celebratory Of British and allied progress in various theatres of war Vilification of enemies Being very rude about the Kaiser, the German people etc Recruitment Encouraging voluntary recruitment, supporting conscription etc Mobilising the war economy Supporting increased taxation, state control, war loans etc Aimed at neutral countries Pressurising the USA (mostly) to enter the war against Germany
- 19. Minor categories ofJMS wartime cartoons Theme Examples Sympathy towards allies Russia, France, Belgium, Italy Boosting public morale Endorsing the justice of the cause, stiffening resolve to see it through Endorsing political action Shift to Coalition government, to Lloyd George leadership, appointment of D. A. Thomas as Food Controller Condemning dissent Industrial action, pacifism, food hoarding, Irish Republicans, peacemongers Acknowledging failure Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, air defence, sacking of Churchill
- 20. Western Mail, 22July 1916 OCCURRING TOO OFTEN
- 21. JMS’s ‘Welsh’ wartimecartoons Theme Examples Celebratory Of prominent Welshmen, of Welsh troops’ deeds Recruitment Praising, encouraging, chivvying recruitment in Wales specifically Mobilising the (Welsh) war economy Munitions, coal industry Condemning dissent Rev Thomas Rees, ILP, ‘peacemongers’, striking miners Articulating patriotism Welsh martial tradition and the war effort in Wales
- 22. Western Mail, 5December 1916 ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON (Not the Welsh one)
- 23. Western Mail, 23November 1914 THE MEN WHO STICK IT
- 24. Western Mail, 18February 1915 MAKING GROWTH
- 25. Western Mail, 29May 1915 A WILLING WORKER
- 26. Western Mail, 19July 1915 FAME AND SHAME
- 27. Western Mail, 2October 1914 THE TWO MOTHERS
- 28. Western Mail, 13February 1915 AN HONOUR FOR WALES
- 29. ‘Our Cartoonist: Exhibitionof Mr J. M. Staniforth’s Art’, Western Mail, 1 June 1918 It is the business of the newspaper cartoonist in these days to reflect all the moods and phases of the war. … The piquancy and pathos of the war, the brightness and the gloom, the virtue and the vice, all find an apt, expressive, and illuminating reproduction in the cultured mind and facile pencil of the artist.
- 30. David Lloyd George,Western Mail, 19 December 1921 I am deeply grieved to hear of the death of Mr J M Staniforth – undoubtedly one of the most distinguished cartoonists of his generation. His work has always given me great pleasure … . Cartoonists of this type render great national service and no one has served his country more devotedly with the pen than ‘JMS’ …
- 31. Website: cartoonww1.org Facebook: Cartooningthe First World War in Wales Twitter: @CartoonWW1 Contact: Chris Williams: williamsc92@cardiff.ac.uk Rhianydd Biebrach: biebrachr@cardiff.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
- #4 The Tiger, Curious, I seem to hear a child weeping.
- #6 Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War (London, 1999), p. 243 Other figures; News of the World 1915: 2m The Times (1914) 183000; (1917) 137000; (1918) 131000 News of the World circulation rose during wartime; that of The Times fell
- #7 1914 and 1918 totals include only the wartime months. Does not include any cartoons published in the Evening Express, Football Express or one-off publications.
- #8 Total: 1171 Western Mail, 165 News of the World. 1336
- #9 THE SAVAGE: ‘Yah! Dere am some people dat insult me by calling dose decivilised Germans “barbarians”!’
- #10 Civilisation triumphs over poison, outrage, robbery, arson, murder, Prussian militarism, methods of barbarism and ambition for world domination. Note also the cross in the background. This cartoon appeared as a full page in the Western Mail the day after the armistice was declared. The cessation of hostilities had been anticipated for some weeks, and it is likely that Staniforth had been working on this image for longer than was normal for his cartoons. The fact that the newspaper gave over an entire one-eighth of its space to the cartoon is indicative of the importance and power of the visual image. The message is unambiguous: civilisation has triumphed over Prussian militarism, Christian virtue over heinous ‘methods of barbarism’ (the phrase an echo of the controversies surrounding British policy during the South African war of 1899-1902).
- #11 'For he led us, he said, to a joyous land, ... Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew, And flowers put forth a fairer hue' (Robert Browning) Excerpt from (the concluding passage of the famous) speech by Lloyd George at the Queen's Hall, London (September 19): 'We have been too comfortable, too indulging -- many, perhaps, too selfish. And the stern hand of Fate has scourged us to an elevation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation. The great peaks of honour we had forgotten, duty and patriotism, clad in glittering white. The great pinnacle of sacrifice, pointing like a rugged finger to heaven. We shall descend into valleys again, but as long as the men and women of this generation last they will carry in their hearts the image of these great mountain peaks, whose fingers are unshaken, though Europe rock and sway in the convulsions of a great war.’ ///// Lloyd George’s home was at Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, in Caernarvonshire. Note: DLG clad in Union Flag cloak, blowing a horn (or a pipe) of ‘honour’, ‘duty’ and ‘patriotism’. The sign reads: ‘To the recruiting station and the removal of the German menace’. Lloyd George made this speech, calling for the creation of a Welsh Army Corps, and drawing on his version of a Welsh martial tradition stretching back to the Dark Ages. He was clearly attempting to reconcile the distinctiveness of Welsh national sentiment and patriotism with the wider interests of the British state and British Empire. To be fair, relatively few thought them incompatible at that time. It was a rousing call to arms and I’m sure Staniforth shared Lloyd George’s hope that it would meet with an enthusiastic response from the young men of Wales. Yet it is entirely possible that a reader might have drawn a different conclusion from the same piece of artwork. The story of the Pied Piper does not end happily, after all, for, as Browning puts it, at the end ‘Piper and dancers were gone for ever’. Although Staniforth meant to boost the patriotism of his readers, we can not be certain that he achieved his desired impact. What is even more perplexing is that Staniforth had used a similar image on previous occasions to suggest that following a different ‘Pied Piper’ (such as C. B. Stanton, the militant miners’ agent) would lead to disaster. He cannot have been unaware of the potential for ambiguity.
- #12 ‘All the little boys and girls … Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter. For he led us, he said, to a joyous land, Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew, And flowers put forth a fairer hue, And everything was strange and new.’ (Robert Browning) ‘I, who have seen so much of the war, could never have believed it possible that the man who was execrated a year ago would be welcomed so heartily to-day. He seems to exercise a curious fascination over the rough sons of the veldt.’ – Press Association Correspondent, at Ventersdorp. [Published volume]: Remarkable enthusiasm was raised amongst all sections in South Africa by Mr Chamberlain’s conciliatory speeches, and by his promises on behalf of the Government during his tour through the country.]
- #21 CHORUS OF VOICES: What a dreadful mess! It wasn’t we who did it. DR. JOHN BULL: Well, I shall expect you to find out who did do it, and to see that such scandalous things do not occur again. The mess consists of the campaigns in the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia. Amongst the politicians in the picture are Asquith, Lloyd George, Churchill – and some others.
- #23 Staniforth gets himself into a bit of a muddle with this cartoon. Saint (Lloyd) George on the left. Dragon is marked with ‘War dilatoriness’, ‘indecision’ and ‘delay’. Lloyd George was about to become Prime Minister (on 7th). Britannia tied to a tree in the background. Lloyd George is becoming a Welsh icon in his own right – the first Welshman to be Prime Minister, the only Prime Minister not to speak English as his first language, a Prime Minister clearly identified with the key characteristics of modern Welsh identity through his career as a leading Welsh Liberal MP, advocate of disestablishment, the Cymru Fydd movement and so on.
- #24 LORD KITCHENER (at the War Office): Well, French, how are things going? GENERAL FRENCH (at the Front): Splendidly! We are holding our own well. But I want more men – and especially Welshmen. ---------- There was one man whom they all knew – Captain Haggard, of the 5th Welsh – who, when dying, turned round to the Welshmen around him and said, “Stick it, Welsh.” (applause.) He appealed to all Welshmen to live up to that motto at the present time, and he could not finish with anything better than to say, “Stick it, Welsh.” (Applause.) – General Sir Francis Lloyd at Cardiff. /// Early proof that the Welsh were not lacking in martial vigour and courage. Mark Haggard, nephew of Rider Haggard. Died of wounds. Rescued by Lance Corporal Fuller who won the VC for doing so. 19 September 1914. Sometimes ‘Stick it, the Welsh’. Kitchener was Secretary of State for War. French was Commander of the BEF.
- #25 JOHN BULL: Compliment you, ma’am, on your new plant! How’s it getting on? DAME WALES: Fammous, look you. I do expect it will be a fine, sturdy plant in a few weeks’ time; yes, indeet. /// Note: Dame Wales is watering ‘Welsh Guards’, using ‘Welsh Enthusiasm’ (from the watering can) and ‘Cardiff fertiliser’. There are many other plants growing in the bed behind: ‘2nd Welsh Regiment’, ‘Welsh Horse’, ‘South Wales Borderers’, ‘3rd Welsh Regiment’, ‘Welsh Bantams’. The Sun is ‘Welsh Nationalism’. Should be understood in the sense of Welsh national spirit, distinctiveness and pride rather than separatism.
- #26 DAME WALES (preparing to start): More munitions we do want, is it? Well, indeed, now, it wass a bit out of my line, but I will do my best, look you, an’ help to smash them old wicked Germans! Behind her shoulder is ‘Munitions of War’.
- #27 The Welshman had become very popular. You could not fail to discern that in the reception of music-hall jokes at his expense, and the Welsh National Anthem or “The Men of Harlech” has latterly been invariably included with the hymns of the allies at the theatres and hails as a distinct recognition of the part Wales has been taking in the war. Yet to-day it is almost a reproach to be a Welshman in the eyes of the Londoner one meets in the club or anywhere else. – Our London Letter. Notices: ‘Honourable Mention in Dispatches’, ‘World’s Condemnation’, ‘Empire’s Disgust’, ‘Heroic Deeds of Welsh Soldiers’, ‘On Strike’, ‘Admiralty’, ‘Coal Wanted’
- #28 We will be none the worse soldiers in Wales because the military spirit has not been fostered and encouraged and whetted from childhood upwards as it has in Germany, where they feed their children on gunpowder. (Laughter.) A nation whose spirit is roused by the call to its magnanimity and manly qualities will go into action with all the greater heart because for centuries its soul has been cleansed from the mere lust of killing. (“Hear, hear,” and applause.). – Mr Lloyd George at Cardiff. ------------- Mr Lloyd George inaugurates the movement for the formation of a Welsh Army Corps. ///// This point is reinforced in this cartoons where it is freely acknowledged that ‘the military spirit has not been fostered’ in Wales. So whereas German children are surrounded by ‘Zeppelin’, ‘Despotic militarism’, ‘Barbarism jam’, ‘Gunpowder’, ‘Murder Treacle’, ‘Outrage Biscuits’, Welsh children have a background in ‘Right Living’, ‘Technical Training’, ‘Singing’, ‘Sports’, ‘Education’, ‘Religion and Nationalism’, ‘Football Results’, ‘Revival Pictures’, ‘National Eisteddfod’. Ultimately this will make them more effective soldiers.
- #29 HIS MAJESTY THE KING: Madam, your patriotism and contribution to my army since the war began have been all that I could wish. I, therefore, shall be delighted if you will send me a Battalion of Welsh Guards to join the three I have. ///// If Wales’s proud contribution to the war through recruitment and deeds on the field of battle is a major theme in Staniforth’s cartoons, then so is the honour that such actions confer upon the Welsh people. Here we have the very public recognition of Wales’s efforts (‘Splendid recruiting in South Wales’, ‘Welsh Loyalty’) which are rewarded with elevation to the status of having its own Guards regiment – sharing that with the Scots, Irish and of course English.Irish Guards, English Guards (sic) and the Scotch Guards (sic). Should be Grenadier, Scots (and Coldstream). Worth noting that Welsh patriots were sensitive to Wales’s inferior status within the United Kingdom as a Principality that had been conquered rather than a Kingdom / State that had been ‘united’. The legislative acquisition of Wales by England had been formalised in the sixteenth century. It was only in the late nineteenth century, and with the awareness of the acts of 1707 and 1800 that had brought first Scotland and then Ireland into the UK, that these were termed the Welsh ‘Acts of Union’. Staniforth was also a long-term supporter of a campaign to have the arms of Wales placed on the royal standard (alongside those of England, Scotland and Ireland). So the award of its own Guards Regiment was a significant act of recognition of the distinctive claims of Wales on the part of the British state.