Clip description
A large bear (representing the Russian forces) carrying a bayonet is accompanied by the caption: ‘I’m out to give Mr Turk a bad time’. In a boat landed nearby, the hand of the artist draws a fez-capped turkey (representing the Ottoman Empire). The turkey sheepishly emerges onto the land, hoping that the enemy is not around, only to find the large bear behind him.
Curator’s notes
Harry Julius often sketched animals in his Cartoons of the Moment series to represent the various countries involved in the First World War. The battered and bruised turkey (often depicted wearing a fez – a cone-shaped hat worn by members of the Ottoman Empire) appears most regularly in Julius’s cartoons, invariably in situations where it is shown to be the dogsbody of the German forces. The Russian bear, British lion, American eagle and German dachshund also appear throughout Julius’s sketches. This use of animals creates easily identifiable character stereotypes that are then employed to satirise some of the political predicaments of the First World War.