In the Spring of 1871, caricatures appearing in successive numbers of the periodical L’Actualité captured the political turmoil which followed France’s military defeat. 

“Ce qui les attend!…” (What they can expect!…), published in March by G. Gaillard, shows the economic and geographical price of the war paid by the French government. On the left here are politicians of the new Third Republic, Adolphe Thiers (the peace treaty with the Germans in his right hand) and Jules Favre (the minister for Foreign Affairs). Thiers looks on at a feminine representation of national despair. The allegory of France hides her face from the loss to the German Empire of the Eastern provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. Favre, a lawyer in full dress, looks out towards the viewer. The initial armistice of January 1871 led to the Treaty of Versailles of 26 February (not to be confused with the settlement at the end of the First World War).

Paris: Madre Éditeur (20 rue du Croissant); Grognet, Lithographe (16 rue des Écoles), March 1871.

CUL, KF.3.10