French cartoon in 1945 showed Hitler as an octopus with his arms around the globe.

http://www.picturehistory.com/product/id/4453

The following cartoon is by Gib Crockett and appeared in the Washington Star on the 27th of April 1965 during the Vietnam War. It shows an octopus with the head of Ho Chi Minh, and, just in case the viewer didn’t recognise him, his name conveniently written on a tentacle. The arm of the United States is attempting to cut off his tentacles with a pair of scissors labelled ‘air strikes’ in order to loosen the octopuses grip on South Vietnam: “Whittling him down”.

Notes:

• ‘Whittling him down’ by Gib Crockett. Published 27 April 1965 in the Washington Star. Image Source: Pop Art Machine, http://tinyurl.com/dlu3u9 (Accessed: 16th March 2009)
• Also worth comparing this with the 2005 SOAW Skulltopus, which shows the USA as the octopus with it arms reaching down into South America and having them cut off by a giant pair of scissors.

“La Guerre est l’Industrie Nationale de la Prusse”, 1917 translates as “War is Prussia’s National Industry”. This World War I French poster that shows the expansion of the German and Prussian military. The octopus – wearing a pickelhaube helmet – is superimposed on the map¹ with its tentacles throughout Europe and Asia Minor. In addition there are three staggered soldiers in uniform representing the size of the military in 1715, 1815 and 1914² .

In a twist, there is advertising on the poster (in the blue wreath) for “La Conférence Au Village Contre La Propagande Ennemie En France” – “Village lectures countering enemy propaganda in France”.
The full title across the top of the poster is:

En 1788 MIRABEAU disait déjà: LA GUERRE est l’industrie Nationale de la PRUSSE

In 1788 Mirabeau was already saying ‘War is Prussia’s national industry’.

The rest of the text is (except country names and publisher etc):

Envahie Il Y A Quarante-Sept Ans L’alsace-Lorraine Ne Diffère Pas Des Départements Français Envahis Il Y A Trois Ans. Déclaration Du Gouvernement Français (Chambre Des Députés 25 Oct. 1917).

Alsace-Lorraine Arrachée A La France En 1871.

A la veille de la Guerre la puissante Association Pangermaniste ALLDEUTSCHER VERBAND déclarait partout: ‘il faut que le PEUPLE ALLEMAND s’élève comme un PEUPLE DE MAITRES au dessus des PEUPLES INFÉRIEURS D’EUROPE’

Attaqués, Nous ne faisons que nous défendre au nom de la Liberté et pour sauver notre Existence
(GÉNÉRAL PÉTAIN, JUIN 1917)³.

Invaded 47 years ago, Alsace-Lorraine is no different from the French departments invaded three years ago – Declaration by the French government (Chamber of Deputies, 25 Oct. 1917).

Alsace-Lorraine seized from France in 1871.

On the eve of the War the powerful Pan-Germanist Association, the ‘Alldeutscher Verband’, declared on all sides: ‘The German people must rise as a nation of masters above the inferior nations of Europe’.

Village lectures countering enemy propaganda in France, 11 AVENUE DE L’OPÉRA PARIS.

Under attack, we are merely defending ourselves in the name of Liberty and to preserve our lives – General Pétain, June 1917⁴.

In the top write corner in red writing:  TOUTE LA FRANCE DEBOUT POUR LA VICTOIRE DU DROIT or ‘All France stand up for the victory of right’.

The artist is Maurice Neumont, and the poster was sponsored by Conférence au Village Contre la Propagande Ennemie en France and printed as an offset lithograph by P J Gallais et Cie Imprimerie, Paris in December, 1917. The poster is ~ 60 cm x 80 cm.

Translation and image from VADS (http://tinyurl.com/coccmz). Image altered to correct colours.

Footnotes

1. VADS Catalogue: http://tinyurl.com/coccmz
2. ibid
3. Text from VADS Catalogue
4. Translation from VADS Catalogue

The following cartoons all appeared in 2007, and all depicted terrorism as an octopus. The Benson and Ramirez cartoons used the octopus straightforwardly: a named octopus. A subtle point in the Benson cartoon is the Al-Qaeda octopus has had the tips of some of its limbs cut off. Iraq is wielding a sword, so ispresumably responsible tip-less arms. However is currently incapacitated by a fully functioning arm of Al-Qaeda. The Ramirez cartoon is a typical octopus and cartography metaphor with the Iranian octopus interfering in surround territories and holding a nuke. The Ramirez cartoon is not directly related to terrorism, but given the context of representation of Iran in this period, the implication is there.

The Kal cartoon is quite unique. The juxtaposition of octopus and cartography is not new, but the way it is done is quiet unusual. Instead of an octopus entangling the USA and the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, the map/countries themselves have grown arms and have entrapped the ‘government’ while Bin Laden is free to appear elsewhere. The implication being that even if the USA can find him they are incapable of doing anything about it.

Tako No Asirai (Octopus Treading) by Kobayashi Kiyochika. (1904)

One of those rare examples where the octopus is pro-cause ¹. Japanese officer sitting on an octopus that is capturing ships disguised fish. Russo-Japanese War. Part of a series: Nihonbanzai hyakusen hyakusho (Long live Japan: one hundred victories, one hundred laughs). Image source and information: Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g07292 (Accessed 4th Jan 2009)

Valoroso Marinaio Uccidi il Monstro E libera l’Adriatico (Rico, ~1915)

This postcard from circa 1915 by Rico shows a sailor preparing to spear an octopus with a trident. The octopus bears a black two-headed eagle with crown and red-white-gold shield on its head: the coat of arms for the Austrian Empire/Austro-Hungarian. The dreadnoughts in the background bear a flag with a white cross on a red background with blue or grey border (which looks like a simplified version of the flag of Piedmont, Italy?). It probably refers to theAdriatic Campaign in World War One.

The text “Valoroso Marinaio Uccidi il Monstro E libera l’Adriatico”, roughly translates as “Valiant sailor kills the monster and frees the Adriatic”¹.

Published by T. Dell’Avo in Genova, Italy circa 1915.

Sources: Translated by Google Translate, image found on Ebay.