“Spring Serenade” (May 11, 1935)
by Bert Thomas (1883-1966)
11 x 14 in., ink on heavy paper
Coppola Collection

Bert Thomas (1883-1966) was a wonderful British cartoonist and longtime contributor to Punch magazine (1905-1935). Thomas gained his initial popularity during WWI, with a well-known cartoon that raised 250,000 pounds sterling in aid for British soldiers.

Mussolini, the father of fascism, partnered with Hitler in 1936. Before then, Mussolini was acting on his own. In 1930, the Italians began to fortify lands that were claimed by Ethiopia. The two countries had battled 30 years earlier and were at an unsteady truce. Fighting broke out in December 1935.

Mussolini ordering bombing, the use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas, and the poisoning of water supplies, against targets that included undefended villages and medical facilities.

Between January and May, Ethiopia appealed for arbitration at least 4-5 times from the League of Nations, which had been set up after WW1 to prevent a repeat, but its ability to function was limited, particularly with the absence of the isolationist USA.

The modern Italian Army defeated the poorly armed Ethiopians and captured Addis Ababa in May 1936, forcing Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie to flee.

“Return on a Bad Investment” (July 1943)
by William (Bill) Crawford (1913-1982)
19 x 22 in., ink and crayon on heavy paper
Coppola Collection

Crawford worked as a sports cartoonist and for the Washington Daily Newsand the Washington Postfrom 1936-38. He joined the Newark Newsas an editorial cartoonist and his cartoons were distributed to more than 700 daily newspapers by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was an active member of the National Cartoonists Society, serving as its president and vice-president. In 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1963 he was awarded “Best Editorial Cartoon” by the National Cartoonist Society, and in 1973 he received their Silver T-Square Award. Crawford retired in 1977.

Mussolini, the father of fascism, partnered with Hitler in 1936. Allied forces landed in Sicily starting on July 10, 1943 and moved northward. Support for the war and for Mussolini had dropped substantially, and he was ousted on July 25, 1943. On September 3, an armistice was reached between the new government of Italy and the Allies. Hitler was already in the north of Italy, and the Italian peninsula became a contested war zone.

On October 13, 1943, one month after Italy surrendered to the Allies, it declared war on its one-time Axis partner, Nazi Germany. “Operation Achse” was the German plan to support the remaining Italian fascists.

The notation on this says “hold for the invasion of the Boot” so that likely places it is early July 1943. The large American military bayonet stakes its spot, and the stab-in-the-back comes from Hitler’s movement to invade and take control.

“The Beginning of the End” (July 1943)
by William (Bill) Crawford (1913-1982)
19 x 22 in., ink and crayon on heavy paper
Coppola Collection

Crawford worked as a sports cartoonist and for the Washington Daily News and the Washington Post from 1936-38. He joined the Newark Newsas an editorial cartoonist and his cartoons were distributed to more than 700 daily newspapers by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was an active member of the National Cartoonists Society, serving as its president and vice-president. In 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1963 he was awarded “Best Editorial Cartoon” by the National Cartoonist Society, and in 1973 he received their Silver T-Square Award. Crawford retired in 1977.

Mussolini, the father of fascism, partnered with Hitler in 1936. Allied forces landed in Sicily starting on July 10, 1943 and moved northward. Support for the war and for Mussolini had dropped substantially, and he was ousted on July 25, 1943. On September 3, an armistice was reached between the new government of Italy and the Allies. Hitler was already in the north of Italy, and the Italian peninsula became a contested war zone.

On October 13, 1943, one month after Italy surrendered to the Allies, it declared war on its one-time Axis partner, Nazi Germany. “Operation Achse” was the German plan to support the remaining Italian fascists.

The notation on this says “hold for the invasion of Italy” so that likely places it is early July 1943, as the power of the allies begins to put the squeeze on Mussolini.

“Benito Goes Back to Italy” (December 1940)
by Charles (Chuck) Werner (1909-1997)
12.5 x 16 in., ink and crayon on textured paper
Coppola Collection

Charles (Chuck) Werner won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1939 for a cartoon he did for the Daily Oklahoman titled “Nomination for 1938” which allowed for the transfer of the Sudetenland to Hitler’s Germany (October 6, 1938). At age 29, Werner was the youngest person to win the Pulitzer. Werner left the Daily Oklahoman to be the Chief Editorial Cartoonist at the Chicago Sun in 1941 before leaving for the Indianapolis Star in 1947. Throughout his nearly sixty-year career, many U.S. Presidents expressed interest in Werner’s cartoons, including Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry Truman requesting cartoons for their presidential libraries.

In June 1940, Italy declared war on the Allies. By September, having finally joined forces with the Nazis, he had invaded France, British Somaliland, and Egypt, after having annexed Albania in 1939, prior to the German invasion of Poland (September 1939) that officially marks the beginning of WW2.

The Italians invaded Greece on October 28, 1940, penetrating only barely, and by December 1940, they had been pushed back into Albania. The Greeks held their ground through the spring.

Hitler was concerned that the inability of the Italians to make progress opened up a threat to Germany’s southern border, and sent in troops to offset the British forces arriving in Greece in early 1941.

The arrival of the German army was all that was needed, however On April 20, 1941, Greece surrendered to Germany.

“Triumphal Entries” (March 1938)
by Hugh McMillen Hutton (1897-1976)
13.5 x 18.5 in., ink and crayon on heavy board
Coppola Collection

Hugh M. Hutton (1897-1976) was an American editorial cartoonist who worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for over 30 years.

Hugh Hutton grew up with an artistic mother. After attending the University of Minnesota for two years, Hutton enlisted in the armed forces and served in World War I. Hutton pursued coursework in art through correspondence school, the Minneapolis School of Art and the Art Students League.

He worked at the New York World from 1930 to 1932 and with the United Features Syndicate in 1932 and 1933, drawing illustrations and comic strips. Hutton relocated to Philadelphia and worked as the cartoonist at the Public Ledger in 1933 and 1934. He became the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s editorial cartoonist in April 1934, where he stayed throughout his career, retiring in 1969.

In Mein Kampf (1924), Hitler said he would abolish the Treaty of Versailles. He thought it was an international agreement that was a “bad deal” for the Make Germany Great Again movement.

The Treaty of Versailles (July 1919) called for stiff war reparation payments and other punishing peace terms for defeated Germany. Having been forced to sign the treaty, the German delegation to the peace conference indicated its attitude by breaking the ceremonial pen. As dictated by the treaty, Germany’s military forces were reduced to insignificance and the Rhineland was to be demilitarized. The Locarno Pact (1925) reaffirmed the national boundaries decided by the Treaty of Versailles and approved the German entry into the League of Nations.

In 1929 (only 90 years ago!), however, Hitler and the Nazi Party seized full power in Germany, promising vengeance against the Allied nations that had forced the Treaty of Versailles on the German people. In 1935, Hitler unilaterally canceled the military clauses of the treaty and in March 1936 denounced the Locarno Pact and began remilitarizing of the Rhineland. Two years later, Nazi Germany burst out of its territories, absorbing Austria and portions of Czechoslovakia. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

The first way Hitler broke the Treaty was over Germany’s armed forces.   In 1935, he openly held a huge rearmament rally, including YUGE military parades, and the other nations let him get away with it, which starts the open policy of Appeasement.

The second way Hitler broke the Treaty was over the Rhineland. In 1936, after a one-sided, conscripted vote to re-occupy, Hitler moved his troops into the zone, claiming not doing so was a threat to Germany’s safety from foreign (French) invaders. Again, there was no reply from the League of Nations.

The third way Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles occurred in 1938.   The Treaty forbade Anschluss (joining) between Germany and Austria.   After a failed attempt in 1934, Hitler tried again.  Austria asked both France and Britain for help, but was refused. Hitler invaded on March 12, 1938. Maybe he should have just offered to buy it?

Did anyone besides me notice that the word “triumphal” used in the title is an anagram for “hail trump”?