“Look Benito, Better Game!” (December 13, 1940)
by Gene Elderman (1910-1963)
15 x 18 in., crayon on board
Coppola Collection

Elderman was the editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. He left the Washington Post in 1942 to serve in the US Army. He was a cartoonist for the Office of War Information’s “Victory” magazine. After the Second World War, the Washington Post replaced him with Herblock, whose first cartoon was published on January 3, 1946.

By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, Italy had enjoyed a long-term presence in North Africa, and Mussolini began dreaming of expanding that presence–always with an eye toward the same territories that the old “Roman Empire” had counted among its conquests.

Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935. A brutal campaign followed, in which the Italians dropped tons of gas bombs upon the Ethiopian people. Europe expressed its horror; but having done so, did no more. On May 9, 1936, Mussolini announced to an enthusiastic crowd in Rome that “in the 14th year of the Fascist era” a great event had been accomplished: Italy had its empire.

In January 1936, Mussolini had declared that Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy shared ‘a common destiny,’ and that summer the two powers worked together in Spain. Germany had been the one powerful country in western Europe that had not turned against Mussolini’s moves in Africa, and the alliance resulted in a series of agreements between Germany and Italy, followed by the proclamation of an “axis” binding Rome and Berlin (October 25, 1936).

Mussolini was unprepared for war when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, but was emboldened by the fast and early victories by the Germans. With an eye towards being on the winning side, Italy declared war on Britain and France in June 1940. This declaration automatically included the territories controlled by British troops sitting in North Africa, to the east of the Italians in Libya, where they were also protecting the Suez Canal and Royal Navy bases at Alexandria and Port Said. The Italians pressed eastward in September with success.

On December 10-11, however, the British scored their first return in the Desert Campaign, recapturing the Egyptian Port of Sidi Barrani.

By early 1941, Mussolini, who had turned down the initial offers of assistance from Hitler, was being pressed back in his East Africa campaign and needed the assistance of the Germans to hold their position.

“Benito Goes Back to Italy” (December 6, 1940)
by Charles (Chuck) Werner (1909-1997)
12.5 x 16 in., ink and crayon on textured paper

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.

“Bad Choices” (October 31, 1940)
by Tom Smitch (unknown dates)
5.5 x 7 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

Tom Smitch was an illustrator and cartoonist who worked as a printer in Ryde, for the Isle of Wight County Press. The Isle of Wight is the largest and second-most populated island of England. It is located in the English Channel, just south of Portsmouth. He was British Paratrooper whose work during WW2 is preserved in a book published in 1945, Engelsk krigshumor (English War Humor) with a Danish imprint (Kobenhavn, Samlerens forlag, 1945). He continued his artistic work with cartoons that appeared in the County Press. In an interview, he said about his wartime work, “Despite the heat, dust and flies, I have managed to accumulate a number of sketches. Art must go on if life may be short.” He provided illustrations for two books, at least: “West Indies Tour of England,” (1950), and “Newport Isle of Wight in Bygone Days,” (1952). And that is it for information.

In the cartoon, the Fuhrer is unhappy with the plays being made by Hermann Goering who was, among other things, head of the Luftwaffe. Late October 1940 marked the end of the Battle of Britain (July-Oct, 1940), and the first major defeat of Germany’s military forces, whose reputed air superiority had been seen as the key to sure victory.

The relationship between Hitler and Goering, a WW1 flying ace, was deeply rooted. When Hitler first attempted to seize power in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, Goering was by his side. Unlike Hitler, who went to prison, Goering escaped capture and fled to Austria, taking a bullet to his leg in the process. It was during this time that Goering first came in contact with morphine, to which he became addicted. After two rounds of institutionalization for psychiatric issues, probably resulting from the morphine use, he returned to Germany in 1927. Thanks to his loyalty to Hitler, he quickly rose to the Nazi Party’s upper ranks. His political efforts were instrumental to the Party winning the most seats during the 1932 election, and Goering managed to take the presidency of the Reichstag, which in turn resulted in giving Hitler the title of Chancellor, the de-facto leader of Germany. Among other strong political positions, Hitler appointed Goering as the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. From his position of power, one of his first key acts was to create the Gestapo. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Hitler had named Goering as his successor.

Goering’s rise through the ranks of the Nazi party was accompanied by his ever-expanding waistline (note the delightful dig at this in the cartoon, with a frame picture of a sausage on the wall). His ongoing morphine addiction made him prone to have severe mood swings and may have contributed to the weight gain that transformed the former dashing war hero into the portly figure that was an easy target for mockery. His indulgence went beyond food and drugs. He lived lavishly, setting himself up in a palace in Berlin he named for his first wife. His natural flair for flamboyance and pomp led to him to change uniforms at least five times a day, occasionally donning a medieval hunting uniform or even, as one visitor reported, a full toga and sandals.

Goering’s celebrity came to an abrupt halt in 1940. As head of the Luftwaffe, Goering was responsible for the great air offensive against the one enemy that still stood against Germany in Europe: Britain. However, when the Royal Air Force managed to beat back the Germans against all odds, during the Battle of Britain, Goering bore the brunt of the blame.

Historians tend to agree that disorganization and competing priorities led to two big blunders that, otherwise, might have had this battle go badly for the British. Churchill gave an inspired speech on June 18 announcing ‘the Battle of France is over and the Battle of Britain is about to begin.’ The Germans waited 3 weeks before making a move, which gave a lot of time for the RAF to prepare. Also, against all rules of warfare, the Luftwaffe ended up going after civilian targets, including racking up the political capital of bombing London, rather than focusing on wiping out the airfields and other military installations. Hitler’s attention was on the upcoming surprise attack on Russia. Yet, still, the Luftwaffe fell immediately into a period of intensive blame-laying, including questioning the choices made by Goering.

In the ensuing years, although Goering retained a great deal of authority throughout the war, he increasingly fell from the Fuhrer’s favor and he became more heavily addicted to drugs.

On April 23, 1945, when Hitler was cut off in Berlin as Soviet troops encircled the capital, Goering (who had once again escaped from Germany) sent a telegram to Hitler requesting authorization to take over as Hitler’s successor. Hitler denounces Goering as a traitor, strips him of all his offices, and orders his arrest.

A week later, the defeated Hitler committed suicide. Goering was found and arrested, and was perhaps the highest-ranking member of the group brought to trial at Nuremburg. The day before his scheduled execution, while in custody, he managed to commit suicide with a cyanide pellet.

“TripleAxis” (October 31, 1940)
by Unknown
9 x 10 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

While this drawing is an unsigned sketch, it is a nonetheless clever use of representations and commentary.

Russia was a metastable ally with Germany and Italy, at best, prior to the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941. Russia had a non-aggression pact with Italy that dated back to the 1920s, but through the 1930s, Italy’s wars with Ethiopia and Spain were against Russia’s interests. Russia’s pact with Germany came in late 1939, just before the invasion of Poland.

Stalin sits upon the Hammer and Sickle… Hitler on the Swastika… and Mussolini on the Fasces (an ancient symbol of power from the Roman Empire, used by the Italian fascists on their flag)… strike their uneasy truce as they move toward the invasion of the Balkans, which began with the Italian invasion of Greece.

Stalin was a known drinker, and often referred to diluted wines as “fruit juice,” which is about as close as I can get to that part.

“New Deal Arithmetic” (October 14, 1940)
by Milton Rawson Halladay (1874-1961)
15 x 16.5 in., ink on board

Halladay was a native of Vermont and a noted political cartoonist for the Providence Journal (Rhode Island) for nearly fifty years (1900-1947). His cartoons were published in countless other newspapers and magazines. He has been called “one of the deans of American political cartooning.” His cartoon commemorating the death of Thomas A. Edison was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize.

The US economic recovery from the Great Depression was built upon taxes, and particularly by taxing those who trafficked in greater amounts of money: the high income earners and businesses.

Public, No. 801, Second Revenue Act of 1940, approved October 8, 1940, amends the Internal Revenue Code by increasing the normal corporate tax rate of corporations having a normal tax net income in excess of $25,000.

“So Am I” (October 8, 1940)
By Bill Saylor
10 x 13 in., ink on drawing board
Coppola Collection

Bill Saylor was the editorial cartoonist at the Houston Post, was a Corporal in the Marines during WW2, and retired from the Houston Post in the late 70’s.

With the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, the US government began to try to enlarge the size of the regular army through normal, voluntary means. Conscription was still not a viable option, especially given that the United States had not yet entered the war. General Douglas MacArthur captured the sentiment of the American people when he said during this era, “The traditions of our people [permit no] compulsory military service in time of peace.”

Nevertheless, less than a year later, on September 16, 1940, a draft law that put in place the first peace time draft in the United States was passed. Like the World War I draft approach, this new system was implemented locally in order to cultivate a feeling of familiarity and community associated with military service. The registration system also developed quotas based upon the population of each designated zone.

Men were first selected after a national lottery based on age, then through local selection depending on men’s “marital status, dependency, occupation, education, and physical condition.” The World War II draft was not met with the same opposition that the Civil War draft was in large part because it was a gradual process – people were given time for the idea of the draft to set in, then time to register, and finally time to be in the army without having to participate in any fighting.

Roosevelt was mentally preparing the American people for war, he was also well aware that the United States was not equipped with the manpower it would need to fight in World War II. Though the plan originated in the army, Roosevelt formally declared his support for a draft on August 2, 1940.

“For purposes of defense, we have to have men who are already trained beforehand. In doing that we save lives – we save human lives. That is the important thing… you cannot get a sufficiently trained force of all kinds at the front, in the output, you cannot get it by just passing an Act of Congress when war breaks out, and you cannot get it by the mere volunteer system.”

Roosevelt’s logic rested on the assumption that the United States would inevitably be entering the war soon and that the draft was needed to defend the nation. The debate over a peace time draft raged throughout the third session of the 76th Congress. Those against the draft were ardent believers in the liberty of American citizens and their case rested upon their faith in freedom. In a radio broadcast from the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman John C. Kunkel of Pennsylvania argued: “My experience is that most people tend to overlook the very real dangers which are presented by either alternative [volunteer recruitment or conscription]. People who oppose peacetime conscription have a tendency to ignore or minimize possible future danger from Hitler. People who favor conscription tend to take the view that we can adopt totalitarian methods and shed them at will, yet history in man, many instances has indicated that this can rarely be done.”

“The Sightseer” (September 29, 1940)
by William “Bill” Crawford (1913-1982)
22 x 19 in, crayon on board
Coppola Collection

Crawford worked as a sports cartoonist and for the Washington Daily News and the Washington Post from 1936 until 1938. Crawford then joined the Newark News as its editorial cartoonist. He was a highly syndicated cartoonist, noted for his WWII commentary.

In 1940, Matsuoka was a primary architect of the Tripartite Pact (a/k/a the Berlin Pact), which was signed on September 27, and complemented the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, which we now know set of the terms for dividing up Europe. The first three terms of the pact speak to a particular point of view “to help restore peace to the world.” (as reported in the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung).

ARTICLE 1. Japan recognizes and respects the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe.

ARTICLE 2. Germany and Italy recognize and respect the leadership of Japan in the establishment of a new order in Greater East Asia.

ARTICLE 3. Japan, Germany, and Italy agree to cooperate in their efforts on aforesaid lines. They further undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means if one of the Contracting

Powers is attacked by a Power at present not involved in the European War or in the Japanese-Chinese conflict.

This cartoon is a response to Japan being seen ask climbing aboard the Axis, but because of the strong association with its definition as a European structure, Japan was not going to be directly involved in the European conflict and all the heavy lifting was still up to Italy and Germany (and we know who the boss is).

Matsuoka’s views were also not completely aligned with his European counterparts.

“It suddenly occurs to Mr Ickles!” (September 19, 1940)
Lucius Curtis “Lute” Pease, Jr. (1869 -1963)
14 x 17 in, ink, pencil and chalk on board

Pease was cartoonist for the Newark Evening News from 1914 to 1954, and received the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. He was a miner in Alaska for 5 years before beginning a career in art. He was an illustrator for the Oregonian and famously interviewed Mark Twain. From his retirement in 1954 until his death in 1963, he devoted himself to fostering his skills as a painter of portraits and landscapes.

Harold Ickes had campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive party in 1912. By 1932, Ickes no longer supported Herbert Hoover and headed a committee of liberal Republicans who supported FDR. FDR rewarded his work by appointing him Secretary of the Interior in 1933.

He was an outspoken supporter of civil rights. He had headed the Chicago NAACP in 1923, and as Interior Secretary, he fought for minority hiring on construction projects, desegregated his own agency, tried to improve the lot of Native Americans, opposed the wartime internment of Japanese Americans, and appointed the first African American federal judge (the federal bench in the U.S. Virgin Islands was under his jurisdiction). After African-American singer Marian Anderson was refused permission to perform at Constitution Hall in 1939, Ickes helped arrange her famous concert at the Lincoln Memorial and he introduced her to the crowd of 75,000 who had gathered to see her.

Ickes was perhaps the first and most vocal member of Roosevelt’s government to recognize the threat of fascism and the horror of Nazi prosecution and to urge United States action.

Ickles is seen to have had interest in being FDR’s successor before FDR’s unprecedented decision to run for a third term as President in 1940, following the outbreak of WWII (September 1938). In the cartoon, Ickes is penning a letter and contemplating his own future. On July 18, 1940, Roosevelt was nominated for a third presidential term at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago.

During presidential campaigns, Ickes became known as “Roosevelt’s hatchet man” because of his colourful attacks upon Republican candidates

When especially peeved or pouting, Harold Ickes would write of resignation, which Roosevelt always declined. FDR would use his charm, which certainly had its effect with Ickes. It was a rare occasion when Ickes was not resigning or seriously considering resigning. For one who truly relished a fight, Ickes’ own skin was paper-thin.

In November 1940 Roosevelt was elected to his third term as president. World War II had broken out in Europe and Roosevelt promised that he would do what he could to keep the U.S. out of the war. However, on December 7, 1941 Japan bombed the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Ickes, who had stayed on after FDR’s death in April 1945, resigned his cabinet position in 1946 when Truman appointed an oil magnate undersecretary of the navy. He wrote a column for the New Republic from 1946 until his death in 1952 in which he spoke out forcefully against Senator Joseph McCarthy, political corruption, and the timid leadership of political parties.

“Noise Terror Planes Descending on Confused Troop Columns” (September 14, 1940)
By Norbert B. Quinn (1902-1987)
10 x 16 in., ink on board

Born in Medford, MA, and educated at Boston College High School (1920) followed by taking classes at the Museum of Fine Arts school, Quinn was an artist for the Boston Globe for many years. He retired to Maine in 1967.

Regardless of the topic, this is a really lovely piece of ink and wash art.

Probably the most iconic German aircraft during WWII, the Stuka dive bomber became the symbol of a string of successful campaigns in the early stages of the war.

The Wehrmacht seemed unstoppable in 1939, when Stukas swarmed the sky above Poland.

What specifically made these planes horrific were the two horns attached to the wings which produced a screeching sound once the aircraft was inbound for a strike. As the Stuka descended from the sky to drop its deadly load, the scream which accompanied it had a devastating effect on the morale of anyone who was on the ground.

The haunting horns were dubbed the “Jericho trumpets” by the Germans, who relied on the psychological effect of the noise to give them an edge against their opponents.

It was all for a propaganda effect.

The only problem with the Jericho Trumpets was that they affected the aerodynamics of the planes, causing enough drag to slow the plane down by 20 miles per hour and making them easier targets for defenders. Eventually, the sirens would be scrapped, and whistles were placed on the bombs to create the same psychological effect.

“Wings over Romania” (September 11, 1940)
by Walter J Enright (1879-1969)
14 x 17 in., grease pencil on board

A native of Chicago, Enright studied at the Chicago Art Institute. He was listed as an artist in the 1900 census, while he was still living in parents’ household in Chicago. His first wife, Maginel, was an illustrator and the younger sister of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In addition to his work for various newspapers, he also illustrated children’s books, including at least one by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum: “Father Goose’s Year Book: Quaint Quacks and Feathered Shafts for Mature Children.” Enright was with the “Miami Herald” from 1933 to 1943, and the “Palm Beach Post” from 1943 to 1948.

The treaties that followed WW1 more than doubled the territory and population of Romania. France had historically protected Romania. But after the fall of France in June 1940, Nazi Germany supported the removal of Romanian territory, which happened within weeks.

On September 6, 1940, Romania’s King Carol II was forced to abdicate after the loss of northern Transylvania.

On September 11, 1940, Adolf Hitler sent German army and air force reinforcements to Romania to protect precious oil reserves and to prepare an Eastern European base of operations for further assaults against the Soviet Union, which you can see represented here.

And on November 20, 1940, Romania formally joined the Axis alliance.