World War 2 Propaganda Cartoons featuring Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill the dragon-slayer... and the monster: Exhibition reveals how wartime PM was depicted in cartoons in Britain and Nazi-occupied Europe

In Britain he was the 'dragon-slayer' looming over one defeated enemy after another.

But in Nazi-occupied Europe, Winston Churchill was the 'monster' allowing children to starve.

During the Second World War, how the UK's prime minister was depicted on paper depended on which country the cartoonist was working in.

Now, a new exhibition put on by the Imperial War Museum to mark 150 years since Sir Winston's birth is set to display 24 works that were produced between 1909 and 2003.

Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman, will illustrate how Churchill was perceived and portrayed by satirical cartoonists both during his lifetime and in death.

The exhibition features cartoons from throughout Churchill's long career in the public eye, which began in the 1890s and lasted for more than 50 years until his death in 1965. 

In this Punch cartoon from June 1941, Winston Churchill is portrayed as a brave knight protecting the country from the German threat. It was titled 'The dragon-slayer'. A subtitle underneath reads: 'So much for that one, and now to face the next.' The cartoonist was Ernest H. Shepard

This Daily Mail cartoon, by Leslie Illingworth, appeared on October 4, 1940. The title, 'May the many owe much to these few', is a play on Churchill's famous words during the Battle of Britain. The airmen depicted were ministers part of Churchill's war cabinet. He had become PM just a few months earlier

The works therefore reflect Sir Winston's highs, including his time as prime minister during the Second World War and the transatlantic adoration he received for the final two decades of his life.

One, published in the Daily Mail in October 1940, depicted the new PM dressed as an airman while surveying his similarly-clad war cabinet in front of a plane.

Its title - 'May the many owe much to these few' - was a play on his famous speech months earlier where he paid homage to British fighter pilots. 

Another positive portrayal, published in Punch Magazine in 1941, shows Churchill in a suit of armour standing above a slain enemy. 

It calls him 'the dragon-slayer' and depicts him saying: 'So much for that one, and now to face the next.' 

But the cartoons also play on his career setbacks, which included his 'wilderness years' in the 1930s, losing his seat in Parliament in 1922 and the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign that he oversaw in the First World War.

This 1941 cartoon by David Low was published in the Evening Standard. Entitled 'Fishing Talk', it highlighted the close relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt. In the background is a glass case 'reserved' for 'the big one that won't get away' - a reference to Adolf Hitler

This Punch cartoon, by Ernest H Shepard, is titled 'Red Sky at Morning'. Based on the traditional saying, 'red sky in the morning, take warning', it depicts Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt's successor Harry S Truman appearing in a volcanic cloud 

This Nazi propaganda poster blames Churchill for the lack of food supplies getting to the people of German-occupied Europe. Translated from French, it reads: 'Monster, you make us suffer'. It was produced by Oskar Garvens. In June 1940, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels had ordered cartoonists to 'attack only Churchill.. but never the British nation as such'

A cartoon that appeared in the Daily Herald in 1934, depicting Winston Churchill as an irate policeman, chasing the Indian Reform Bill put forward by Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin, as it moves at a snail's pace. The caption reads: 'P.C. Churchill: 'Hi, speed-hound - you are exceeding the limit - you are going too fast and too far!'

This Dutch cartoon, by an unknown artist, has a title that translates as: 'Churchill and Montgomery on the Rhine front'. Dated March 4, 1945, it shows Churchill and senior Army commander Bernard Montgomery. Even though the pair were the same height, Montgomery towers over his boss in the depiction. By early March 19495, Allied forces were poised to cross the River Rhine into German territory 

Smiling Allied leaders Churchill and Roosevelet are seen winning a game of Dominos against Hitler, Mussolini and Japan's Emperor Hirohito, as Joseph Stalin looks on. The Cuban cartoon, by Conrado Massaguer, was produced in 1944. The title, 'Double Nine', refers to a type of dominoes popular in Cuba

Churchill's distinctive image, including his cigar and wartime 'V' sign, endures in many of the cartoon portrayals of him. 

Publications that were under Nazi control portrayed the PM negatively in cartoons.

One, produced in Nazi-occupied France, blamed Churchill for the lack of food supplies getting to the people of German-occupied Europe. 

It brands him a 'monster' as he his shown gruesomely smiling while looming over a starving family. 

After the war turned global, following Japan's attack on the US in 1941, cartoonists often portrayed Churchill as a world statesman and explored his relationship with his fellow Allied leaders.

One, by David Low, highlighted his closeness to US President Franklin Roosevelt by showing the pair with fishing rods, sitting on a boat in front of a glass case 'reserved' for Adolf Hitler and bearing the words, 'for the big one that won't get away'.

As well as the British cartoons, works on display include ones from the US, Russia, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Also featuring are ones from India, Japan, Germany, Cuba, France and Hungary.  

This 1944 Japanese propaganda cartoon, by an unknown artist, depicts Winston Churchill chopping off the the fingers of an Indian cotton industry worker. In the background, a destroyed cotton factory is ablaze. The text on the cartoon translates as: 'To save Manchester, the British rulers shed the blood of Indians and in return gave them hunger and poverty'. The image is a reference to how imports of cloth from northern Britain helped destroy India's cotton industry

This French cartoon is titled: 'American cinema: the last gangster film'. It shows Winston Churchill and US President Franklin Roosevelt as gangsters with machine guns, standing in North Africa. In November 1942, troops from the US and Britain invaded French North Africa. Hitler ordered his troops to occupy southern France in response. The cartoonist was Ralph Soupault, who was loyal to the Nazi regime

Kate Clements, lead curator of Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman, said: 'Almost 150 years after his birth, Churchill remains one of the best-known public figures in history. 

'His distinctive image was a gift to satirical cartoonists and throughout his career, particularly during the Second World War, cartoons played a significant part in shaping how people thought of him. 

'Through this exhibition, we offer visitors a new and different way of exploring Churchill's complicated career and his enduring legacy.' 

Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman opens at IWM London on November 29, 2024 and closes on February, 23, 2025. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13997783/Winston-Churchill-cartoons-Imperial-War-Museum.html

1944 before Allied invasion of Europe

After losing post-WW2 elections

1922

Nazi propaganda

1940

post WW2 Soviet propaganda

Nazi propaganda, 1941

France, Germany, Netherlands reinstate border controls, despite Schengen Agreement

FRANCE follows Germany and reinstates border controls due to 'serious threats posed by terrorists and migratory flows' in latest blow to EU Schengen scheme

France is set to ramp up the intensity of border controls with European neighbours amid fears of uncontrolled migration and terror threats just weeks after Germany announced a similar policy.

French authorities informed the European Commission last week that its borders with six of its neighbouring Schengen members - namely Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland - will be reinforced with increased checks as of November 1.

The controls will be applied to travellers entering France via land, sea and air routes from all six nations.

A French government statement declared the checks were introduced due to 'serious threats to public policy, public order, and internal security posed by high-level terrorist activities... criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and smuggling, and migration flows that risk infiltration by radicalised individuals'.

German police stand guard at a border with France, as all German land borders are subject to random controls to protect internal security and reduce irregular migration 

Officers detain a man on the German/French border in Kehl, western Germany

Police stand at a customs checkpoint at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, in the northern outskirts of Paris

Passengers passing through an exit at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport

Under the Schengen Agreement, 29 European countries agreed to abolish internal border controls with the goal of achieving freedom of movement throughout the continent.

Twenty-five of 27 EU member states are party to the agreement along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

However, the Schengen Borders Code does allow member states to introduce 'last-resort' temporary border checks if authorities believe that there is a serious threat to public order or internal security.

These temporary restrictions can last for up to six months, which is why French authorities named the expiry date of the upcoming measures as April 1, 2025.

But such checks can be extended if the threats are deemed to persist.

The move comes weeks after France's EU partner Germany introduced similar controls in September, citing a wave of Islamic extremist attacks and concerns over rampant migration.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser insisted at the time that the step would help 'put a stop to criminals and identify and stop Islamists at an early stage'.

But  Austria said it would refuse to accept any migrants turned away at the shared border with Germany.

German government figures published shortly after the controls came into action offered shocking revelations.

In just five days after the reintroduction of border checks across all of Germany's borders, federal police detected almost 900 unauthorised entries.

Of those, 640 people were turned back, 17 extremists were identified, and 114 arrest warrants were executed.

In an interview with Germany's Focus magazine, Manuel Ostermann, deputy federal chairman of the Federal Police Union said: 'We are witnessing the efficiency of the federal police and, above all, we are once again seeing confirmation of the necessity of border controls.'

Those in favour of reintroducing the restrictions argued it was necessary to do so because the EU's external border controls had failed.

A German police officer with guard dog at a border with France, as all German land borders are subject to random controls

German police check people arriving from France at the German-French border

France's introduction of stricter controls also comes weeks after an EU scheme to impose new border controls on non-EU nationals was shelved indefinitely

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13991651/Now-FRANCE-follows-Germany-reinstates-border-controls-threats-posed-terrorists-migratory-flows-latest-blow-EU-Schengen-scheme.html

Netherlands follows Germany and France and becomes latest to announce tough new checks to reduce immigration numbers

The Netherlands are set to be the latest EU country to ramp up tough border controls to reduce immigration numbers after France and Germany announced similar measures.

The border controls could come into effect at the end of next month, Dutch broadcaster RTL reported on Wednesday, citing government sources.

The border checks are part of a broader clampdown on migration proposed by the Dutch conservative coalition, led by anti-Muslim nationalist Geert Wilders' PVV party.

Measures also include limiting asylum permits to a maximum of three years, and restricting possibilities for asylum seekers who are allowed to stay to reunite with family members, RTL said.

It comes after France announced last week that it would increase border checks from November following a similar move by neighbouring Germany which already suspended the freedom of the passport-free Schengen zone in September to tackle illegal immigration.

The tough new border checks to be introduced in the Netherlands are part of the coalition agreement the parties reached in July, following Wilders' resounding election victory almost a year ago.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13996223/EU-closes-borders-tackle-migration-Netherlands-follows-Germany-France-latest-announce-tough-new-checks-reduce-immigration-numbers.html

Germany brought in its plan to end unchecked illegal immigration to the country with enhanced border controls at all nine of its borders.

The coalition government hopes to show its seriousness about efforts to tackle irregular migration following a spate of Islamist attacks in recent months.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser insisted that the step would help 'put a stop to criminals and identify and stop Islamists at an early stage'.

Police at the German-Polish border control traffic as enhanced border checks are introduced

A string of Muslim terrorist attacks have shocked Germany, fuelling rising public anger.

A Muslim on a knife rampage killed three people and wounded eight more at a festival in the western city of Solingen.

The Syrian suspect, who has  links to the Islamic State group, had been intended for deportation but managed to evade authorities.

The enforcement failure set off a bitter debate which marked the run-up to two regional polls in the formerly communist east, where the anti-immigration AfD scored unprecedented results.

Poland has also struggled with migration and accused Moscow of smuggling people from Africa and the Middle East into Europe by sending them through Belarus to the Polish border.

A police officer checks vehicles near the border with Belgium in Aachen

Police officers check a van at the Bunderneuland border crossing 

Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban mocked the German chancellor on social media site X, writing: 'Bundeskanzler Scholz, welcome to the club! #StopMigration.' 

Germany has taken in millions of asylum seekers, many of them Syrians.

The extra burden on municipal authorities and integration services in Germany needed to be 'taken into account' when talking about new border controls, Berlin's interior ministry said.

In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday unveiled the country's strictest migration policy yet, saying it will request an opt-out from EU common policy on asylum next week.

A four-party coalition dominated by conservative Geert Wilders's Freedom Party wants to declare an 'asylum crisis' to curb the influx of migrants through a tough set of rules including border controls.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13854605/germany-plan-migration-eu-borders-checks.html

German federal police watch over cars arriving at the German-Polish border

Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers, of the Sweden Democrats, told MailOnline that Europe faced challenges securing borders due to the 'madness' of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's policies.

'If we don't secure the external border then internal border controls will become the norm. I've said this for years. 

'That a left-liberal German government re-institutes border checks highlights the madness of Merkel's policy and that the debate in Europe has shifted. 

'Citizens want safety and security, not mass migration and chaos.' 

A 26-year-old Syrian man, perpetrator of the Solingen attack, is escorted by police

The government has justified the strict border controls, claiming they contribute to 'the protection of internal security against the current threats of Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime' (Afghan migrant pictured in knife attack in Mannheim)

German migration commissioner Joachim Stamp claimed Russia and Belarus were intentionally pushing migrants into western Europe to destabilise Germany and its neighbours.

Poland shares the claim that Russia has weaponized migration, encouraging asylum seekers to cross over into central Europe with attempted illegal border crossings from Belarus on the rise. 

ISIS released a photo of the militant who carried out a mass stabbing attack at a festival in Solingen and killed three people

Germany's police union had announced that participation in the Schengen agreement was making Germany's security crisis even worse and must be abandoned immediately.

Manuel Ostermann, deputy federal chairman of the Federal Police Union, had launched a fierce condemnation of Schengen, the EU's hair-brained border-free scheme, in an interview with Focus magazine.

'The crisis in Germany's security is a direct consequence of Schengen's ineffective policies. Schengen's inability to manage migration effectively has put Germany's safety at stake.'

'Germany must realise the current failure of Schengen and either make a concerted effort to return to the current legal situation or terminate Schengen,' Ostermann concluded, pointing to the rising crime rates in Germany which he said is exacerbated by the migration crisis.

He said Schengen's open borders have made it easier for criminals to operate across Europe, impacting Germany's safety.

'Schengen has failed to protect Germany from the influx of criminals, necessitating immediate action.'

'We must continue to improve security for our internal borders because border controls, whose effectiveness has been proven, are no longer maintained under Schengen. 

'The failure of Schengen is evident in the increased crime rates, making it clear that changes are needed.'