100 Years ago - French newspaper cartoons from 1 January 1920

I was interested to see what people were concerned about 100 years ago at this time. To satisfy my curiosity, I looked at Gallica, the digital library of the French national library. As I have said before on this blog, Gallica is a wonderful resource of (mostly free) digitised old newspapers, books and other such priceless historical items. It is a great online window on the past.

The first cartoon is from L'Oeuvre, a left-leaning daily. The title is 'Bolchevisme et Bloc National' [Bolshevism and National Bloc]. The Bloc National was a conservative liberal coalition that was in power from 1919 to 1924. One character says to the other, "I wish you a prosperous and happy year". The other character says in reply: "Thanks, I wish you the same".

1.

L'Oeuvre, 1 January 1920. Source

The second cartoon is from L'Humanité, the organ of the French Communist Party. The title is 'Bonne et Heureuse' [Good and Happy]. 'They asked for peace' and 'we gave it to them', says the figure of the woman on the right of the cartoon dressed in a cloak of 1920, before adding 'and they're still not happy'. 

2.

L'Humanité, 1 January 1920. Source

The third cartoon is from L'Intransigeant, a popular daily. The title is 'Le superflu' [The superfluous]. 'But...but...there is no fireplace', says one character to the other. 'A fireplace? To do what?', comes the reply from the character on the right of the cartoon, who looks like the landlord holding a set of keys.

3.

L'Intransigeant, 1 January 1920. Source

The forth cartoon is from Le Journal, another popular daily. The title is 'Les Restrictions' [Restrictions] and it shows a group of elegantly dressed diners enjoying champagne and being served what looks like fine food. They do not seem to have been impacted by the restrictions alluded to in the title and in the smoke emanating from the man's cigarette on the right of the cartoon. The caption underneath reads: "Honni soit qui mal dépense" [Shame on those who do not spend well]. It seems to be a play on the expression 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' [May he be shamed who thinks badly of it]. 

4.

Le Journal, 1 January 1920. Source

The fifth and final cartoon is from Le Matin, a daily newspaper which was one of the four biggest newspapers in France before the First World War. The cartoon contains five separate cases which give a recap on the events of the year 1919. I have reproduced the first case below - to see the whole cartoon, just click on the link. It refers to the Paris Peace Conference, the Victory March and the departure of American soldiers. Other cases in the cartoon refer to Fiume, demobilisation, a public transport strike, the end of press censorship etc.

5.

Le Matin, 1 January 1920. Source

The cartoons that appeared in these French newspaper on 1 January 1920 are not too different from the ones that will appear online and in newspaper to mark 1 January 2020. They deal with current issues affecting the country and reflect peoples' concerns. 

Bonne Année ! Happy New Year!