Four's Company
The image is a political cartoon showing four men standing around a table in a formal, indoor room. The four men are standing at each side of the table; all dressed in dark formal suits. Each man is raising a glass for a toast. From the viewer’s perspective, one man stands on the front right side of the table, and one man stands on the front left side of the table. Each man has another man across from him, with all of them facing towards the center. The man at the front right side of the table wears a patch with a Swastika on it. The table between them is covered in a light-colored tablecloth and has two boxes with the names “Spain” and “Palestine” written on them. The facial expressions of all four men are neutral. On the wall in the background, there is a portrait of another man who is not present in the room. The room is simple and uncluttered; the walls are plain aside from the portrait. The image centers itself on the table with the men gathered around it. There is a caption below the image that reads “All together: Well, before we go on, here’s to self-sacrifice!”
The cartoon was drawn to represent the Munich Agreement of 1938. During this meeting, the four leaders from above discussed and made decisions about the country of Czechoslovakia without the inclusion of Edouard Benes, the country’s leader. The phrase “self-sacrifice” is meant to be ironic because the leaders in the cartoon are not actually sacrificing anything themselves. They are instead deciding the future of other countries while keeping themselves safe. The absence of Edouard Benes shows how smaller or weaker nations were often ignored even though the people of those countries were the ones who would have to suffer the consequences of the greater powers.
The inclusion of Palestine and Spain on the table in the cartoon shows the connection to other conflicts occurring at the same time, such as the Arab Revolt and the Spanish Civil War. These two events were heavily influenced by powerful countries (Italy and Britain) that often ignored the wants and needs of the people living there. This relates back to the Arab Revolt because Palestinians had little to no control over decisions being made about their land. Once again, this cartoon helps show how large global powers acted for themselves which contributed to unrest and conflict in many regions across the world, including Palestine.