From the exhibition
Je parts avec tous les...millions, sauf un million de prussiens, que je laisse
· 1870

This French lithograph mocks Emperor Napoleon III during the Franco-Prussian War, depicting him as a pompous military figure abandoning France while leaving behind Prussian soldiers. A woman and child represent the French populace left to face occupation. The composition employs the caricature tradition established by Gillray and Daumier: exaggerated physiognomy, satirical text boxes, and biting wordplay. The print reflects popular anger at Napoleon's military failures and flight to England in 1870, hastening the empire's collapse. As political satire mass-produced for public consumption, it exemplifies how caricature sheets and topical prints formed the visual language preceding modern comic journalism and editorial cartooning.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/