La Mission Allemande à Athènes

This ink sketch by Abel Faivre depicts five German diplomatic and military officials in Athens, their exaggerated facial features—bulbous noses, prominent teeth, heavy jaws—rendered in the caricaturist's sharp, economical line. One figure clutches what appears to be a revolver; another holds a book or document. The caption reads: "Honour! Recognition... Let us laugh!!" The work exemplifies the tradition of political satire descended from Gillray and Daumier, using ethnic caricature as a weapon of wartime propaganda. The grotesque physiognomies served French audiences in 1914 to mock German pretensions and territorial ambitions in the Balkans during the opening months of World War I, deploying visual prejudice as patriotic commentary.