Neos Aristophanes: Eastern Rumelia Crisis

This Greek political cartoon employs the Daumier tradition of caricature to satirize diplomatic maneuvering over Eastern Rumelia's status. A bearded Greek merchant and a uniformed Western military officer haggle over a barrel labeled "Pulver" (powder), while smaller figures—including a child soldier and a woman with explosives—populate the shoreline. The hand-colored lithograph depicts international power brokers as traders in conflict, using visual puns (barrels as currency) to mock the era's great-power interference in Balkan affairs. The work reflects how European political caricature—descended from Hogarth and Gillray—became a vehicle for nationalist commentary, particularly in peripheral nations asserting their voice amid imperial competition.