Life, 1914-10-15 · page 29 of 48
Life — October 15, 1914 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes a German general's reported invasion plan against the United States. The top cartoon shows a confused man studying a signpost labeled "The Road to Success" with conflicting directional arrows—illustrating the article's point that Germany's strategy is fundamentally flawed. The article argues that even if Germany conquered Atlantic coastal cities, it would be a dubious victory since "the rest of the country would remain." It then pivots to dark humor: the writer suggests Germany could actually *benefit* America by eliminating local nuisances—specifically **Tammany Hall** (New York's corrupt Democratic machine), **Hearst papers** (William Randolph Hearst's influential but sensationalist media empire), Philadelphia's municipal government, plus Delaware and parts of New Jersey. The bottom illustration depicts an Irish immigrant stereotypically telling a taxi driver not to wait—presumably because the passenger would be conquered. This mocks contemporary anxieties about foreign invasion while poking fun at urban governance problems of the era. The overall message: America's greatest threats aren't external military invasion, but internal political corruption.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Not So Bad As It Seems GERMAN officer, who is reported as a member of the Prussian staff, was recently quoted in the papers as outlining a plan whereby Germany could invade and practically conquer the United States. Inasmuch as our army is too small to garrison the cities of the Atlantic Coast, all that Germany would need to do would be to capture these cities, one by one, using for this purpose the German navy and an army which, under the protection of the fleet, could easily land at any given point. The main flaw in this argument seems to lie in the fact that even if Germany did succeed in capturing the Atlantic seaboard, the rest of the country would remain. It is an open question as to whether, all things considered, this might not be a positive benefit. If Germany or any country could relieve us of Tammany Hall, the Hearst papers and the Philadelphia municipal system, this alone would be worth several bombardments. We could even get along without Delaware and certain Portions of New Jersey. THE ROAD | “SAY, GUVNOR, WON'T YE PLEASE PUT YER HEAD OUT 0° THE WINDER AN’ TELL MY TAXI DRIVER HE NEEDN'T WAIT?” comicbooks.com