Life, 1914-10-29 · page 32 of 44
Life — October 29, 1914 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This WWI-era *Life* magazine page satirizes German militarism and its architects. The top cartoon, "The Angles of Life," depicts three life stages (Youth, Disillusionment, Age) showing men increasingly manipulated by aggressive women—likely representing Germany's influence over its male population through nationalist ideology. The article "Where Will Bernhardi Come Out?" discusses Friedrich von Bernhardi, a Prussian general whose writings promoting German expansion alarmed Britain and America. The text argues that Bernhardi and other Pan-Germanist authors (like Treitschke) inadvertently united the Allies against Germany by openly publishing their imperial ambitions. It questions whether Bernhardi will face consequences after the war. The "Mental Hint" section advocates intellectual openness while cautiously accepting that some ideas require filtering—a subtle critique of unchecked nationalist propaganda. The bottom illustration ("David and Goliath") likely represents the conflict between smaller nations and German military might, invoking the biblical underdog story.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DISILLUSION MENT THE ANGLES OF LIFE Where Will Bernhardi Come Out ? HIE Pan-Germanists have managed: by ‘diligence and perseverance to stir'in the English‘a-very deep and serious anti-German animosity. They have not hesitated to proclaim to all the world for years past that Germidny was out for England’s scalp, and at last they got both the Germans and the English to believe it. The candor of Pan-Germanist writers like Bernhardi and Treitschke was extraordinary, They did not hesitate to publish to the world in clear print that the pathway of Germany led over the ruins of England. The result is that they have got it clinched inthe English mind -that the price of life in’ this world is to! fteor Germany so completely as to get, Pan- Germanism‘absolutely and finally out of the Germari, head. Treitschke is dead, but Bernhardi is not, and ‘one of the things we shall want to know is how his services to his country are to be requited when the war -is ‘over. His book has done more than any other single thing~to tic up American public sentiment to the Allies. “Bern- hardi and the lame cobbler of Zabern are heavy loads for the German apologists. They cannot be explained. away. Mental Hint K EP your mind as wide open as conditions will permit. Nothing is* more conducive to, ahealthy. mental life than a constant supply of fresh-thinking raw material: however, should he exercised in this, as: intevery-s else. In some environments it will be found>ad- le to fit the mind with screens to prevent the entrance neous material. Filters have also been found beneficial. But no general rule can be laid down for this, Each must decide it according to his own lights. DAVIE ANU GOLLMTIL comicbooks.com