Life — December 20, 1917 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The ABC of Kultur" Satire This three-panel cartoon mocks German militarism and philosophy during World War I, using the letter system to spell "M-U-O" (appearing to be "MUO" or a play on German "Kultur"). **Panel M**: A mechanical war machine crushes human figures—satirizing German militarism as dehumanizing industrial destruction. **Panel U**: Labeled "stands for Nietzsche—Apostle of Self," showing a bloated figure atop "EGO"—mocking the philosopher's ideas as promoting brutal egoism. The caption sarcastically suggests reading Nietzsche leads to wife-beating and life-satisfaction. **Panel O**: "Ottoman" reference, comparing Turkish and German brutality as equivalently barbaric. The overall satire equates German "Kultur" (culture) with militarism, egotistical philosophy, and savagery—a common American wartime propaganda trope dismissing German intellectual traditions as justifications for violence.