Life, 1919-07-31 · page 30 of 40
Life — July 31, 1919 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mocks *The Nation* magazine and contributor John Kenneth Turner for arguing Germany wasn't truly defeated in WWI—that the German army could have continued fighting despite surrendering. The top cartoon titled "If Noah Had Been Blessed with a Little Imagination" shows an airship above a small boat, sarcastically suggesting Turner's arguments are as absurd as reimagining Noah's ark with fantastical vessels. The author (Kenneth L. Roberts) ridicules Turner's claim that Germany's military line "was never broken" by comparing it to equally nonsensical claims—like arguing the moon is made of green cheese. Roberts suggests anyone accepting Turner's revisionist history about Germany's unbroken fighting capacity would believe anything. The lower illustration and caption about "The Chaperon" appears unrelated to the political critique. **Context**: This reflects post-WWI American debate over peace terms and German responsibility, with Roberts attacking pacifist/pro-German arguments as historically false and absurd.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
4 heh Gi liceg te Peed Ian IF NOAH HAD BEEN BLESSED WITH A LITTLE IMAGINATION Unbeaten Germany and Green Cheese Moons "THE NATION is a magazine edited by Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard, who some time ago achieved the proud reputation of being the sort of person who didn't think that the United States should fight, no matter how severely Germany kicked us. In The Nation for July 5th there is an article by Mr. John Kenneth Turner, entitled ge to the World.” This article argues that Presi- ilson never intended that Ger- many should receive just treatment as regards the Peace Treaty, that the Allies broke faith with Germany by imposing on her the peace terms which were imposed, and that the peace terms, as they stand to-day, are de- fensible only on one theory—that the German people, disarmed, are as much a world peril as the Kaiser was in his full strength. Mr. Turner states em- phatically that the Germans sued for peace because of “military reverses, in part, but only in part; the German line was never broken.” “ Remember,” says Mr. Turner, “that the German armies, though they had been forced to retire, were not beaten. They could have gone on fighting, how long no one can say.” Persons who know exactly the position in which the Ger- The Chaperon man armies found themselves just before the armistice was signed will be keenly interested in reading another article from Mr. Turner’s pen on the different varieties of cheese of which the moon is composed. Mr. Villard needs just such an article to enhance the reputation for truth and sterling Americanism already possessed hy The Nation. Kenneth L, Roberts. 1 WONDER WHY THOSE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SO LONG IN FINDING THAT TROUBLE comicbooks.col