This satirical map of Europe was most likely published by French cartoonist Louis Ernest Lesage in 1872.
The map delves into the situation in Europe after the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). France had been defeated in the war and, as a result, Alsace and Lorraine had become part of the newly formed German Empire, with Prussia at its head.
A total of fourteen European countries are caricatured and accompanied by texts that explain, in a comical and satirical way, the position and situation of each of the states. Among other things, it discusses how Germany had undoubtedly become the leading power in Europe; how England still claimed to be the defender of the weak despite being a weak country itself; and how Spain was too busy with castanets and its own civil wars to worry about anything else.
A very interesting detail, and one that is particularly critical from the French perspective, is how a puppeteer appears in Germany controlling the marionettes of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary with strings.


