This map, drawn by Thomas Onwhyn and published by Rock Brothers & Payne in 1854, shows the situation in Europe in 1853, during the Crimean War.

The Crimean War was a war that broke out in 1853 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Faced with the threat of the Russian Empire's advance and the possibility that it would gain influence over the declining Ottoman Empire, in March 1854 France and Great Britain joined the conflict on the side of the Ottomans, just three months before this map was published.

Onwhyn's map is commonly considered to be the first satirical map of Europe. The author, more of a cartoonist than a cartographer, depicts the different countries with comical images to show the confrontation between the various powers, while revelling in the stereotypes associated with each country in England in the mid-19th century.

Russia is depicted as a bear attacking the Ottoman Empire with a whip, while glancing sideways at the rest of Europe. Right in Crimea, where the conflict was centred, one of the bear's claws is being attacked by the French and British fleets, although the author presents it as if it were simply a manicure.

The Ottoman Empire, meanwhile, is represented by a turkey, in a clear reference to the predominant power of the Turks in the mid-19th century (Turkey and turkey have the same word in English)., Turkey). Between the Ottomans and the Russians, the author depicts the Caucasus, separated from both countries, as a range of exploding mountains, referring to the region's ongoing instability.

The other powers show more English clichés than the geopolitical situation of the moment: Bavaria with a beer mug, Persia with a bearded man and a sword, Austria with its double-headed eagle, Prussia playing cards and choosing sides, France with an eagle defending Napoleon III, Spain with a woman covered by her fan.

The level of detail and intent in the illustration is extremely complex, making it not only a pioneering map, but also one of the most accomplished and influential satirical maps of the 19th century.

Sources

• Comic Map of the Seat of War with Entirely New Features, Rock Brothers & Payne, 30 May 1854
• Comic map of the seat of war with entirely new features
• Comic Map of the Seat of War, with Entirely New Features