--- title: 'Kalem cover: Le Chef de l''Armée Libératrice (Mahmud Şevket Pasha)' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kalem-chief-of-liberating-army-cover-1909/ description: The cover of Kalem no. 37 shows a tall, uniformed officer with a full beard, hand on hip and sword at his side, in a line-drawn caricature captioned in… section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) [![Kalem cover: Le Chef de l'Armée Libératrice (Mahmud Şevket Pasha)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kalem-chief-of-liberating-army-cover-1909.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kalem-chief-of-liberating-army-cover-1909.jpg) # Kalem cover: Le Chef de l'Armée Libératrice (Mahmud Şevket Pasha) The cover of Kalem no. 37 shows a tall, uniformed officer with a full beard, hand on hip and sword at his side, in a line-drawn caricature captioned in French 'The Chief of the Liberating Army' and in Ottoman Turkish 'the honoured commander of the Freedom Army'. The tell is the caption: the label 'liberating' and 'freedom' stands in for any account of what the army did, so the honorific carries the message. - **Date:** May 27, 1909 - **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914) - **Made by:** Kalem (Istanbul bilingual French/Ottoman satirical weekly); cartoon attributed to Cemil Cem - **Region:** [Middle East and North Africa](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=middle-east-north-africa) - **Country:** [Ottoman Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=ottoman-empire) - **Medium:** [Cartoon](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=cartoon) - **Issuer type:** [Media](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=media) - **Regime:** [Ottoman Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=ottoman-empire) - **Leader:** [Huseyin Hilmi Pasha](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=huseyin-hilmi-pasha) - **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public) - **Purpose:** [Commemorate](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=commemorate) - **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics) - **Event:** [31 March Incident](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=31-march-incident) - **Techniques:** [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) - **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are - **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (scan from SALT Research)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalem_27_May%C4%B1s_1909.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026 - **Rights:** Public domain in the U.S. (published 1909, before 1931); Commons PD-Ottoman Kalem no. 37 (Istanbul), 27 May 1909, cartoon attributed to Cemil Cem; SALT Research scan via Wikimedia Commons ## Text on the object Original (Multiple) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` 27 Mai 1909 Journal humoristique et satirique paraissant le Jeudi No 37 50 Paras Directeur SELAH Administration: 13, Rue Timoni, Péra, CONSTANTINOPLE KALEM 50 Paras Abonnements 1 an.... 70 Ps. Provinces. 80 » Étranger.. 17 Fr. [handwritten catalogue marks: 315 and other numerals; archive stamp: SALT ARAŞTIRMA] Le Chef de l'Armée Libératrice. حریت اردوسی قوماندانی محترمی . [signature: Djem (flourish)] ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` 27 May 1909 Humorous and satirical newspaper appearing on Thursday No. 37 50 Paras Director SELAH Administration: 13 Timoni Street, Pera, CONSTANTINOPLE KALEM 50 Paras Subscriptions 1 year.... 70 piastres Provinces. 80 » Abroad.. 17 francs [handwritten catalogue marks and archive stamp of SALT Research] The Chief of the Liberating Army. The honoured commander of the Freedom Army. [signature: Djem (flourish)] ``` Read from a 960 px rendering. The masthead lines and the French caption are clear; the Ottoman Turkish caption is read as 'Hürriyet Ordusu Kumandanı Muhtereme' in Arabic script and confirmed by the Commons title. The upper-margin numerals and the 'Djem' signature are read with low confidence. Translation is literal, machine-made, not checked by a fluent reader. [← Kalem cartoon of Abdulhamid II and his secretary ("Il y a mis du temps, mais il a compris")](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kalem-abdulhamid-severed-head-cartoon-1909/) [Bande Mataram (Paris), memorial page to Madan Lal Dhingra, 17 August 1909 →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bande-mataram-paris-dhingra-memorial-1909/) ## Using the same techniques - [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (0313 · Glittering generalities) - [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Trois Tetes sous l'meme bonnet (three heads under the same cap)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trois-tetes-sous-le-meme-bonnet-1789/) (1789 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities) - [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating) - [The Great Battle of Ansong Ford: The Valor of Captain Matsuzaki](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ansong-ford-toshikata-1894/) (1894 · Glittering generalities) - ['The Congress Cross or "Swastik"' (Pickings from the Hindi Punch, Bombay, February 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindi-punch-congress-swastik-1896/) (Feb 1896 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Un combate en el río Zapote (A Fight on the Zapote River), Blanco y Negro](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/un-combate-en-el-rio-zapote-1898/) (Jul 9, 1898 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)