---
title: Sind wir die Barbaren? (Are We the Barbarians?)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sind-wir-die-barbaren-1916/
description: A statistical chart comparing Germany, England and France, issued to rebut Allied 'German barbarism' atrocity propaganda.
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Sind wir die Barbaren? (Are We the Barbarians?)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/sind-wir-die-barbaren-1916.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/sind-wir-die-barbaren-1916.jpg)

# Sind wir die Barbaren? (Are We the Barbarians?)

A statistical chart comparing Germany, England and France, issued to rebut Allied 'German barbarism' atrocity propaganda. It answers a specific accusation with a different, selectively framed comparison rather than contesting the accusation's own evidence directly.

- **Date:** 1916
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** Imperial German government counter-propaganda; artist Louis Oppenheim
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [German Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=german-empire)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [German Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=german-empire)
- **Leader:** [Wilhelm II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=wilhelm-ii)
- **Audience:** [Foreign public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=foreign-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Economy and finance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=economy-finance), [Media and information](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=media-information)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Whataboutism](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/whataboutism/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart (via Wikimedia Commons)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sind_Wir_Die_Barbaren%3F.jpg), retrieved September 25, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (author died 1936; term expired) Louis Oppenheim, 1916. Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, J 151 Nr 2243.

## Text on the object

Original (German) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Sind wir die Barbaren?

Jährl. Leistungen der Sozial-Versicherung
Deutschland 425,6 Millionen Mk — England [×, no figure shown] — Frankreich 24 Millionen Mk

Analphabeten (auf je 10 000 Rekruten)
Deutschland 2 — England 100 — Frankreich 320

Ausgaben für Schulwesen
Deutschland 878 Millionen Mk — England 384 Millionen Mk — Frankreich 261 Millionen Mk

Bücher-Erzeugung
Deutschland (D) 34 800 — England (E) 12 100 — Frankreich (F) 9 600

Nobelpreise
Deutschland (D) 14 — England (E) 3 — Frankreich (F) 3

Patente
Deutschland 7194 — England 1681 — Frankreich 1196

Klischees und Druck von Dr. Selle & Co., G.m.b.H., Berlin SW 29.
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Are we the barbarians?

Annual social-insurance benefits
Germany 425.6 million marks — England [×, no figure shown] — France 24 million marks

Illiterates (per 10,000 recruits)
Germany 2 — England 100 — France 320

Spending on schooling
Germany 878 million marks — England 384 million marks — France 261 million marks

Book production
Germany (D) 34,800 — England (E) 12,100 — France (F) 9,600

Nobel prizes
Germany (D) 14 — England (E) 3 — France (F) 3

Patents
Germany 7,194 — England 1,681 — France 1,196

Plates and printing by Dr. Selle & Co., G.m.b.H., Berlin SW 29.
```

The England figure in the top row (social-insurance benefits) is shown only as a seated figure with a large X over it and no number printed, read here as 'no figure shown' rather than a stated zero. A handwritten archival annotation ('Jaffke') and a handwritten number ('114') appear in the margins of this particular copy; these are later archival marks, not part of the printed poster, and are not transcribed as originalText.

[← Save Serbia our ally: Serbian Relief Committee of America poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/save-serbia-our-ally-steinlen-1916/) [The Blood Vote (anti-conscription leaflet) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-blood-vote-anti-conscription-1916/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Berliner Tageblatt, evening edition, 22 September 1914: "Der Brand der Kathedrale von Reims"](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/berliner-tageblatt-reims-cathedral-1914/) (Sep 22, 1914 · Whataboutism, Card stacking)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking)
- [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking)
- [La paz según el Perú – La paz según los chilenos (Peace According to Peru, Peace According to the Chileans)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/la-paz-segun-el-peru-el-banquillo-1880/) (Jun 12, 1880 · Card stacking)
- [Remember the Maine! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans! (Judge)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/remember-the-maine-starving-cubans-judge-1898/) (May 7, 1898 · Card stacking)
- ["A Sacrifice to Aguinaldo's Ambition" (commercial stereograph, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sacrifice-to-aguinaldos-ambition-1899/) (1899 · Card stacking, Name-calling). Content note: Photograph of two dead Filipino soldiers.
- ["England and the War in South Africa" (Der wahre Jacob, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/war-and-capitalism-der-wahre-jacob-1899/) (Dec 5, 1899 · Card stacking, Scapegoating)