"England and the War in South Africa" (Der wahre Jacob, 1899)
A glass still distils a battle of British soldiers and Boer fighters into blood-red liquid that runs through a pipe into a vat and out as gold coin, shovelled by a figure labelled Cecil Rhodes while Salisbury and Chamberlain look on. Shelves of money-sacks carry the names Rothschild, Chartered Company, Kronprinz von Wales and Herzog von Fife, so one profit motive and a list of named beneficiaries stand in for the whole cause of the war.
- Date
- December 5, 1899
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Der wahre Jacob (Stuttgart satirical magazine, Social Democratic press); cartoon by Rata Langa (Gabriele Galantara)
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- German Empire
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- German Empire
- Leader
- Wilhelm II
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Themes
- Empire and colonialism, Economy and finance, War and the military
- Event
- Second Boer War
- Techniques
- Card stackingScapegoating
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (scan of Heidelberg University Library digitisation), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1899; artist died 1937; Commons PD-old-70 and PD-US-expired)
Rata Langa (Gabriele Galantara), Der wahre Jacob no. 349, 5 December 1899, p. 3130; scan via digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de and Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
England und der Krieg in Südafrika. KRONPRINZ VON WALES HERZOG VON FIFE ROTHSCHILD CHARTERED COMPANY SALISBURY Chamberlain Cecil Rhodes Rata Langa (signature) Krieg und Kapitalismus, oder die Verwandlung von Menschenblut in Gold.
England and the war in South Africa. / CROWN PRINCE OF WALES / DUKE OF FIFE / ROTHSCHILD / CHARTERED COMPANY / SALISBURY / Chamberlain / Cecil Rhodes / Rata Langa (signature) / War and capitalism, or the transformation of human blood into gold.
Sack labels on the shelves and name labels beside the figures are in small capitals or script; all read clearly at 1280 px. Reading order follows the plate: title, shelf labels left to right, figure labels, signature, caption.
