| Image | 
|
| Reference Number | BT0121 |
| Alt Ref No | BT0121 |
| Artist or Creator | Bert Thomas |
| Title or Caption | Strange bed-fellows |
| Extent | 1 item |
| Published by | Evening News |
| Date | 18 Sep 1939 |
| Format | Artwork |
| Size | 29 x 41cm |
| Technique | black ink |
| Implied text | Advertising: de Rezke poster |
| Notes | News: "Soviet Russia. - ... A joint Russo-German communique published in Moscow on Sept. 18 stated that the actions of the Soviet and German troops in Poland "pursue no aim contrary to the interests of Germany of of the Soviet Union and contradicting the spirit and letter of the Non-Aggression Pact concluded by Germany and the U.S.S.R. On the contrary, the task of these troops is to re-establish in Poland peace and order disrupted by the collapse of the Polish State and to assist the population of Poland in reconstructing the conditions of their State existence". ..." [Keesing's Contemporary Archives p.3734]
Notes: This cartoon is a reference to the Nazi-Soviet Pact (sometimes called the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact after the respective foreign ministers) signed on 28 August 1939. This pact was openly a non-aggression treaty, in obvious preparation for the planned Nazi invasion of Poland. In signing the treaty Hitler was avoiding the war on two fronts that had compromised Germany during the First World War. Secretly, the pact also divided Poland between the two protagonists. This was Stalin's attempt to protect his western border by creating a buffer zone in Poland. In contemporary cartoons it was common for the Nazis to be represented as an ape or gorilla, undermining or threatening civilisation. Russia was conventionally portrayed as a bear. It is quite clear from this cartoon which nation poses the greatest threat, even though they are in bed together. |
| Subjects | Animals |
| Emblems |
| Germany |
| Nazi-Soviet Pact |
| Russia |
| Russian bear |
| bears |
| bedrooms |
| daggers |
| gorillas |
| swastika |
| Copyright holder | Associated Newspapers Ltd. / Solo Syndication |
| Copyright contact details | Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT solo@solosyndication.com |
| Location of artwork | British Cartoon Archive |
| Relates to cartoon | BT0121 |