This cartoon, about the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, shows Hitler and Stalin sawing off a branch holding their allies: Spain (Franco), Italy (Mussolini), and Japan (Hirohito) sit beside Soviet supporters Earl Browder (head of the Communist Party of America), and “the American Pink,” a personification of U.S. communist sympathizers.
The signing of the pact between Germany and the Soviet Union shocked the world, as the two powers had deep ideological differences. However, the strategic benefits of the pact outweighed their differences. A major step toward World War II, the pact empowered Germany to invade Poland, which it did on September 1, 1939. The German invasion triggered British and French declarations of war against Germany.
This cartoon was drawn by Clifford Berryman, one of Washington, DC’s best-known cartoonists in the early to mid-1900s. Berryman drew for the Washington Post and Evening Star newspapers. His cartoons touched on a variety of subjects including politics, elections, and both World Wars.
This cartoon is featured in America and the World: Foreign Affairs in Political Cartoons, 1898–1940, a free PDF book from the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives.
