This cartoon shows the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in two separate conflicts. The top panel, shows the Ottomans surrendering the province of Tripolitania after Italy captured it in the Italo-Turkish War. The Italo-Turkish War occurred from September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. The bottom panel shows the Ottoman's final defeat at Khanhadjigogo in the First Balkan War. The First Balkan War occurred from October of 1912 to May of 1913, and was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League. The Balkan League was a collection of the states of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. The Balkan League was formed to increase military strength, and to promote the mutual interest of all four nations. The Balkan League had seen the Italo-Turkish War had weakened the Ottoman Empire, and quickly attacked to take advantage of their position. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This cartoon shows the US Senate passing the Post Office Appropriation Bill of 1912. The most controversial part of this legislation was the parcels post provision being held up in the comic. This provision divided the country into zones, which would be used to determine postage prices in the US. The provision was introduced by Senator Jonathan Bourne of Oregon to create uniform postage prices within specific areas of the United States. Senator Joseph Bristow of Kansas originally objected to the provision, claiming the price proposals of postage were too low to sustain. Eventually, the senators reached a compromise and the bill was passed with the maximum postage rate of 12 cents per first pound shipped within the total of eight zones created. This bill was thought to be beneficial to small businesses, regularized and lowering costs in specific zones. This bill was not well received by many within the US, particularly with some big business, as represented by the four large men in the top of the cartoon. One of these men reference former Senator Thomas Platt, an infamous political boss for the Republican party. The comment shows a shift occurring within Congress from conservative to more progressive policies during the 1910s. This shift is seen by the man commenting, "Darn those daily moosepapers". This comment is most likely a reference to the progressive policies of President Theodore Roosevelt, who founded the Bull-Moose party in 1912. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

Editorial cartoon depicting William Howard Taft encouraging a free trade accord between the Midwest and Canada.

This cartoon illustrates the events that occured in the presidential election of 1912. The top left panel shows former president, Theodore Roosevelt, obviously beating Taft in the primary elections. This reflected the fact that most voters at the time preferred Theodore Roosevelt to President Taft for reelection. The top right panel shows President Taft winning the primary election, because Roosevelt has been tackled by the credentials committee. The credentials committee was responsible for determining, which men were eligible to vote in the primary elections of 1912. The middle panel shows nominations for the Republican primary. The nomination of the left is for former President Theodore Roosevelt. The nomination on the right is for Charles Evans Hughes, former governor of New York. The bottom panel shows the race continuing, and a group of men sitting in a room. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This cartoon illustrates an imaged development of Bolshevism after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. The Bolshevik Revolution was the event in which Vladimir Lenin and his supporters overthrew Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Lenin sought to turn Russia into a communist state run by the proletariat masses, the workers. The first panel is captioned, "Bolshevism Allies in the rear". The panel shows a people plagued by unrest and the spirit of revolt with the red army (the new Russian government) in the background. The second panel is captioned, "The advance from Moscow". This panel shows the red army leaving Moscow. The bottom panel is captioned, "Awakened". This panel shows a man sitting in shock as one of the Bolsheviks passes through his front gate. Notice the papers in the left corner of the bottom panel. These papers indicate that the new Bolshevik government is crumbling under it own weight. These papers clearly contradict the Bolshevik's appearance at the man's front gate. This cartoon is an example of the fear of communism caused by the first Red Scare, which began in 1917 and lasted until the early 1920s. Many Americans feared that communists would cause unrest in the United States to cause another workers' revolution. While many historians debate the rationality of these fears, it is agreed that Americans had a deep-seated suspicion of communism during the the early 1920s. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This cartoon shows personified World War I separating countries from their chains to alcohol. The man with the decree on separation is a representation of Russia, who legalized prohibition from 1914 until 1925. The man to his right, holding a separation for absinthe, is a personified France, which banned the manufacture and sale of absinthe in 1914. The man chained to whiskey seeking freedom is representative of Great Britain, who never ratified any serious form of a national alcohol ban. There are many theories as to why these countries (including the United States from 1920-1933) banned the sale or manufacture of alcohol in some way. The cartoon suggests these bans were caused by what many referred to as the "efficiency campaign," which was depicted as the axe used to separate alcohol from these countries. The efficiency campaign suggested these countries were more productive when its citizens (especially laborers) were sober. After banning the sale of alcohol in Russia, the government proudly announced Russia's increased labor output and better economic standing. The heightened need for resources, and diminished labor force from World War I is thought to have inspired the need for higher economic efficiency in European nations. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This editorial cartoon depicts people watching the National Army of the Republic parade outside the window. A man wonders who will be "the Grant of this war." This is most likely one of the many parades held by military forces while the United States was fighting in WWI. This cartoon is captioned. "In the National Army Parade today, you are likely to see the man you'll all be cheering and voting for in years to come". The "Grant of this war" is a clear reference to Ulysses Grant, the eighteenth president of the United States from 1869 to 1977. Ulysses Grant was a general in the Civil War, and he is often given much credit for the Union's victory. After being appointed General-in-Chief by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, Grant would accept General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, which effectively ended the Civil War. This cartoon suggests the future leaders of the United States would likely have served in World War I. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This cartoon shows two impressions of the same family living in the United States during World War I. The top panel displays the family before they bought war stocks. The bottom panel shows them after they purchased war stocks. In the top panel, the mother and father are lamenting on the carnage of the war, causing the death of millions in Europe. The couple is horrified at the seemingly senseless loss of life. In the bottom panel, the couple are thrilled the war is expected to drag on, because the value of their war stocks will continue to increase and provide a temporarily sustained income to the family. This cartoon is meant to illustrate Americans' disturbing lack of empathy at the mere promise of profit. The United States notoriously made large profits throughout most of World War I selling weapons to use in the war, while remaining neutral in the conflict until 1917. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This cartoon depicts a line of men waiting for food during the winter. One of them is holding a sign that says, "He kept us out of work". This sign is a play on President Wilson's campaign slogan, "He kept us out of war". There were some areas of United States economy struggling in 1913, making many individuals unemployed. In 1913, many criticized President Wilson's economic initiatives to be harmful to workers, and contributing to increased in unemployment. Such initiatives included further limiting commercial trusts and requiring investigations be made when particular businesses changed the wages of their workers. These investigations would be used to evaluate the costs of the factories, which was needed to determine guilt of criminal acts. In response to these initiatives, many factories closed operations or began to limit the changes that could be made to workers' wages. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)

This cartoon show Uncle Sam talking with President Wilson, Force, and Politics. Uncle Sam is insisting these parties do not allow someone to take the principle of arbitration outside the "ship of the state". Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution that gained popularity during the world wars. It was a quick and efficient way to resolve personal and commercial disputes without the time and effort associated with moving a claim through the traditional judicial system. The United States government began to use arbitration as a way to efficiently solve disputes involving wartime resources. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)