question_answer

  Describe the caricature. How does it represent   the   relationship   between Bismarck and the elected deputies of Parliament?   What   interpretation   of democratic processes is the artist trying to convey?               Caricature of Otto von Bismarck in the German Reichstag (Parliament), from Figaro, Vienna, 5th March in 1870.

Answer:

                  The caricature depicts Bismarck, chancellor of Germany as holding a whip (signifying that he is a ruthless man ruling with an iron hand) while leading the parliament. The deputies who were elected are afraid of him and so are hiding under their tables. The caricature depicts the dominance of Bismarck over the deputies and how he despised liberalism and parliamentary assemblies. The artist is trying to convey that the democratic system in a funny way in which democracy exists only for the sake of name. In reality it is one man's i.e., Bismarck's autocracy that exists in Parliament.