"china -- the cake of kings and. Of emperors" (a french pun on king cake and kings and emperors wishing to "consume" china). French political cartoon from 1898. A pastry represents "chine" (french for china) and is being divided between caricatures of queen victoria of the united kingdom, william ii of germany (who is squabbling with queen victoria over a borderland piece, whilst thrusting a knife into the pie to signify aggressive german intentions), nicholas ii of russia, who is eyeing a particular piece, the french marianne (who is diplomatically shown as not participating in the carving, and is depicted as close to nicholas ii, as a reminder of the franco-russian alliance), and a samurai representing japan, carefully contemplating which pieces to take. A stereotypical qing official throws up his hands to try and stop them, but is powerless. It is meant to be a figurative representation of the imperialist tendencies of these nations towards china during the decade. Date: 16 January 1898.
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