ABSTRACT
In 1930, the French and Belgians withdrew from the Rhineland, which was thenceforth completely demilitarized. Early in 1936, the Franco-Soviet discussions, which had lain dormant for several months, were revived, and soon the Mutual Assistance Treaty was almost ready for formal ratification. The Germans protested bitterly, claiming that vindication of the treaty by France would involve use of the demilitarized Rhineland in a manner never contemplated at Locarno. The American cartoon of early March 1936 comments approvingly on the arrangements for a Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact, which had reached an advanced stage by this date, but had not yet been ratified. The peaceful snarl of Fascism is a Soviet comment on the German reoccupation of the Rhineland. While some French people welcomed the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact, others reacted in a manner not very different from that suggested in the preceding German cartoon, regarding it as an unmitigated disaster for their country.
