The present image is inspired by one of the most famous political cartoons of all time, Sir John Tenniel’s Dropping the Pilot, which was first published in Punch on 29 March 1890. In Tenniel’s original cartoon, the former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck is portrayed as a maritime pilot stepping off a ship, while the young German Emperor, Wilhelm II, watches on from aboard the ship. Bismarck had been forced to resign by Wilhelm ten days earlier over political differences.
In Trog’s cartoon, the ‘pilot’ is British Prime Minister Edward Heath, and rather than being dropped off, is being being picked up, with the French President Georges Pompidou and West German Chancellor Willy Brandt already aboard. The cartoon refers to the signing of the Treaty of Accession, which came into effect on 1 January 1973, a few days before the cartoon was published. The Treaty saw the United Kingdom, along with Denmark and Ireland, become member states of the European Communities. In his cartoon, Trog infers that with the United Kingdom now a member of the EC, Europe will have another ‘pilot’ along with France and West Germany.
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