Dropping the Pilot

Dropping the Pilot is a political cartoon by Sir John Tenniel, first published in the British magazine Punch, March 1890. It depicts Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, as a maritime pilot, stepping off a ship (perhaps a reference to Plato's ship of state), watched by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. Bismarck had just resigned as Chancellor at Wilhelm's insistence.

The cartoon is well known in Germany and often used in history textbooks, under the title Der Lotse geht von Bord, (literally, The pilot leaves the ship).

Adaptations

• Dropping the pilot, referring to Kaiser Wilhelm's removal from the list of Royal Navy admirals in 1914, by Sir David Low^[1]
• Dropping the pilot, referring to Winston Churchill, by Daniel Bishop^[2]
• Steve Bell of The Guardian often adapts the cartoon:
  • Iraqis celebrate the withdrawal of American combat troops^[3]
  • Vice-president faces isolation after key ally leaves Pentagon^[4]

References

• Dropping the pilot at Encyclopædia Britannica

1. ^ Low, David. "Dropping the Pilot". politicalcartoon.co.uk. http://www.politicalcartoon.co.uk/media/gallery/artist_55-452-600.jpg. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 
2. ^ Bishop, Daniel. "Dropping the Pilot". Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/images/wc0240-3a34835r.jpg. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 
3. ^ Bell, Steve (1 July 2009). "Iraqis celebrate the withdrawal of American combat troops". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/cartoon/2009/jul/01/steve-bell-ustroops-iraq-cartoon. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 
4. ^ Bell, Steve (10 November 2006). "Vice-president faces isolation after key ally leaves Pentagon". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,,1944506,00.html. Retrieved 8 July 2010.