The Tired Lion

Foremost among journals that attacked the British Empire was the Soviet satirical magazine, Krokodil. Founded in 1922, as a sister magazine to the Party newspaper, Pravda, it had a tradition from the start of employing some of the best artists and writers in the Soviet Union. This cartoon appeared at the time of the Suez Crisis of 1956. It shows that the old swashbuckling British Lion had become a very forlorn and tired warrior by the time of 1956. Interestingly, the weapons are shown to be provided by the USA hinting that Britain was nothing but an American stooge - despite the fact that the US was deeply critical of the British action at Suez.