Akbaba 1943 Humor Magazine Turkish Turkey Germany Mussolini WW2 era Churchill Franklin D. Roosevelt

Akbaba Humor Magazine – “We’re Going Backwards!” – Issue No. 499 – November 21, 1943 – Turkish Edition

Description:

Akbaba was one of the longest-running political humor magazines in Turkish press history, founded by Yusuf Ziya Ortaç and Orhan Seyfi Orhon, prominent figures associated with the Beş Hececiler literary movement. Published from 1922 to 1977, with interruptions, the magazine addressed social problems, bureaucratic shortcomings, political rivalries, economic difficulties, and everyday life through caricatures, satirical poetry, and humorous writing. It became an influential platform for Turkish satire, featuring contributions from important literary and artistic figures such as Aziz Nesin, Rıfat Ilgaz, and Turhan Selçuk.

This issue, number 499, is dated November 21, 1943. Its cover depicts a ship bearing a giant swastika at its bow and the word “Victory” on its side, moving in the wrong direction. A German soldier aboard cries, “Hey, Captain! We’re going backwards!” The soldier at the helm replies, “What can I do? Our wheel has started turning backwards!” Nearby, Benito Mussolini is shown attempting to jump from the ship. Through this striking nautical metaphor, the cover satirizes the declining fortunes of the Axis powers during the Second World War.

Another featured cartoon depicts Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt working together in a blacksmith’s workshop, striking a swastika on an anvil. One of them urges, “Keep at it! Iron is forged while it is hot!” The illustration uses blacksmithing as a metaphor for the Allied effort against Nazi Germany. The issue also includes a cartoon about the Three Powers Conference: outside a room marked “Three Powers Conference,” a Russian soldier looks at the suitcases left by the door. An “Ecnebi Karikatürleri” (“Foreign Cartoons”) section presents additional cartoons from abroad, adding an international dimension to the magazine’s political satire.

Key Features:

• Publication: Akbaba

• Issue Number: 499

• Publication Date: November 21, 1943 (21 Teşrinisani 1943)

• Language: Turkish

• Publication Type: Political humor and satire magazine

• Founders: Yusuf Ziya Ortaç and Orhan Seyfi Orhon

• Cover Feature: A ship bearing a giant swastika at its bow and the word “Victory,” moving backwards as Benito Mussolini attempts to jump off

• Cover Dialogue: “Hey, Captain! We’re going backwards!” / “What can I do? Our wheel has started turning backwards!”

• Interior Cartoon: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt forging a swastika on an anvil, accompanied by the caption “Keep at it! Iron is forged while it is hot!”

• Conference Cartoon: A Russian soldier looking at suitcases outside a room marked “Three Powers Conference”

• International Cartoon Section: “Ecnebi Karikatürleri” (“Foreign Cartoons”), featuring caricatures from abroad

• Historical Interest: Turkish political satire and international cartooning from November 1943