Abdulhamid II and Turkish image according to German comic magazine Kladderadatsch

In this study, it is aimed to interpret the art of cartoon which is a branch of fine arts in the historian's eye. It is not a common phenomenon to analyze and interpret historical caricatures of the events and the events related to Turks that published during the German Empire reign. In this research, it was aimed to examine the cartoons in the German Empire at the period of Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) in the German political satire magazine Beiblatt zum Kladerastsch in Berlin. In this period, it was determined how the Turkish image and how the historical events and facts about Turks was seen from the eyes of the Germans were described. This study, which includes many social science research branches such as politics, history, art, philosophy, and imagology; which, also reflects an interdisciplinary approach. Around 300 cartoons covering this period and published in the aforementioned journal were identified. We have limited the number of these cartoons to 180, because we think that the evaluation of the study will exceed the subject of a master's thesis. In our research, we come across images of Russian, British, Western countries, Egypt, Abdulhamid, Bulgarian and Greeks from the Balkan countries along with Turks/Ottomans. In terms of general interpretation of caricatures; even looking at the topics of the fourth chapter gives us an overview of the said interpretation of the cartoons. In fact, cartoons depict and satirize the conditions and events of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Abdulhamid II between the years of 1876-1909. In this context, one of the topics covered in the cartoons is the subject of Harem, in which Europeans pay much attention. Instead of dealing with the problems of the country, the sultan is portrayed as a person who lives by organizing concerts and parties with the concubines day in, day out. As with the Berlin, Paris and Shipyard meetings and treaties, in the question of the Dardanelles, too, has been frequently satirized as all in these subject were taken by West's side. In the same way, the interests of the Westerners in the problems of the Ottomans with the Balkan countries are being satirized. The problem of the Dardanelles is one of the most important issues and it is satirized as both Westerners and the Russia's attitude was as if the straits are within their own borders but the Ottoman Empire's. The Ottoman was satirized by portrayed as a puppet, a helpless; sometimes an insensitive and a naive personality. In the African continent, issues such as the losses of the Ottomans, the problems with the Arabi Pasha and the Egyptian affairs, and the loss of Sudan and Tunisia are among the primer issues that are satirized. In this context, while the weakness of the Ottoman Empire is satirized, the British and French colonialist approaches are not only clearly explained by cartoons, but also criticized by satire.