Dropping the Pilot

Dropping the Pilot is a political cartoon by Sir John Tenniel, first published in the British magazine Punch on 29 March 1890.

[1] It depicts Chancellor Otto von Bismarck as a maritime pilot who is stepping off a ship, perhaps a reference to Plato's ship of state,[1] idly and unconcernedly watched by a young Wilhelm II, German Emperor.

Bismarck had resigned as Chancellor at Wilhelm's demand just ten days earlier on 19 March[2][3] because of political differences.

After the cartoon's publication, Tenniel received a commission from the 5th Earl of Rosebery to create a copy to be sent to Bismarck himself.

[4] The cartoon is well known in Germany and often used in history textbooks and school books, under the title The Pilot Leaves the Ship (German: Der Lotse geht von Bord).