Un ex Sant'Antonio. CONTE. Ja! ja! Bestie malvagie! un tempo ascoltavate la mia benedizione, oggi mi voltate le spalle per guardare al nuovo astro. Badate, in quell'atro si producono i pipistrelli. . Papagallo N°3. Anno VII

Design by Augusto Grossi. Taken from the Italian satirical newspaper Il Papagallo, a satirical magazine founded in January 1873 by Augusto Grossi (1835-1919), which specialized in color-printed caricatures like this one. At its peak circulation reached 50,000, and in 1878 a Parisian version, 'Le Perroquet', and London edition, 'The Parrot', were launched. 'Il Papagallo' closed in 1915, when Grossi was 70 years old.

"Conte. Ja! Ja! Bêtes diaboliques! Au moment où vous avez écouté ma bénédiction, je me retourne aujourd'hui pour regarder la nouvelle étoile. Méfiez-vous, en ce que les étoiles sont produites."

The plate figures Bismarck as a St. Anthony with a bell made up of a spiked helmet and at his feet a pig with the inscription “feudalismo”(feudalism). On his garment it says “Teutonica”, referring to the Teutonic Knights. He walks on a rock representing Russia and looks towards Italy (as a boot with the head of King Umberto I of Italy) and guides animals featuring England, Greece, Turkey, Asia, Africa, Denmark, Austria ; France (as a lion) is observing.

Due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power.
Concerning foreign policy, Bismarck tries to establish the balance between the major European powers by means of system of alliances.
The Dual Alliance is a defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which is created by treaty on 7 October 1879 as part of Bismarck's system of alliances to prevent or limit war.

“After the formation of the German Empire in 1871, German chancellor Otto von Bismarck wanted to portray his nation as a peacemaker and preserver of the European status quo, as well as gain more power for the German Empire and unify Germany. In 1878, Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War; the resulting Treaty of San Stefano gave Russia considerable influence in the Balkans. This development outraged Austria-Hungary, Russia's chief rival in the Balkan region (despite being an ally of the Russians and the Germans in the League of the Three Emperors). Hence, in 1878, Bismarck called an international conference (the Congress of Berlin) in order to sort out the problem. The Treaty of Berlin that resulted from the conference reversed Russia's gains from the Treaty of San Stefano and provided the Austrians with compensation in the form of Bosnia. Despite Bismarck's attempts to play the role of an "honest broker" at the Congress of Berlin, Russo-German relations deteriorated following the conference. The Three Emperors' League was discontinued, and Germany and Austria-Hungary were free to ally with one another against Russia.
In 1881, Italy lost in the competition with France to establish a colony in Tunis (present-day Tunisia). To enlist diplomatic support, Italy joined Germany and Austria-Hungary to form the Triple Alliance in 1882, which was the first formal war-camp in Europe.”