Grosz created a gallery of archetypes representing the corrupt underbelly of post-World War I Germany. His wit is biting, his imagery striking, his vision acute, as he examines the results of an insane, lost war and a draconian peace imposed by victors intent on punishing rather than reconstructing an enemy who might have been turned toward more democratic ways by understanding rather than retribution. We are caught up in the demoralization he portrays with the poignant knowledge that a far greater corruption of Germany and of Europe, generally,would be created by a later Nazi regime which brilliantly exploited the moral degeneracy we see in this masterpiece of social criticism.