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'Between Two Terrors', 1873. (White and Red). Louis Adolphe Thiers, the first President of the Third Republic, is being embraced by a pleading France. To the right is the threatening figure of Communism, and to the left the shrouded, unaccountable figure of Monarchy. Lately, Thiers' position as President had become impossible. He had been endeavouring to steer a course between the left-wing demands of Leon Gambetta and the right-wing demands for a restoration of the monarchy. Thiers had been a major political figure in French politics for some forty years, but now, even though many still believed he was the only man capable of saving France from further internal disturbance, he resigned his office in October 1873. From Punch, or the London Charivari, October 18, 1873. (Photo by The Cartoon Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)