History Coursework - World War One Sources Question

Authors Avatar
History Coursework - World War One Sources Question

) Sources A, B and C are war recruitment posters published by various governments with the aim of influencing more people to volunteer for armed service in the war.

Sources A and B are an earlier type of source, depending on the patriotic fervour that swept Britain at the war's outset, portraying enlistment as a duty to the country and empire. The posters themselves being of an accusatory nature, demanding from the reader "What did you do in the war?" and that they should "Go!", the fighting taking a crusade-like facade in which the only way to please parents, friends and girls was to join up and head towards the fighting. That this was accepted by many, was partly because the war was seen as an adventure, and perhaps because the last war where there was mass recruitment was almost one hundred years previous, the majority of those fighting in the interlude being well-trained career soldiers.

Source C, however, is a much later source, as can be determined from the approach it uses to "persuade" people to enlist, preventing the "mad brute (of) militarism", in this case, a raving gorilla, that represents Germany, from reaching out from Europe (bottom-centre, right) which has been decimated, to the shores of "America" (bottom, centre). The poster compels the reader to joint up for the US army, probably after the USA declared war on Germany, on the 7th April 1917, proving this to be a later source, produced after the war has raged unabated for three years, thus having dispelled the notion of adventure or even perhaps duty.

2) The three posters are very different in the fashion their aims are laid out, nevertheless, there are some similarities between them. The earlier sources provoke Victorian attitudes towards duty, leading to the enrolling of over two million volunteer troops into the British armed services from 1914 - 1916, while source C plays on the moral decency of the reader, calling for a halt to the foul deeds committed by the ape (representing Germany) that has caused the desolation of massive amounts of territory, together with the atrocities committed by soldiers under the direct control of Germany. All the sources stress the importance of duty to the cause, in particular, source C that evokes the prospect of a holy, or just war, in defence of the majority of the people. Respect also plays a significant role in all three sources, and, in what was a predominantly team-based society, a suggestion could be perceived that one would let down the side if the reader did not enlist for armed service. All the posters also suggest that the armies would be on the defensive, not the aggressors in the conflict,

The differences, however are more readily recognised, the patriotism in the former sources being subsequently replaced by usage of basically fear, with the threat from the "mad brute" contrasting to the easy and confident stance of the earlier sources. These sources definitely do not entertain the notion of defeat, let alone the horrors of warfare, which in prior conflicts had been considerable. In both the Boer War and the American Civil War, in which static trench warfare was first developed, and in which over three million men were killed or wounded by weapons, such as the Springfield rifle, which was considerably inferior to the Lee-Enfield (GB) or Mauser (Germany) used in the latter conflict, together with the machine gun, poison gas and more powerful, accurate artillery meant that casualties were almost assured in the Great War, and dissatisfaction or disillusionment rendered the earlier tactics outdated, if not obsolete.

The nature of the conflict also changed over the passing of time, changing from what was primarily a selfish war, fought by Britain against the growing ascendancy of the Central powers as a whole, and Germany especially, whom, by the eve of the war, were challenging Britain on virtually every front except finance, to the prevention of global domination by a single power. This is shown between the posters, the former merely being straightforward recruitment posters, while the latter may be seen to provide external reason for hostilities, due to the massive damage committed by the somewhat deranged gorilla.

3) Once mobilisation begun, the recruiting offices were swamped, with an average of 33,000 men per day volunteering in September 1914, and this did not really fall until July 1915, as source D confirms, there being barely sufficient space for them to be accommodated in barracks, while demand for equipment completely exceeded supply. In the first month of the war, half a million men were recruited, while by February 1916, 2,631,000 men had volunteered for active service, while conscription, begun by the Derby scheme, placing all men aged 18-41 on a call-up list, led to only a further 2,339,000 being conscripted. It may therefore be said of the recruiting posters that they were very effective in their methods of persuasion.

The initial surge towards war led to mass recruitment as source D suggests, however, recruitment was not equal, the majority being from either South East, or from the North, over 50% coming from these regions over the whole length of the war. Source D generally reflects the overall situation, but, being taken from a London burgh, it does only show their success in that particular area. However, the usage of female workers, due to necessity, not equality, together with the recruitment figures already mentioned above, help to prove more or less that source D, whatever its providence, (which is not at all clear) generally recruitment posters were fairly effective, the most famous being left out, Kitchner's finger insisting that "THE COUNTRY NEEDS YOU." It may be argued however, that recruitment posters really weren't needed, that men would join up anyway, from a variety of reasons from boredom, hope that conditions in the army were better than their current situation et cetera.

Unfortunately, there is no date on this photograph so we cannot presume that it was taken before conscription was introduced and if it was taken after then it proves nothing to us. It is impossible to prove a fact until we are 100% certain and in the case of source D proving that A and B were successful in persuading men we cannot be, although it is indeed likely. The photograph may also have been staged; there are many other reasons why it does not prove anything in particular to us.

In the US, the citizens were a little more reluctant to enrol, caused by not only the appalling casualties in Europe, but also due to the virtual lack of any military tradition in the states', the total amount of reserves being merely 32,000, insufficient even to operate large scale manoeuvres, thus in the US, of the 3,097,000 men recruited, only 517,000 were volunteers. So, was the number of enlisters due simply to opposition, or was the enormous difference between the number of volunteers numbers recruited due to something else? No doubt the complete effectiveness of controlling the population through propaganda had a considerable effect, (referred to in Q 4,5,6,7b and 8) however, pictures from around the country such as source D were a regular occurrence. Whole streets of friends joining up in "pals" battalions, which, although exceptionally successful in promoting recruitment, though were disastrous on days like 1st July 1916, where whole towns lost the flower of their manhood for an entire generation. Indeed, the attacks on the Somme, and many other dismal affairs like it, Passchendaele for example, may well have not been possible, bar such unscrupulous recruitment practices, many of the enlisting Sergeants allowing underage enlistment, "smiling they wrote his lie: aged 19 years", (Disabled) sending five different sets of brothers from Eton alone, to their premature deaths. Death, as taught in such establishments, was not one of dehumanising pain where, "eyes writhe in his face" (Dulce Et Decorum Est) after a gas attack, but rather one of Greek and Roman victories together with the "Esprit de corps" and of "daggers in plaid socks" (Disabled). Indeed, the war was skilfully portrayed as a game to be played, as in source F, where the East Surreys, somewhat naively, kick four footballs into no-mans land to launch the assault on enemy positions. The war suddenly seeming ironically similar to the soldier in Disabled, (who) liked "a smear of blood down his leg... to please his Meg" the poem showing at a stroke how effective the recruiting offices were in their quest for blood that would be "poured down shell-holes."
Join now!


4) The postcard in source E, is atypical of the type of censorship that existed at the front to maintain morale later in the war, as propaganda was used more extensively in order to bolster morale on the home front. The censorship of letters sent by the soldiers could be used by the government to control the reception of the war on a generally more literate population than ever before, as well as the prevention of prior warning of attempted attacks or troop movements, should the letters be intercepted. Unfortunately for the propagandists, this reason may be belittled, ...

This is a preview of the whole essay