Posters were used to encourage people to join the army, and they also encouraged patriotism. Most of the volunteers who joined as junior officers came from the public schools and universities. A lot of them had been in the cadet corps at school, but a lot of them volunteered because they were unemployed. The army gave them a paid job at last and they probably would not need much persuading to join up. The men and boys who joined up did so ‘in a spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice’. The First Hundred Thousand were later called The Lost Generation because so few of them survived the war. These young officers had been taught that it was their duty to obey the King and to serve their country and it was a matter of honour to volunteer. Despite the enthusiastic rush to volunteer in August 1914, there were still millions of young men in civilian clothes that autumn and this is why the Government plastered Britain with even more recruitment posters, like these:
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The young men who still held back from volunteering were told what fun they would have if they joined up. Popular stars of the Music Halls sang all the latest songs, such as ‘Oh, we don’t want to lose you, but we think you ought to go ’. The performers would wave flags, the orchestra played patriotic music and the audience clapped and urged any young men in the audience to go up on stage and volunteer for the army there and then. This attitude that going to war could be fun, was also put over by the press. Jokes about the trenches and cartoons might have helped to sway the men who still hadn’t made their mind up. This cartoon makes the trenches look as if the soldiers are having a great laugh with no sign of danger, suffering or trauma.
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In the end, however, many volunteered simply because their friends were doing so well. They ‘followed the crowd’ and often they were able to form special army units such as the Accrington Pals.
The Government put constant pressure on men to join up. Government posters told men to protect their country and their families. They told women to make their men join up. They even suggested that those who did not join up were making the war last longer – if they joined up, the war would come to an end more quickly.
Some people were totally against the war. Some did not want to fight a war against Germany. Some were pacifists and felt that all war was wrong. These people had a very difficult time as ordinary people would stop men who weren’t in uniform and ask why they weren’t in the services. Sometimes they handed them white feathers – a sign of cowardice and they were called ‘conchies’, short for conscientious objectors.
There were a lot of casualties during the war and despite the huge number of volunteers, they still needed more men to fight. The government brought in conscription in 1916 which meant that all men between 18 and 41 had to enlist. Men with a conscientious objection to the war did not have to join up, but they did have to go to a tribunal. This poster is very tough on the emotions – it concentrates on the guilt of men who have not signed up to force them into fighting for their country and not letting their family down.
To keep up morale at the Home Front, ‘propaganda’ post cards were printed, giving a very one- sided view of what was happening. They all showed the Allies in a good light and on the road to victory. Others mocked the Germans. If the German soldiers saw these post card, they would be demoralised and disheartened.
Also to boost the Allies’ morale, cards were printed with poems, making fun of the Germans, like this one about three of our pilots, Robinson, Tempest and Sowery, shooting down ‘Ten Strafing Zeppelins’.
To incite hatred of the Germans and build up support, the British Government distributed propaganda posters to show the enemy in a very bad light. One of these posters showed German soldiers (uhlans) bayoneting babies, which wasn’t true, but it had the effect they wanted. It played to the British people’s emotions. They believed it and were determined to continue the fight to beat the Germans because they hated them so much.
British "photographic proof" of Belgium Babies with their hands cut off. After the war, the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George apologised in the British House of Commons to the German nation for the propaganda lie that Germans cut off the hands of Belgian babies.
The government also produced progaganda to encourage women to do war work. This poster shows a woman as very brave and patriotic, and doing a very important job.
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However, although she is made to look glamorous and important, working in a munitions factory with dangerous chemicals like sulphur would turn the fingers yellow, and breathing in the fumes was harmful and could weaken the jawbone. There is no mention of any danger or hazard on the poster. The picture below shows a happy crowd of women working in a clean and tidy factory – not very true to life at all.
To ensure that as many people as possible became aware of the government’s portrayal of the war, they used several methods to circulate propaganda – posters, paintings, post cards, photograghs, films, newspapers, films and books. They also asked some of the best writers in Britain (Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells) to attend a conference on how written propaganda should be used. They wrote stories and leaflets to persuade the public to join the war effort.
Painters were also asked to paint pictures giving a ‘favourable’ picture of the war. Like the cartoon above, this painting by Kennigton, called ‘Over the Top’ does not give a realistic picture of the trenches. The trench is very tidy; the guns are all upright; there are boards to walk on where there would in fact be deep mud; there are no dead bodies shown in this picture and no shells flying.
The following painting, ‘Paths of Glory’ by Nevinson, on the other hand, gives a very true picture of life in the trenches. His soldiers have just gone ‘over the top’ and have been shot. Because this picture was so realistic, it was censored by the government.
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This painting, ‘Arras’ by Sargent shows Scottish soldiers in kilts, relaxed and casual. This is not a true account of how they would be behaving and the colours are not in keeping with a war picture. The sky is blue, the colours are bright and although the house has been demolished, the soldiers do not seem to be in any danger.
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To psychologically dishearten the enemy troops, the British dropped leaflets into the German trenches by balloon. The following are examples of the things they said:
“FOR WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING, MICHEL?
They tell you that you are fighting for the Fatherland. Have you ever thought why you are fighting?
You are fighting to glorify Hindenburg, to enrich Krupp. You are struggling for the Kaiser, the Junkers, and the militarists....
They promise you victory and peace. You poor fools! It was promised your comrades for more than three years. They have indeed found peace, deep in the grave, but victory did not come! . . .
It is for the Fatherland.... But what is your Fatherland? Is it the Crown Prince who offered up 600,000 men at Verdun? Is it Hindenburg, who with Ludendorff is many kilometers behind the front lines making more plans to give the English more cannon fodder? Is it Krupp for whom each year of war means millions of marks? Is it the Prussian Junkers who still cry over your dead bodies for more annexations?
No, none of these is the Fatherland. You are the Fatherland.... The whole power of the Western world stands behind England and France and America! An army of ten million is being prepared; soon it will come into the battle. Have you thought of that, Michel?”
The British government wanted to spread propaganda in as many ways as they possibly could, to as many people as they could - whether it be to the allied side to support them, the people at home to get them to join up or the enemy to dishearten them. Propaganda played a big part in the war and was a great success. We may not have been able to win without it.