After looking at the different types of mediums that contained propaganda, they can now be analysed. During the First World War, the government used the power of propaganda through posters very often. The types of messages that the posters conveyed included recruiting young men into the army, telling people to save and grow their own food and also to recruit women into industries that the men would usually have been working in (The posters that will examined will be on a separate sheet). The first poster that will be looked at shows a shadow of a British soldier on the battlefield. The writing underneath the image reads, ‘Halt! Who goes there? If you are a friend join the British ranks and help the brave lads at the front.’ The poster is obviously trying to recruit the men of Britain to join the army. This is a type of propaganda as it is making the person reading this guilty that he is not helping the other brave British soldiers on the war front, and therefore due to this guilty conscience he is very likely to end up joining the army. The exaggeration of the poster shows in the way that the word ‘are’ is underlined. The message that this trying to portray is that if you do not join the army you are not a friend of Britain, in other words you are the enemy, this again links in with the idea of making the person reading this guilty. (The people reading this poster would not be pleased to be compared to the enemy and therefore, would and up joining the war effort). The way that the image is in a shadow is so that the person observing the poster can imagine himself as the heroic person that leads his country to victory. The exaggeration is also shown in the way that the soldier is standing on the battlefield, due to the fact that soldiers would instead be stooped inside the trenches, being careful not to be shot by the enemy, and not like the image of the man standing proud on the field. The second poster is another recruitment poster, which has an image of a crowd watching an army regiment march past. The text that is displayed on the poster reads, ‘come into the ranks and fight for your king and country-Don’t stay in the crowd and stare. You are wanted at the front. Enlist today.’ This is another exaggerated poster, as when it says ‘you are wanted at the front’ all it means is that the only people that were needed were the fit and healthy men that did not already have any vital jobs in the war. However, the poster does not want recruits that are women, children or old and weak men. Like many other recruitment posters in the First World War (even the first poster that was looked at) when it says the word ‘you’, it is in fact an exaggeration. Due mainly to the fact that the country did not need you, in reality, it was the army, navy and air force that really required your services. In addition, when the propaganda posters used the word ‘you’, in reality the government did not actually know ‘you’ they had just designed it in such a way that it meant a universal meaning for everyone. This poster, as the first poster makes the person looking at it guilty that they are not helping with the war efforts, and due to this guilty conscience, they are very likely to end up joining the war effort. The third poster that will be looked at shows the image of Britannia (an image of British strength and pride) clutching onto a sword, with the image of the Lusitania behind her. The text reads, ‘Take up the sword of justice’. This was a clever piece of propaganda by the government. The reason for this was that the Lusitania was a passenger liner, which was torpedoed by a German submarine. Nearly everyone on board died, including around a thousand British and around hundred Americans. There are many different stories to this tragedy, including that the ship contained ammunition and that was why it was torpedoed and that the British government committed this crime to get America on their side. However, this tragedy nearly got America on their side. Due to this tragedy, the poster is telling the person reading that they should avenge the Lusitania. This view would be very popular as both the American and especially British public would be angered by this hideous crime committed by the Germans, and therefore they would end up joining the armed forces to get their own back. The slogan that was used was also telling the public to avenge the deaths of the people in the Lusitania; by taking justice into, their own hands and fighting.
Cinema films were another medium used by the British government as a method of propaganda. Many short silent films were made to get the message across to the people watching them. One short film that was shown, was called the ‘The secret’. This film was produced in 1918 and it showed a woman who was unable to make her husband decent dumplings for his dinner due to the fact that suet’s were in short supply, so instead she used potato peelings as a substitute, which she found her next door neighbour using. This film was directed at the British women to support the rationing. Another film that was shown to the British public was called, ‘National Army’ which was produced in 1917. This film showed an image of Britannia, who is seen recruiting British women for the women’s land army. This film used the method of propaganda very well, the reason being that as Britannia is a strong female figure, the women of Britain could be inspired by her strength to help with the war effort and hence think they are making the country proud. Another film that was produced by the government to help with the war effort was called, ‘A father and lather’ (produced in 1918). This film showed a young housemaid that learns not to waste soap; she soon shares this information with her family, who are just as pleased to hear the information. This film informs the British public about not wasting household things, such as soap in this case. Another film that was shown to the British public was ‘A new version’, which was produced in 1918. This film sees a woman who is told to grow vegetables in the garden. The ‘moral’ of this film was to encourage the British public to grow their own food. Many of the films that have just been talked about were a type of informative propaganda. This type of propaganda was used in cinema films (as we have already read) that were made by the Ministry of Information. As with posters a large number were aimed at women. Many of who felt that it was there duty to do their bit for the war effort. This can be seen in all the films that have been looked, informing women to save certain household goods and to grow their own food. Such films focused in on the duty of women to do these tasks (perhaps exploiting the fear that their were letting their country down if they did not heed the warnings). Other films and posters used alternative methods to attract attention. For example the advert that showed the woman making dumplings with potato peelings instead of suets, uses humour to get the serious message across. It can be said that as the war went on the messages became more serious and less humorous. The reason for this could be that the government wanted to get a stern message out to the people so that they would pay more attention to it.
In 1916, the governments approach to propaganda was adapted, the reason being that throughout the second half of 1916 British soldiers were fighting in the Battle of the Somme. This battle leaded into a very large number of British casualties. Due to this the British government made a film on the battle. The film itself was shot before the battle commenced and some scenes even contained parts of the battle. The British people finally saw the realistic view of the battlefield, even though parts of the film were exaggerated, for example a cameraman would not be able to stand above the trenches, or the enemy would shoot him, parts like this were obviously shot before the battle. This film showed the British people that the British soldiers fought with honour and high morale, they were see to be humanitarians, as they helped wounded German soldiers, and that the soldiers spirits were high even though the battle conditions were harsh. Other aspects of the film that impressed the public was the heroism that the British soldiers showed, for example there were scenes in the film where another British soldier was seen risking his life to help his fellow partner, and of course the public saw the might of their army. This film was a great breakthrough for the government as (regardless of the large casualties) the Battle of the Somme was seen to be a courageous and gallant struggle.
Propaganda was important in helping Britain’s war effort because it brought the government a large amount of support, due mainly to the fact that exaggerated stories were made to emotionally bring people towards the war effort. For example the method of propaganda helped Britain get through the Ammunitions crisis. This was a period during the start of 1915, where the British army ran out of shells, bullets and armaments on the Western Front. But by using propaganda methods such as the media and posters, the government succeeded in improving the situation at the end of 1915. The government was mainly successful in tackling these issues due to recruitment posters asking the women of Britain to join the workforces that the men usually occupied. The government also dealt with this situation by printing heroic stories about the British soldiers at war, so that the British public would have their minds somewhere else instead of on the problems that the government faced (these types of news stories were printed after the government took over all the mass media, through the DORA act. But before the government obtained the DORA act, the Daily Mail had already exposed the Ammunitions scandal, leaving the government with plenty of work to get the publics confidence back). Another crisis which propaganda helped to tackle was the food supply in Britain. The reason for this was the bombings of the merchant ships by German U-boats. Britain at one point was left with only six weeks worth of corn. The government used leaflets, which contained rationing orders to supply to people. This in end tackled the problem. Propaganda overall helped the government recruit people for both the war and home front, the mostly exaggerated stories gave people more stamina to triumph over the enemy and lead their country into a new generation.
Propaganda was significant in Britain’s victory over Germany, to a certain extent. The reason for this is that propaganda helped the British public keep their morale and enthusiasm as high as possible for a longer period of time. This enabled them to work harder towards the war effort knowing (from mainly exaggerated stories) that they were making there country proud and also keeping the evil Germans at bay. Propaganda may have been an effective weapon against the Germans but however it was not the only weapon. For example, Britain’s public stayed by their country as well as by the brave soldiers on the Western front, they supported (mainly the women) the war effort by joining the workplaces usually inhabited by men.
I can now conclude that even though propaganda was an effective weapon in the war against Germany, it was not an essential weapon. The reason for this is that propaganda did help boost peoples confidence in the war effort but it was not the only weapon against Germany that was utilized. For example the triumph depended on how the war was fought, with the will and pride of every British soldier. It also depended on the involvement of the USA, who at the time had a very strong army. So it can be said that propaganda was a valuable weapon in the war against Germany but however was not the most important one.
