The most important aim of wartime propaganda was to encourage hatred of the enemy"Do sources A - K provide enough evidence to support this interpretation?Explain your answer using the sources A - K and knowledge from your studies.

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11AC                        Jagjeet Bains                          GCSE                      29th Jan 03

GCSE History Coursework

Assignment A2

Question 3

“The most important aim of wartime propaganda was to encourage hatred of the enemy”

Do sources A – K provide enough evidence to support this interpretation?

Explain your answer using the sources A – K and knowledge from your studies.

     All sources provide useful information about how propaganda was used during the war, although only specific sources support the theory that propaganda was mainly used to encourage hatred of the enemy.

     Source A indicates the attitude of British citizens during the war. The source shows how patriotic songs were used to lift people’s morale. The extract from “Covenant with Death” by John Harris also implies that propaganda was used everywhere from cinemas to factories. A sentence from the source reads, “My back seemed straighter than I remembered it. I felt six inches taller”. This sentence suggests that some propaganda was used to strengthen people’s views on the war and not to hate the enemy. It also implies that this method of propaganda was effective to lift morale. This source shows no signs of hatred for the enemy.

     Source B is two recruitment posters used to encourage men to join the war. The first poster shows a man sitting in a chair with his daughter and son. The girl is sitting on her father’s knee and the boy is playing with toy soldiers. At the bottom of the poster it reads, “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?” This source suggests that some posters were used to make men feel guilty and embarrassed for not joining the war effort. Although this source is very effective for its purpose, it has no hatred for the Germans.

     The second part of the source is another poster using women to persuade men to enlist to the war. The picture shows two women and a child looking on, as soldiers get ready to leave for war. In bold writing the poster reads, “WOMEN OF BRITAIN SAY – GO!” This source was used to make men realise that women were supporting them to fight for their country in World War I. This source is very effective but shows no hatred for the enemy.

     Source C is an anti-German poster and does show extreme hatred of the enemy. The poster shows pictures suggesting that Germans are violent and cruel people. The drawings show a German killing a child with a bayonet, shooting a nurse, abusing a woman and destroying buildings and architecture. The heading at the top of the poster reads, “Once a German – always a German!” The poster is indicating that a German is the same person whether at peace or war. The main aim of the poster is to encourage people not to buy German goods, as every German is cruel, harsh and unforgiving. The source does show signs of hatred as it shows Germans committing sinful crimes.

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     Source D is a newspaper article from August 1914 that suggests Germans “are not enemies of ours but faithful friends”. The article implies that Germans have worked hard to promote friendship with Britain. The source suggests that nobody is to blame for the war except rulers, diplomats and the military that “have forced this criminal war upon us all”. The source definitely does not encourage hatred for the enemy and may not have been successful at the time of the war.

     Source E is a British newspaper report from the Battle of the Somme. All ...

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