The main target of propaganda were the women of Britain, left at home because the men aged 18 to 40 had been conscripted into the British Army. This meant there was a shortage of male workers in factories that were needed to produce vital supplies and ammunition. The Government set up various organizations, such as the Women’s Land Army or the Active Service League, which supported women in the workforce. One poster, called “The Red Cross”, encouraged women to work as nurses in the hospitals which helped the wounded and dying. The image shows a women helping a young man with an army jacket on her shoulder, this implies that she is helping the war effort. This is a common and effective way of using propaganda to influence and gain support from the public.
Another frequently used tactic was to demonize Germany, several early War posters showed the Germans as being wife-beaters and baby-killers. One poster with the phrase “Germany means to starve us” depicts Germany as the sole reason for the food rations and the lack of food. Rationing was made compulsory in April 1918, many people disagreed because it meant they had less food than they had before it had been introduced, however poorer families actually gained from the idea. To prevent people from stealing or producing counterfeit ration books, a table was produced to show the punishments for the people who don’t obey to the governments scheme of rationing, the punishments varied from £20 fines up to £72 fines, and some people were jailed for up to 3 months for unlawfully obtaining and using ration books. The reasons for the rationing was simple, Britain was running out of food. 25% of the merchant ships coming over the Atlantic from America were being sunk. This doesn’t sound like much, but when the food coming from America was in short supply anyway, this meant it was vitally important that all the ships got through the Atlantic blockade. Another reason for the rationing was that Britain was also not growing enough food to keep itself alive. Books were produced showing the women of Britain what could be easily grown in greenhouses or in their back yards. Posters were produced by the Government to tell the women to “Eat less bread” and “preserve perishable produce”, this was an encouragement to save and scrimp the food they had, and these methods meant that no food would be wasted, in theory.
The government had to raise funds during the War to pay for the increasing costs, such as the labour costs in the factories, the wages for the soldiers, and the cost of the materials for ammunition, weapons and armor such as helmets and military uniforms. Most of the money was raised through Victory Bonds. Civilians were unenthusiastic to give away their money without good reason, so the government produced a series of posters which possessed the slogan “Remember Belgium”. Belgium was popular in Britain during the early years of the 20th Century, and so this slogan had enough persuading power to allow people to give what money they could.
With food being rationed, their spare money being pumped into Victory Bonds to save Belgium, spirits were low. So once again propaganda was used here to help lift the public’s morale. The poster “Keep Calm and Carry on!” was a successful morale-boosting poster, mainly due to its clarity. This meant that people could easily see what the poster wanted them to do, and it was achievable. It made the public feel secure and often helped them get through some tough times, such as the loss of loved ones in the Armed Forces or losing their houses due to bombing raids.
This evidence proves that propaganda was used for varying reasons, ranging from raising morale, to helping women save food. It also helped encourage the men to join the army and the women to help in the fields or factories to fuel Britain’s attempt to save Belgium. Everyone had their place in this total war, and the propaganda helped the public find their place.
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