Transcript propaganda during wwi

PROPAGANDA
DURING WWI
Introduction:
Propaganda: information, ideas or rumours deliberately
spread widely to help or harm a person, group, nation or
movement (from dictionary.com)
During WWI countries on all sides of the battle used various
forms of propaganda to influence people back at home.
On the following slides you will see various methods of
propaganda used.
Please make a note of reoccurring themes or images.
After you have viewed each of the images carefully,
complete the assignment at the end of this presentation.
The assignment is due at the beginning of tomorrow’s
class.
Great Britain
Britain entered the war on 4 August 1914. The
possessor of a small professional army and without
a policy of conscription she had urgent need of
more men - many, many more men - for training
within the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).
Thus the government in London acted quickly in
bringing out a stream of recruitment posters,
including possibly the most famous of its type,
featuring Lord Kitchener ("Your Country Wants
You!").
Other posters followed in due course, many urging
wartime economy. Others simply encouraged
continued support for government policy, usually
by whipping up indignation against the latest
alleged outrages committed (invariably) by the
German Army.
France
France had initiated its plan for the First
World War some years before the event
- via the ill-fated Plan XVII - and so had
in place a government policy of
conscription. Nevertheless when war
broke out the French government was
prompt in advertising for more men while simultaneously pleading the
justice of the French cause.
Germany
Of the nations which went to war from 1914-18 Germany was
arguably the best prepared. Along with France the German
government had long planned for war.
Whereas France was expecting a conflict with Germany and
Austria-Hungary, Germany reckoned upon facing at least
France in the west and Russia in the east: a formidable
proposition.
Thus Germany took great care in formulating its own war
strategy - the Schlieffen Plan - which in the event failed to
achieve its aim of knocking France out of the war in the west
and then rushing back to the east to deal with Russia while the
latter's painfully slow mobilisation proceeded apace. For all
that, the Schlieffen Plan very nearly came to fruition.
Conscription was a matter of standard policy in pre-war
Germany. However the German government (presided over
by Kaiser Wilhelm II) was not averse to appealing for more men,
and for stating the patent justice of their decision to enter into
a state of war.
Russia
Russia entered World War One on 1 August 1914
but did not remain until the conflict's ultimate
conclusion in November 1918. The February - and
then October - Revolutions of 1917 directly led to
Russia's departure at the war, albeit at the cost of a
punitive peace treaty (at Brest-Litovsk).
Given the vast manpower resources at Russia's
disposal - the Russian steamroller as it was
commonly referred to - the government did not
need to resort to recruitment posters. However
propaganda was produced to encourage public
investment in government bonds; and in the early
Soviet era in decrying prominent anti-Bolshevik
figures.
Women adhere to the
Co-operation
Never Buy in a Private
Shop When You Can Buy
in a Co-operative
The Tsar, The Priest and The Kulak
The Enemy is at the Gates!
Assignment:
Answer the following questions using information from the
previous slides.
1. Why did countries choose to use propaganda posters?
2. What common images or themes are present in each
example?
3. How did each country attempt to appeal to the public?
4. Which country do you feel had the most effective posters?
Why do you think so?
5. Would these posters be accepted today? Why or why not?
6. What surprised you the most about the images?
7. Who is the intended audience of these posters?
8. Choose one image and write 2-3 paragraphs analyzing the
poster. Be sure to mention what the poster is trying to “say”,
who it is directed at and how effective it is or isn’t.
All images courtesy of www.firstworldwar.com