Transcript Recruitment, Conscription, Censorship and Propaganda in Germany

Recruitment,
Conscription,
Censorship and
Propaganda in Germany
Recruitment & Conscription
Censorship
Propaganda
Recruitment &
Conscription
Germany at the time of the start of World War One did not
have the need for recruitment as conscription had been an
accepted part of German society for decades prior to
1914. When war broke out on the western front
conscription was not needed by the German army as there
was an influx of young men in search for adventure,
excitement, patriotic duty and the desire to impress.
Recruitment &
Conscription
‘GERMAN CROWDS
The photograph on the
right creates a visual
image of the first
impressions of war within
Germany. It emphasizes
the initial feelings towards
the war and how the
German people
responded to those
soldiers who chose to
fight for their country.
CHEERING TROOPS.’
Recruitment &
Conscription
‘Whilst in many countries
orders were put out for
recruitment, Germany
already had conscription
in place. This image
shows the lines of
conscripted men
marching through the
streets, alongside women
as they marched on to
fight the war.
GERMAN TROOPS
HEADING OFF TO
WAR’
Recruitment &
Conscription
‘HELP
US
WIN”
This World War One
German poster is
aiming to entice
soldiers and soften the
attitudes towards
conscription
throughout Germany. It
is calling all citizens to
‘Help Us Win!’. It also
strives to portray the
government desire to
boost the morale of
German soldiers.
Recruitment &
Conscription
One famous picture taken in
Munich city centre on 1 August
shows a joyous crowd cheering
after a young army officer
publicly announces the
declaration of war on Russia. In
contrast, the crowd in the
photograph, appears more
subdued by the turn of events.
Many Germans, as local police
reports from this period
illustrate, greeted the outbreak
of war with a sense of
foreboding.
‘KAISER”S
MOBILISATION
ORDERS’
Censorship
Before 1914 Germany government kept tight
control of all press. Newspapers had not been
able to openly discuss the reasons for war. It
was not only information from the front that was
held from the public view after the war broke out
but the German people were never told about
peace demonstrations, international peace
efforts or low morale, casualties and desertions
on the western front.
Censorship
This extract is by
Altenhöner, Florian
and briefly describes
the progression of
German censorship
during the war. This
extract also explains
the reasoning behind
the restrictions and
how it formed into its
later stages.
EXTRACT: “TOTAL WARTOTAL CONTROL?”
“Although the German General Staff had
intensified its intelligence activities prior to
1914, its preparations for war proved to be
insufficient after the beginning of the war.
Before the war, Department IIIb of the
General Staff had almost exclusively dealt
with espionage and counter-espionage. By
the armistice its tasks by far exceeded this:
in addition to being an espionage and
counter-espionage service, by 1918 it also
was a political police, a censorship and
propaganda authority, [and] it issued
identity cards and organized postal
censorship."
Censorship
The markings on this
letter are all the different
symbols of German
censorship. The markings
are all from the various
offices that the letter had
gone through.
Lower left-parcel
censorship
Upper left-examined
Middle top- Censorship
place
DOMESTIC REGISTERED
LETTER
Censorship
MEANINGS
Bottom- pass on
Top- censorship place
Middle- back only openly permissible
These three minor sources are different
stamps that were used by the German
censorship offices as symbols to show that
mail had been through censorship
programs.
GERMAN STAMPS
Propaganda
German propaganda in many ways followed the
British propaganda campaigns but with it’s own
little kicks of individualism. One of the major
differences was that Germany did not have to
promote recruitment. Taking on an anti-British
tone the German people were encouraged
through propaganda to hate the English. German
propaganda also worked to justify the actions of
the German government.
Propaganda
Source A describes the German
Propaganda and the methods
that were used to lower morale
on the western front. These
methods were targeted at the
allied troops in order to drain
the Allied morale and is cleverly
conducted so to contain
inflammatory political matters in
order to do so.
Source A
“the Germans use paper
balloons in large
quantities…they consist of
flysheets in bad English
announcing German
successes on other
fronts…boasts of the
results of the U-boat
campaign.”
Propaganda
The German poster ‘It’s their
fault’ illustrates the German
media and it’s reliance on
blaming the war on Britain and
the allied forces. The poster is
mainly for the public viewing
from the government who had
strict policies on what could and
could not be said about the war.
In order to give reasons for the
outbreak of war and gain
German support propaganda
blaming the allied forces was
used all over Germany.
‘IT”S THEIR
FAULT!’
Propaganda
This chant, publicized later
in the New York Times, 15
October, re-iterates the
chant of many German
civilians during the war. It
demonstrates the great
hate that had brewed over
the years of the war and
clearly symbolizes the
outcomes of the various
methods of propaganda
that had been used.
‘A CHANT OF HATE AGAINST
ENGLAND.’
“Come, hear the word, repeat the
word,
Throughout the Fatherland make it
heard.
We will never forgo our hate,
We have all but a single hate.
We love as one, we hate as one,
We have one foe and one aloneENGLAND! …”
Propaganda
The men depicted in this
photograph on the right are all
conscripted German soldiers.
The photograph was taken in
order to reinforce the idea of
high morale and adventure that
was to be had on the western
front. Whilst the photo was not
intentionally taken for these
purposes it was later used to
promote the war effort and
disguise the real effects of the
war.
‘GERMAN SOLDIERS ON TRAIN’