British+War+Propaganda+Pt.+2

__Forms of Propaganda Used During World War I__
During World War I a slew of various forms of propaganda were used by the British to spread a variety of information to the public. The majority of British propaganda used during the time period were recruitment papers, urging civilians to partake in the war efforts of Great Britain. These recruitment papers were used by the government to persuade both men, and women, to develop a more active role in the war. By urging war time economy through propaganda posters and newspapers, the British government hoped to earn further support for the national government policies.

__**//RECRUITMENT POSTERS//**__

Posters such as the one above were used by the British Government in the hope of instilling a greater amount of nationalism into the people of Britain. **By portraying fighting soldiers in the background, and working citizens in the foreground, the government emphasized their desire to increase the patriotism of the nation and coerce civilians to become more active in participating in the wartime efforts.**



During World War I, British propaganda posters that depicted women would often appeal to the notion of a man’s duty to protect his family. Posters such as the latter were created in order to instill in women the concept that it was necessary for their husbands to fight for their country. These posters were directed at wives and daughters in order to further convince them that their reluctance to let their husbands fight was detrimental to the British nation. By boldly stating that women needed to allow their husbands to fight, the British government was able to directly connect with the women of the era and coerce them into saying goodbye to their men.

Rather than attempting to appeal to the male gender, the above posters were used in order to guilt men into enlisting in the army. The pride held by British men during the Great War was used by the government in order to invoke a sense of shame into men not participating in the war efforts. The poster to the left was used in order to influence the desire of young men to join the war. The lions within the poster are symbolic of the pride and strength that was required of men in the military. As the epitome of strength, the lions within the poster convey the idea that only truly strong men were capable of fighting for the nation. By implying doubt in the strength of young, British, men, the left poster made the men of the era want to prove that they possessed the strength required of fighters. The war poster to the right was also used to shame healthy, British, men into joining the war efforts. The inevitable question, "What did YOU do," is used within the poster in order to imply that not participating in the war would be the equivalent of doing nothing. This poster invoked a sense of shame in un-participating men and implied that by not being a part of the war efforts you were dishonorable.

__//NEWSPAPERS//__
Another extremely effective form of propaganda used by Britain during World War I were articles published in national newspapers. Due to the government's overwhelming desire to increase the nationalism of the country and encourage young men to join the armed forces, propaganda published during the time period was often misconstrued in order to prevent any doubtful thoughts from being directed towards Britain's involvement in the war. Although newspapers did publish casualties faced by the British Army, they were less than accurate. The British government strictly monitored the published casualties and forbade the majority of publishing companies from releasing accurate information to the public in fear that it would diminish the hope and patriotism of the nation. The following extract from a British newspaper from World War I exemplifies the strict censorship of British publishing companies:

=== **“To the north of [|Ypres] our progress has been continued, especially on our left. We have taken six quick-firers, two bomb-throwers, and much material; and made several hundred prisoners, including several officers. The losses of the enemy were extremely high. At a single point on the front, in the proximity of the canal we counted more than six hundred German dead. On the heights of the Meuse, on the front Les Eparges-St Remy-Calonne trench, we have continued to gain ground, about on kilometre, and have inflicted on the enemy very severe losses."** ===

Although somewhat accurate to the actual occurrence, the strict control that the British government and military had on newspaper and other publishing companies caused this article snippet to provide a false sense of hope and achievement to unaware citizens. A German report on the same battle emphasizes how drastically the British government manipulated propaganda in order avoid informing the public of the casualties suffered by the British nation:

=== **"In Flanders the British yesterday again attempted to regain the ground they had lost. In the afternoon they attacked from both sides but the attack completely broke down. An evening attack further east failed, with severe British losses."** ===

The intense juxtaposition of the two newspapers is evidence that the British government during the time period used and manipulated propaganda in order to instill a false sense of confidence into the public.

As said by an English author and published in Howard Zinn's, "A People's History of the United States,":

**"The most bloody defeat in the history of Britain... might occur... and our Press came out bland and copious and graphic with nothing to show that we had not had quite a good day."**
The implication behind this statement is that the control that the British government had over newspaper propaganda made it impossible for the public to have a complete idea as to what was actually occurring on the British fronts.

__**SLANDER OF THE ENEMY**__

The most influential propaganda used by the British during the Great War involved the complete an utter slandering of enemy nations. British newspapers often printed brief, morbid, headlines that depicted the enemy as brutal sadists. These headlines were used to stir up the emotions of the public. More often than not these headlines and stories were either made up, or edited, in order to further strengthen the disdain towards enemy nations. Example of these headlines include:

"Germans Crucify English Officer!"**
 * "Belgium Child's Hand Cut Off by Germans!"


 * The manipulation of events allowed the British government to create stories that slandered the German army and allowed them to acquire public approval.

Although slandering literature was used frequently by the British nation in order to influence the opinions of the public, visual imagery was used just as often and sometimes invoked even stronger emotional reactions.

**

This visual depiction of the German nation was a form of British propaganda whose imagery resulted in the national hatred of the German population. By depicting a specific nation in such an evil and morbid manner, the British government was able to increase English nationalism by uniting the nation against a common enemy.

[] [] [],