First World War Propaganda Analysis

During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.

The First World War of 1914-1918, also known as the Great War, was the first total war in history. What began as a European struggle over the balance of power between the triple alliance of France, Britain and Russia on one side and the central powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other, soon became a global conflict that involved the imperial powers of Europe, their colonies and lands such as the Ottoman Empire, Japan and the United States. Although the sheer number of countries involved in the conflict is enough to describe the First World War as a mass war, what makes it total is the fact that it was waged not only against the enemy’s armies, but also against the civilian

World War 1 proved America to be the nation producing the highest amount of propaganda. Through his use of propaganda President Wilson was able to draw American Support for the war. Despite his being elected as the “peace” president. Many Americans believed he’d keep them out of the war, especially after he stated that, “so far as I can remember, this is a government of the people, and this people is not going to choose war.” Before his election, Wilson promoted American neutrality. He pushed for what he believed his Americans wanted. However, through his employment of propaganda, Woodrow Wilson was able

World War One posters were everywhere. Each one was used for a purpose, either for political reasons or to promote something, better known as propaganda. These posters could be biased or misleading, but not all were. “Pledge to Save the Food” and “Save the Wheat for our Soldiers” are two posters published by the United States Food Administration. Both made it clear, this was the right thing to do for our soldiers, to be patriotic.

Needless to say, every one of the wars just mentioned was advertised as a defensive, moralistic, and completely national expedition. Bismarck even went so far as to make an unworkable treaty with Austria so that he could claim, when Austria broke it, that he was waging war in defense of the sacredness of treaties. But no one should be deceived by such propaganda. All these wars were waged in order to maintain certain groups in control in the belligerent countries.

After the Germans Schlieffen plan failed they retreated to the north where trenches were constructed by both the Allies and the Entente. This subsequently led to a stalemate that would not be broken until years later. Due to the short war illusion misguiding nearly every country’s prominent leaders. Every nation involved in the Great War began to realize that they were not economically prepared for a long-term war. The type of mobilization that every country’s home front experienced was unprecedented. After the fall of 1914 social norms would be modified, new socioeconomic opportunities would be presented, government intervention would increase, and every citizen would experience some form of propaganda to influence their views on the war.

This maintenance of war enthusiasm was largely a result of the propaganda and censorship that became part of government policy. In this new style of warfare that required a large proportion of the civilian men to fight, it was vital to the government's of Europe that public opinion remain strong. Consequently, the patriotism of the recruitment campaign morphed into blatant propaganda and media deception. The tabloid papers of London became the mouthpiece for the militaristic government to insight hatred of the enemy. False reports of German atrocities flooded the news. Apparently, Belgian babies were bayoneted and their mothers raped and murdered. Magazines posted graphic, yet staged, photographs of German soldiers standing over dead nuns. A similar campaign of propaganda and outright deceit was used in Germany. Again, professed enemies mirrored each other remarkably well.

During the early 1900s a new era of warfare emerged as governments began to employ all economic, technological and psychological resources available to defeat their enemies. This concept of Total War altered the direction of humanity and governments understanding in their allocation of resources. This essay will examine the relationship between propaganda used during World War I, its effect on the masses and the absolutely essential need for the success of such campaigns in obtaining military victory. While leaflet propaganda used during the war will be the main focus, considerations will be given to other forms to illuminate the necessity of understanding and utilizing the tools of this very powerful

Intro Hook - An old quote states “photography has always been capable of manipulation.” Follow up sentence(s) - the propaganda has contained prejudiced information and has been used throughout the world to impact people to be protagonist or antagonist of an idea Since World War I, propagandas appeal to emotions to get a people to do a action During World War II, propagandas have instilled fear into the citizens of the US, which was a downfall, however, that fear was used to help the war front Americans used this in several strategies to provide a view of different countries with half-truths or false information Thesis - Though the American propagandas negatively impacted the citizens of United States, the propagandas have benefited the

In a wartime environment, propaganda is used to shape international opinion as well as influence neutral and enemy countries. The government of a country puts a great deal of effort into propaganda that shapes the opinion of its citizens by justifying their actions and building support for the country. Propaganda was also used to point out the mistakes made by enemy countries. The impact of propaganda can be hard to determine at the surface, but when looking deeper, propaganda and its effect on people is very important in determining the outcome of a war. It has become a common belief that the Germans did not lose World War II because of their performance on the battlefield, but because of the impression that foreign propaganda had on them.[footnoteRef:0] [0: Ian Cooke. ?Propaganda as a weapon? Influencing international opinion,? bl.uk, January 29 2014, May 10

Imagine a powerful tool someone could use in order to reach and influence the masses, from even a small community to a whole nation or even multiple nations. Something that can be used to spread awareness and information, whether it be true or false, used to paint a picture and influence masses to a single viewpoint. Propaganda: “ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to benefit a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.” Could there be a more perfect tool used to influence millions of people; whether it be promoting or bashing a person, and idea, or a nation? Something as innocent as a poster on wall seen by a passerby, but with a sentimental message that urges attention. People have

Disparity is the state of being unequal or different in some respect. This brings to inequality being lack of equality and also the distance toward the rich and poor. Poverty is when having very little or no money and very few or no material possessions. As for development is the act of improvement meaning gaining, expanding, or enlarging. Inequality and poverty can cause a country not to develop well, unless you have a good strategy. In this case I will show you a developed country (Spain) and a under developed county (Chad). I will do this by explaining four disparities of the same for both countries. Those disparities are total population, unemployment rate, and condom use.

The First World War marks a time of hardship and loss for all countries involved. To ensure and sustain enthusiasm and investment for the war, those in power turned to the concept of propoganda and spin. WWI effected everyone, even those not fighting, so the propaganda displayed was an attempt to boost moral and interest. To do so, governments were able to utilize new technologies, spreading these ideas faster and to a more broad audience. Those newly aquired techniques have swept over this world and are still used today, some in more severe manners.

Propaganda has existed for all recorded human history. World War I was the first time that government-organized propaganda was used after the start of war. German military officials attributed propaganda as one of the reasons they lost the war, with even Adolf Hitler saying that propaganda had lowered the morale of Germany. World War II saw an increase in the use of propaganda because countries had adopted Britain’s use of it to sway citizens and soldiers to hold particular views. Once the United States declared war on Japan, the media requested that the government support anti-Japan and anti-German propaganda to convince the American people of the cruel nature of their enemies.

Part A: Outline the purpose and methods of British propaganda using Source A and your own knowledge. (4 marks) British propaganda aimed to promote patriotic support for the war and justify Britain’s position in the war. Source A is a poster directed towards all classes of the British population. It aimed to create sympathy for Belgium and incite hatred for the enemy, Germany, in order to rally support for the war effort in Britain with the outbreak of war in August 1914. Such propaganda was universally accessible to stir widespread enthusiasm for Britain’s role in the war as Belgium’s ‘savior’ following their invasion by Germany, who violated Belgium’s neutrality according to the 1839 Treaty of London.