Though Shall Not Kill Led to No War for the Conscientious Objectors

In WWI, propaganda was greatly used to influence the Australian public. There were many reasons why men wanted to enlist in the war. These were adventure/ opportunity to see the world, heroism, win over women and children, nationalism, patriotism, hatred of the Germans, and increased pay and free clothes. There were many different techniques used to make people believe the Propaganda posters such as using persuasive language to show how the Germans were barbaric. The propaganda posters also used a lot of images and texts to make Australians feel guilty for not participating in the war. Propaganda was also used in Journalism especially newspapers in Australia and Britain. These propaganda posters showed extreme bias towards

During World War II, propaganda was used for a number of reasons, it not only showed how anyond could be of use to the war efforts, but it also showed that every person could contribute as well. These posters empowered everyone to stand behind their nation's Army, and to continue contributing to the war efforts. The posters showed that everyone is needed, that anyone could make a difference, and some even emphasized certain values to those who are already helping with the war effort.

Back in the 1900’s world war 2 broke out. Germany and britain were fighting against each other, and in 1940 Germany began heavily bombing Great Britain. Every person that lived in Great Britain in some way had to participate in helping with the war whether it be working in the factories, hospitals, or jobs that support the war. Therefore, in order to make the people help the British government employed a variety of persuasive techniques through posters to convince the people to join the war effort.

At the start of the war the use of recruitment propaganda was quite minimal. However, over time when people started to realise the devastation and death toll of the war, less people volunteered. Therefore, the government increased the amount of propaganda by hanging more posters, publishing newspapers and more, in the effort to increase their chances in defeating the Ottoman Empire. The government used methods of manipulation in their posters such as targeting people’s sense of patriotism, guilt, mate ship as well using atrocity propaganda and women to advertise their campaign. For example in the poster ‘it is nice in the surf but what about the men in the trenches’, evidently shows how the government tries to make men feel a sense of guilt

Such propaganda included posters asking people to “Wake up America! Civilisation calls every man, woman and child!” A British poster that emphasises the involvement of the total population in the war effort shows different kinds of people engaging in war responsibilities – men at battle, women in the workforce making uniforms, men making weapons – and it asks “Are YOU in this?” This kind of all-embracing propaganda had the aim to brainwash whole nations. The combination of the public’s thirst for information about the war and various governments’ urgent need to mobilise entire civilian populations for the war effort led to a moulding of the public’s thinking through the printed word. In Germany, for example, the military had the right to censor the press and any information that could distress the people was suppressed, while unfavourable news about a situation on the front was passed over silence, delayed or toned down. This was the same in Britain and France. The First World War was total because propaganda and censored news were used as weapons that could reach whole populations and intervene into everyday lives. Even though not all people were physically involved in battle, even children could look at a newspaper or propaganda poster and feel the impact of war through words that evoke fear, sadness, anger or give the urge to join the army.

The soldiers are brainwashed with techniques they are told so they would be more likely survive. Everything the army demands, a soldier has to listen and perform. War changes the world to not think for themselves, if it secures protection. Propaganda tried to impact people emotionally by undertaking certain duties. Propaganda is information that is used to promote events or certain views/opinions. The propaganda poster, “Tell the Marines!” (Document E) This propaganda poster makes the people think that the enemies are terrible people, however, all people are the same, but propaganda is trying to make people believe otherwise. The propaganda was used in many events during history (Lenin and Hitler) to gain control over those in the country. They used banners, posters slogans, and censorship to influence the people to believe in their points. The government used propaganda to try to brainwash the people. It makes the people stop thinking for themselves and believe the government instead. like a totalitarian state. It would try to influence the people to follow certain rules instead of their own

Another way this propaganda was very useful was that it targeted specific groups of people such as African Americans. An example of this type of propaganda can be seen in the poster “Colored Man Is No Slacker”. This photo depicts an African American man, and an African American woman holding each other as the man goes off to war. (Pg. 143) As an African American seeing this poster hanging around the town, it would make them consider that if they go out to war people would not think of them as loafers and they would be behind their country. This poster was very successful in brining African Americans into the war effort. Without posters like these, many African Americans would have not volunteered their services to the war, which is why propaganda during World War 1 was so effective.

feathers to men not in uniform in public as a sign of cowardice - the

The second support the United State needed for the war was more army force.The German army size is far bigger in comparison to the American army. The Selective Service Act was passed by Congress to increase the army force number. The act required to register for men that are between the ages of twenty-one to thirty to participate in the war. The army needed more men, therefore, the United State extends the age group from eighteen to forty-five. The committee started spreading encouraging bravery posters, fils, poems and other methods to increase the numbers of soldiers. Even though many of Americans were supportive of the war there were also some Americans that opposed the act and would not register for the military. These individuals faced harsh punishments such as prison time and death sentences. The committee created posters that encouraged the men to register voluntarily.

Physical conditions for the soldiers also varied somewhat between the different armies on the Western Front, although the particular and horrific nature of the war was shared by all of them. For most French, German and British soldiers going to war was the unwelcome and inevitable consequence of conscription. For most combatants on all sides, however, particularly early in the war, service was voluntary, and men who were not forced to enrolled in the Army. Some of the reasons for this can be found in the fact that the arrival of the war brought an unforgettable sense of community to people: it prompted patriotism and brought societies closer together, weakening the strong class differences of the time.

The specific poster that I wish to discuss is located on page 503 in our textbook. It is titled, “Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man. I’d Join the Navy.” This poster is clearly meant entice American citizens, specifically men to join the navy and help in war efforts. The main focal point is the woman who is wearing a navy sailor’s dress blues uniform. She has the rank of Petty Officer First Class on her shoulder. Just by viewing the context of what this woman (Bernice Smith) said, it’s apparent that women were not allowed to join the armed forces at the time. Propaganda was great tool in order to recruit people to join the military. The- main point of this poster in my opinion is to say that even women who aren’t allowed to join want to join. These

Wartime relations can cause a country to get down as we saw in the United States during Vietnam to a point where a large portion of the public doesn’t support the war. One of the ways countries, like the United States, curb this is by creating propaganda. In World War II, the United States used the propaganda to get the public behind the war effort and to unite the country. This propaganda included posters to advertise,

In the First World War people wanted the young men to go to war, but

For example, when one of the men declined to take part in what would be later known as the Jozefow Massacre, his captain was not pleased. According to Browning, “Captain Hoffmann, who had arrived in Jozefow directly from Zakrzow with the Third Platoon of Third Company and had not been apart of the officers’ meetings in Bilgoraj the day before, was furious that one of his men had been the first to break ranks. Hoffman began to berate Schimke… (Browning 57).” Browning shows through the account of the men’s initiation into mass murder that the stigma of not participating in massacres meant that the individual would be a coward, less of a man, or someone who does not support his country made the choice of conformity a tough one. Many of the men stayed silent when the option was presented. However, Browning shows that the one man who chose to decline his participation because he “‘would in in no case participate in such an action, in which defenseless women and children are shot (Browning 56)’” prompted about a dozen or so men to follow his lead and also decline to take part in the massacre. Only when one man acted alone and publicly chose to be a nonconformist, another dozen men were prompted to turn their back against the group and join him. At the end of World War II, it has been found that these men would make up “less than twenty percent (Browning 168)” of the Reserve

In the first month of the fight of war more than 500,000 volunteered, and one million by the end of 1914 in rallies for recruitment to support fronts .The British considered it as a chance to prove themselves.“In the event the war went for more than four years claiming our million lives with around 2.5 million British casualties” (Poplawski.2008:537)