World War I Propaganda Posters

Objectives of Wartime Propaganda

1. Recruitment of soldiers, draft or voluntary enlistment

2. Financing the war effort, sale of war bonds, loans, new taxes

3. Eliminating dissent and unifying the country4. Conservation of resources, food, oil, steel5. Participation in home-front organizations

Common tools used in Wartime Propaganda

1. Demonization, portray the enemy as purely evil, menacing, murderous, and aggressive

2. Emotional Appeals, playing on people’s emotions to promote the war effort

3. Name Calling, using loaded labels to encourage hatred of enemy

4. Patriotic Appeals, using patriotic language or symbols to appeal to national pride

5. Half-Truths or Lies, deception or twisting the truth

6. Catchy Slogans, memorable phrases to foster support for the war effort

7. Evocative Visual Symbols, using symbols to appeal to people’s emotions

8. Humor or Caricatures, capturing the viewer’s attention through the use of humor to promote the war effort

Assignment

• Your task is to now go through the following examples of World War I propaganda posters and identify the following for each:

• It’s country of origin• The objectives it is attempting to accomplish• The tools being used to accomplish its

objectives

World War I

http://www.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women/gif/wwi-seeds2.gif

• Now that you have analyzed several examples of World War I, wartime propaganda search the internet and find an example of your own to analyze. Briefly explain the propaganda poster you found then Identify the country of origin, objectives, and tools that are being used like you did with the examples above.