World War I Propaganda
During WWI, all of the countries
involved used propaganda to promote their view of the war. They used different
propaganda tactics such as newspapers and posters. The Committee on Public
Information produced many of these posters and papers.
President
Wilson served for two terms a president, but his goals in those terms were
completely opposite. His first term was defined by a wanting to stay out of
war. The main idea of Wilson’s second campaign was that he kept America out of
the war. The newspapers closely followed president Wilson’s agenda. When Wilson
decided he wanted America to join the war it showed clearly in the newspapers.
When
patriotic propaganda started on June 15, 1917, there were no more stories or
advertisements from a German point of view. The papers were edited to as
patriotic as they could be. Headlines tried to “exhibit the instance of
patriotic duty, the criticism of pacifism, and fault, inferiority, and
heartlessness of the Germans”(Library of Congress). Many pictures of a “heroic
President Wilson” were put into the newspapers (Library of Congress). It became
a competition between states to be the most patriotic. The New York Times
posted charts that showed which state had the most recruits and the sold the most
liberty bonds daily. When American soldiers started to fight, the papers
stopped posting pictures of the battlefield and more pictures of patriotic
parades and training regiments of soldiers. I found a newspaper that had and
advertisement to vote for suffrage. It said things such as, “A vote for suffrage
is a vote against Germany.”
The
U.S. was not the only country to produce propaganda. “Each of the nations which
participated n World War One from 1914 – 1918 used propaganda posters not only
as a means of justifying involvement to their own populace, but also as a means
of procuring men, money, and resources to sustain the military campaign”(FirstWorldWar.com)
Britain, France, and Germany needed to recruit heavily since they did not have
a standing army. They also used propaganda for wartime thrift and for seeking
funding.
Although
it was not the only country using propaganda, America produced the most
posters. Many posters were paintings and illustrations. “Division of Pictorial
Publicity was part of the Committee of Public Information”(American Treasure).
The director of this division was Charles Dana Gibson. Gibson got many painters
and illustrators to produce works that were pro war. 700 different types of
posters were made. Along the production
of posters, post cards were made and had “patriotic or propaganda messages” (WWI
in Pictures).
Jeff Lipkes wrote a book called, Rehearsals, that discusses the German killing of around 6,000 people and burning of around 25,000 homes and building in Belgium that many people believed was just British propaganda.
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| This a British propaganda poster that was aimed toward the asian population. |
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| This is a propaganda post advertising to join sheep club. |
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| This is a poster advertising the four minute men speakers |
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| This a poster advertising pictures from the italian battle front |
Sources
- Newspaper - this is a primary source of a newspaper that had an add to vote for suffrage
- AVL - this gave me information on a book that was propaganda that turned out to be a real killing
- WWI in pictures - this is a website that showed pictures of different propaganda and gave me information on propaganda post cards
- American Treasures - this gave information on the Division of Pictorial Publicity
- FirstWorldWar.com - this gave information on propaganda outside of the US
- Library of Congress - this gave me my general information on Wilson and newspapers
