WWI propaganda lesson currie

- Recruit soldiers
- Recruit industrial workers to work in war industries
- Convince the people at home to donate to the war

effort

- Convince the people at home that the sacrifices,

hardships, and casualties were a worthwhile cost of
victory

- Keep up the morale of the people after years of

fighting

- Prevent unrest, revolts, and revolutions

small booklets containing

information about a single subject

pieces of paper printed with

a message

These colorful and provoking images were

purposefully designed to make people think a

certain way.

World War I
propaganda
displayed the
Germans as
unmercifully

evil…

…causing

harm, death,

and

destruction.

Who are the

barbarians in this

poster?

The Germans

Who does the man

represent?

All of humanity

Children’s images were
used to provoke people’s

emotions.

Posters
encouraged
men to sign up
to fight in the
war.

The posters encouraged
and pleaded for people to
help out the war effort by
buying government bonds

(essentially loaning the

government money for the
war with the promise that
the government would pay
it back plus interest in the

future).

Posters encouraged people to do their part to help

win the war.

Pro-war motion pictures were produced by

both sides during

World War I.

Despite being silent
films, these motion
pictures were very

popular.

Charlie Chaplin, The Bond

Signal Corps Official Film: The
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
(1918)

Great Britain's 1916 documentary
and propaganda film Battle of the
Somme was seen by 20 million

people in its first 6 weeks of release.

It was then distributed to 18 other

countries, including the United

States.

“Crowded audiences ... were interested and thrilled to

have the realities of war brought so vividly before

them, and if women had sometimes to shut their eyes
to escape for a moment from the tragedy of the toll of

battle which the film presents, opinion seems to be

general that it was wise that the people at home
should have this glimpse of what our soldiers are

doing and daring and suffering in Picardy.”

The Times, 22 August 1916

Great Britain's National War
Aims Committee paid freelance
writers to compose pro-war
articles for newspapers.

Example of how
newspapers were

used:

World War 1 Archive

Pro-war speeches

used carefully

chosen words and

phrases to

convince listeners
to join in support of

the war.

Text of Woodrow Wilson speech April 16,
1917