 Britain declared war on the German Empire on 4 August 1914 and the first run of the full-page advert ran the next day in those newspapers owned by Lord Northcliffe.The Prime Minister H. H. Asquith appointed Kitchener as Secretary of State for War in August 1914.Kitchener was the first currently serving soldier to hold the post and was given the task of recruiting a large army to fight Germany.