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Explain why Propaganda was used in the First World War to promote the war effort

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Explain why Propaganda was used in the First World War to promote the war effort Propaganda was an important figure in the First World War in order to mislead or emphasize an opinion without lying. Propaganda was desperately needed because Britain was in a 'total war'. Total war is a war without restraints, a war in which every available weapon is used and the entire nation is affected by the War. Innocent civilians were bombed on the 16th December along the eastern coast of Britain, Scarborough was the worst hit, with 119 civilians dying. Several posters with the slogan "Remember Scarborough" were used throughout the War to show a sense of fear that any town could be next if people were not helping to stop this. The most exploited and significant uses of propaganda was to promote enrollment into the British Forces. There were several hundreds of posters and leaflets encouraging young men to get involved in the Armed Forces. The poster "Halt!" shows an Army Officer asking a stranger in the streets "are you a friend?". ...read more.


This is a common and effective way of using propaganda to influence and gain support from the public. Another frequently used tactic was to demonize Germany, several early War posters showed the Germans as being wife-beaters and baby-killers. One poster with the phrase "Germany means to starve us" depicts Germany as the sole reason for the food rations and the lack of food. Rationing was made compulsory in April 1918, many people disagreed because it meant they had less food than they had before it had been introduced, however poorer families actually gained from the idea. To prevent people from stealing or producing counterfeit ration books, a table was produced to show the punishments for the people who don't obey to the governments scheme of rationing, the punishments varied from �20 fines up to �72 fines, and some people were jailed for up to 3 months for unlawfully obtaining and using ration books. The reasons for the rationing was simple, Britain was running out of food. 25% of the merchant ships coming over the Atlantic from America were being sunk. ...read more.


With food being rationed, their spare money being pumped into Victory Bonds to save Belgium, spirits were low. So once again propaganda was used here to help lift the public's morale. The poster "Keep Calm and Carry on!" was a successful morale-boosting poster, mainly due to its clarity. This meant that people could easily see what the poster wanted them to do, and it was achievable. It made the public feel secure and often helped them get through some tough times, such as the loss of loved ones in the Armed Forces or losing their houses due to bombing raids. This evidence proves that propaganda was used for varying reasons, ranging from raising morale, to helping women save food. It also helped encourage the men to join the army and the women to help in the fields or factories to fuel Britain's attempt to save Belgium. Everyone had their place in this total war, and the propaganda helped the public find their place. 930 Words. ?? ?? ?? ?? William Kennedy 11Y Candidate Number: 8337 1 Centre Number: 16325 ...read more.

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