Propaganda Posters: the

“weapons on the wall”

Year 9 HumanitiesBased on work by UK teacher & modified by Margie Bainbridge

Your next task in Humanities will be to design a propaganda poster for World War 1

PropagandaLeaflets and posters were distributed to persuade men to join up. They always made the Australian soldiers look like heroes and the Germans looked like cruel savages. News of battle victories were constantly in the paper but defeats were rarely mentioned. Women were encouraged to persuade their boyfriends and husbands to join up.

Conscription in Australia

In Australia they tried to make it a law that young men had to go and fight- this was called Conscription. Both times in a public vote Australia said NO!

By the summer of 1916 the amount of people volunteering to fight was slowing down. Men were dying or returning home crippled and people started to realise that war was not such a big adventure. Therefore, the Government in England introduced conscription. Any man between the ages of 18-41 who was fit to fight had to go to war. The government said that if fighting went against your beliefs then you could plead your case in court and you may not have to go.

Conscription in England

Conscientious ObjectorsSome men believed that the war was wrong and wouldn’t fight at all. They were called conscientious objectors. Women would hand out white feathers to men to show that they thought they were cowards.

Propaganda is information that is spread for the purpose of promoting a

cause or belief.

Can you think of any propaganda?Write this definition in your book

What does Propaganda mean?

Why were propaganda posters needed during World War One?

• They desperately needed men to join up and fight;

• Recruit women to work in the factories and in the Women’s Land Army;

• Keep morale high and encourage people to support the troops.

Summarise this in your book

• Most people did not own radios and TV had not yet been invented;

• The easiest way for the government to communicate with the people was through posters stuck up on walls in all the towns and cities.

• Posters became the “weapon on the wall.”

Summarise this in your book

How were men encouraged to join the army?

Men were made to feel unmanly and cowardly for staying at home.

This is Lord Kitchener. In England he helped to enlist soldiers.

America copied it!

Australian Propaganda

Here is some British Propaganda

How were women used to encourage men to join the army?

• Women were encouraged to pressurise their husbands, boyfriends, sons and brothers to join up.

How was fear used?

• Some posters tried to motivate men to join up through fear;

• Posters showed the atrocities that the Germans were said to be committing in France and Belgium;

• People were encouraged to fear that unless they were stopped, the Germans would invade Britain and commit atrocities against their families .

How were women encouraged to work in the factories or to join the army or the

land girls?

• When the men joined the war, the women were needed to do their jobs;

• There was a massive need for women in the factories, to produce the weapons, ammunition and uniforms needed for the soldiers;

• There was a major food shortage and women were desperately needed to grow food for the people of Britain and the soldiers in France.

Posters encouraged everyone to do their bit...

• Through joining up;• Through working for the war effort;• By not wasting food;• Through investing in government bonds.

Why are WW1 Propaganda Posters important?

• For historians today, propaganda posters of World War One reveal the values and attitudes of the people at the time;

• They tell us something about the feelings in England and Australia during World War One.

Task• Your task is to produce a World War

One Propaganda Poster• Design your poster for either men or

women• Refer to handout

Year 9 World War One Propaganda Task

You are to create a propaganda poster that could have been used to encourage Australians to join the war effort. Your poster can be targeted towards men or women.

Your poster will include colour, slogans and images that support the argument you are presenting.

The poster will be A4 sized and stuck onto an A3 piece of paper. Around the edge of the poster, you will include at least 6 annotations outline how the images, phrases and colours included could be effective at persuading your particular audience.

  Very High5 marks

High 4-3 marks 

Satisfactory 2 marks

Unsatisfactory 1-0 marks

The poster is presented neatly and clearly.

The images, colours and phrases used indicate a clear audience and persuasive purpose.

The images, colours and phrases used as consistent to the history period.

The annotations are detailed and highlight the impact of the intended audience. At least  6 are included

It should be eye catching

It should persuade people to fight… what would persuade you to fight?-Being seen as a coward-Fighting in a Pal’s Battalion with your mates- if you are a man- looking good for girls -Being a hero-Pictures of war looking exciting-Germans being monsters-Single women felt that they had to do their bit through the Red Cross-wanting to be the perfect woman.