This presentation concerns total war and the propaganda campaigns carried out by the Central and Allied powers during World War 1.

1. ―Go back to simple food, simple clothes, simple
pleasures. Pray hard, work hard, sleep hard and
play hard. Do it all courageously and
cheerfully.‖ – Hoover
PROPAGANDA VS. REALITY DURING
WORLD WAR I

3. Only 92 years
later.
CRASH COURSE:
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h?v=_XPZQ0LAlR4&safe=activ
e
MONTY:
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4. Overview of the War’s Beginning
 Beginnings:
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July 28: Austria-Hungary
declares war on Serbia.
August 1: Germany declares
war on Russia.
August 3: Germany declares
war on France
August 4: UK declares war on
Germany after they invade
Belgium.
August 6: Austria-Hungary
declares war on Russia. Serbia
declares war on Germany.
WAR

5. Image Courtesy of the New
York Times.

6. Total War
 Definition: a war that is unrestricted in terms of the
weapons used, the territory or combatants involved,
or the objectives pursued, esp. one in which the
laws of war are disregarded.
 War up to this point had many laws and customs.
 The introduction of new technology will upend these
wartime norms and cause huge shifts in perception.

7. What rules of war?
 The Hague Conventions of
1899 and 1907: expressly
prohibited chemical weapons
on the battlefield. Signed by
all major countries.

2. Convention with respect
to the Laws and Customs of
War on Land: POW’s must be
treated with respect. No poisons.
No looting of towns.
 Today, (most) nations still
abide by the Geneva Protocol
of 1925 which prohibits the
use of biological or chemical
weapons.

8. Victims of a Gas Attack

9. Victims of Gas Attack
Image courtesy of The Onion.

10. Image
courtesy of
The Onion.

11. Civilian Deaths in the War
 Total civilian deaths, including disease, famine, and
―accidents‖ totaled 5.8 million.
 Civilian deaths as a result of direct military
action totaled roughly 1 million.
 Russia lost almost 1 million civilians during the
course of the war until it withdrew in 1918.

12. TO THE FRONT!
The Mighty Russian Army.

13. ―From Munich via Metz to Paris,‖ German soldiers mobilize. August, 1914. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

14. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Writing reads, ―Trip to Paris.‖

16. Germany invades Belgium
 First campaign of WW1
 Invasion of Belgium prompts
Great Britain to enter the
war due to the London
Treaty of 1839
 German invasion becomes
known as “The Rape of
Belgium.”
 The actions of the German
military in Belgium are
stylized and described in
order to provoke British
outrage and, hopefully,
bring America into the
war.
Image courtesy of New York Tribune, public domain.

17. Technology of Total War
 Poison gas
 Artillery
 Machine guns
 Aircraft
 Tanks
 Flamethrowers
Australian soldiers in gas masks. Image
courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

18. Gas Masks, c. 1918. Image courtesy of the Woodrow
Wilson National Library.

19. Big Bertha, German Howitzer. Image courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons. Used in Battle of Liege, c. 1914.

20. French machine gunners, c. 1918. Image courtesy of the U.S. National

21. British plane flying over German lines. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland.

22. ―A British Tank in Action.‖ Image courtesy of
www.firstworldwar.com

23. French soldiers using flamethrowers, c. 1919. Image
courtesy of www.gwpda.org

24. A German sniper waits for a shot from the trench. Date unknown. Image
courtesy of the History Place, World War I timeline.

25. World War 1 Propaganda
 Objective: Let’s look at
the propaganda efforts in
World War 1 and how, or
why, they were effective.
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Make sure to grab a
propaganda poster analysis
worksheet on your way in.
You will be turning it in at
the end of class.
Finish your study guide.
Hold on to it for the unit test
at the end of the week.
At the top of page 2 of your
study guide, write
PROPAGANDA.

26. Propaganda
 Defintion: information, esp. of a biased or
misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a
particular political cause or point of view.

27. ―The Crucified Soldier‖ from WW1, originates in Belgium
―The Crucified Soldier,‖ from Wikimedia commons

28. Reality vs. Propaganda
 Alliances -> War, and war needs soldiers
 Countries must ―sell‖ the war effort to their citizens.
No one wants to fight in No Man’s Land. It’s
named that for a reason.
 So, allies and central powers each begin
propaganda campaigns to recruit soldiers and
stir up civilian support.

29. Following images courtesy of www.ww1propaganda.com

32. ―The Call‖ by Jessie Pope, 1915
Who’s for the trench—
Are you, my laddie?
Who’ll follow French—
Will you, my laddie?
Who’s fretting to begin,
Who’s going out to win?
And who wants to save his
skin—
Do you, my laddie?
Who’s for the khaki suit—
Are you, my laddie?
Who longs to charge and
shoot—
Do you, my laddie?
Who’s keen on getting fit,
Who means to show his grit,
And who’d rather wait a bit—
Would you, my laddie?
Who’ll earn the Empire’s
thanks—
Will you, my laddie?
Who’ll swell the victor’s
ranks—
Will you, my laddie?
When that procession
comes,
Banners and rolling
drums—
Who’ll stand and bite his
thumbs—
Will you, my laddie?

34. ―Dulce et Decorum Est‖ by Wilfred Owen, 1917
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed
through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our
backs
And towards our distant rest began to
trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their
boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all
blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that
dropped behind.
Gas!(7) Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of
fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and
stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick
green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking,
drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could
pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his
face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted
lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high
zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(It is sweet and right to die for one’s
country)

35. Reality
Reality of the war. ―Gas Attack, 1917.‖ Image courtesy of the State Library of New York.

36. Propaganda in film
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=KQPJ0FEXtoM&safe=ac
tive
Take out a piece of
notebook paper and
answer the following
questions while you watch
the video:
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What is the purpose of the
video?
How is Great Britain
personified?
What do you make of the phrase,
―What others are suffering,‖ used
throughout the video?
How is social class portrayed?

37. A.
C.
C.
B.
D.
E.

38. Sources for Slide 37
 A. ―Be Patriotic‖ courtesy of
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www.ww1propaganda.com
B. ―Destroy this Mad Brute‖ courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons
C. ―Beat Back the Hun‖ courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons
D. ―We Teach them to Run‖ courtesy of
www.psywarrior.com
E. ―Father What Did you Do‖ courtesy of
www.ww1propaganda.com