Propaganda was used extensively on the Canadian home front during World War I to encourage support for the war effort. It aimed to encourage men to enlist, people to conserve resources, and contribute in any way possible, as well as make people hate the Germans. Propaganda utilized posters with positive or negative messages to appeal to emotions like guilt, play on fears, and portray the enemy as a threat. The government distributed different posters targeting specific audiences to recruit soldiers, promote conservation, and generate financial contributions through varied propaganda techniques.
2. What is propaganda?
Propaganda is a word used
to describe the process of
persuading people to
believe in a certain idea or
a set of ideas.
3. Why was propaganda
used?
In the First World War, propaganda
was first used to:
To encourage men to enlist in the
armed forces
To encourage people to conserve
on the Home Front
To encourage people to
contribute to the war effort in any
manner they could
To make people hate the
Germans.
4. How was propaganda
used?
Enlistment posters form the Great War, could fire up the
imagination of young men and make them eager to join the
Armed forces.
Propaganda was also used to appeal to the women of Canada.
They would try to encourage women to persuade their
sons, brothers and husbands to go off and fight in the war.
Posters were also used to encourage support for the war effort
at home.
The government encouraged people to do their part (contribute
and conserve) and to make them hate the Germans.
The government really attempted to encourage conservation of
materials and food that could be used on the Western Front.
5. In summary…
Propaganda was used for four
main reasons:
To encourage men to enlist in the
armed forces
To encourage people to conserve
on the Home Front
To encourage people to
contribute to the war effort in any
manner they could
To make people hate the
Germans.
6. The Main Techniques of
Propaganda
The main human emotion that any propaganda poster will
try to appeal to is our sense of guilt.
In order to achieve the objectives for propaganda, there
were two types or styles of propaganda used during the
war: a) Positive and b) Negative
7. Positive
To encourage the readers or viewers to feel that they were
part of the effort in helping to win the war and stop the
Germans.
That the war was being won.
8. Negative
Designed to play on the
public's fears.
The war might be lost or
soldiers will die if you don’t do
your part
The enemy would be portrayed
as a threat to everyone's safety
and way of life.
At times Germans were drawn
to look evil or like monsters.
9. Your turn
World War I Propaganda Poster Analysis Questions:
GO to the following website and choose four posters to
analyse:
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/warposters/search/searchresu
lt.php
For every poster you analyse you must use the following
questions :
10. Questions
1) What are the contents of the poster?
a. What are the main colours used in the poster?
b. What graphic images are included in the poster?
c. What symbols (if any) are used in the poster?
2) Who is the intended target (the audience) of the propaganda?
3) Who is the sender of the message (what side is the poster for, which side is it against)?
4) What is the message in the poster?
a. Is it positive or negative? Explain how you reached this conclusion.
b. Which of the four reasons is this poster achieving? Explain how you reached this
conclusion.
5) What is the overall effect or outcome of the poster?
