麻豆APP

Posters. Photo by Rohan on

10 Fascinating World War I Propaganda Posters

Propaganda is a form of communication that seeks to influence or manipulate an attitude of a group of people toward a cause or political position. By its nature, it is not impartial and is usually biased. It is often selective with the facts or truths it presents, and will often appeal to the fears or concerns of the group it is targeting. It is used to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented.

This is one of the strategies that was used during World War I. The impact of the poster as a means of communication was greater than at any other time in history.  As a valuable historical research resource, the posters provided multiple points of view for understanding this global conflict. They mobilized support for the war effort, summoned donations to charities, encouraged participation in war bonds, and publicized victories in notable battles to a broad public.

In this article, I will share with you 10 Fascinating World War I Propaganda Posters.

1. Uncle Sam (U.S.A) 鈥淚 Want You for U.S. Army鈥�

The image of Uncle Sam (seen as the personification of the United States) from the World War I recruitment poster has become one of the U.S.A.鈥檚 most iconic images. This poster was authored by James Montgomery Flagg, a prominent U.S. artist. It was inspired by a British recruitment poster showing Lord Kitchener in a similar pose. It shows an elderly white man with white hair and a goatee, wearing a white top hat with white stars on a blue band, a blue tail coat, and red-and-white-striped trousers.

Information for the reader

2. 鈥淭reat 鈥榚m Rough鈥� 1917

鈥淭reat 鈥榚m Rough鈥� Author Hutaf, August William, 1879-.

This poster, by artist August William Hutaf, was created for the United States Tank Corps. At that time, American propaganda鈥檚 success depended on knowing with what popular knowledge Americans encountered images as well as countering anti-patriotic images. 鈥淭reat 鈥檈m rough鈥� both acknowledged and forgave men鈥檚 actions, a humorous acknowledgment of supposed innate masculine behavior, especially when it came to the physical and social treatment of women.

It insinuated that women who provoked men deserved to be punished by the men. It can be equated to Germans provoking a world war, and they deserved what Americans were going to give, especially through the destructive machinery of tank warfare.

3. 鈥淪o S盲h es aus in Deutschen Landen鈥� 1918

This was the work of Egon Tschirch, a German painter, and was made towards the end of World War I. It shows a German city in flames on the banks of the Rhine, being devastated by huge French howitzer guns. The text in the German language, “So S盲h’ es aus in deutschen Landen k盲m’ der Franzose an den Rhein” loosely translates to, “This is how it would look in German lands if the French come to the Rhine”. Desperate at that time, the German Government wanted to rally its people for their support in the conflict. It is similar in design to other Allied posters made depicting the German threat. 

The colors in the poster stuck with red and black, which were used in a great deal of Germany鈥檚 propaganda work, as well as the gothic script. In the poster, we can see two French howitzers that are firing on a city on the banks of the Rhine, where great plumes of smoke rise from the industrial areas.

4. Lord Kitchener (Britain) 鈥淵our Country Needs You鈥� 1914

An icon of total war, Lord Kitchener calls upon British citizens to enlist for the First World War. Alfred Leete (1882鈥�1933).

Perhaps one of the most famous recruitment posters of World War I showing Lord Kitchener. This image, designed by Alfred Leete and famous for Kitchener鈥檚 pointing finger and the words 鈥榊our Country Needs You鈥� depicts Lord Kitchener, who was the British Secretary of State for War, wearing the cap of a British Field Marshal and calling on the viewer to join the British Army to fight against the Central Powers. The poster would go on to influence the United States and the Soviet Union.

 The fact that Kitchener was an actively serving military officer lent credibility to the poster. Le Bas of Caxton Advertising chose Kitchener for the advertisement, saying Kitchener was 鈥渢he only soldier with a great war name, won in the field, within the memory of the thousands of men the country wanted.鈥�

5. Howard Chandler Christy, If You Want to Fight, Join the Marines

Howard Chandler Christy.Author National Photo Company Collection .

Howard Chandler Christy鈥檚 infamous Gee! I Wish I Were a Man! I鈥檇 Join the Navy! (1917) depicts an iconic 鈥淐hristy鈥� girl dressed seductively in a sailor鈥檚 uniform, her alluring stare imploring men to enlist both for the American cause and to satisfy any girl鈥檚 desire. A master of creativity, he employs these seductive women in other enlistment posters such as 鈥業f You Want to Fight, Join the Marines (1915)鈥�.

 Its production two years before the war made it a rare example of artists鈥� involvement on the eve of World War I. Here, this Christy girl, unlike her Navy counterpart, is less seductive, with her stance and her uniform more directly corresponding to a soldier embarking for the front lines, reiterating that men should assert their own masculinity and join the Marine Corps.

6. Charles Dana Gibson, U.S. Navy, 鈥淗ere he is, Sir,鈥� 1914-1918

This poster by Charles Dana Gibson鈥檚 U.S. Navy illustrates a mother sacrificing her son to the United States Navy struck a deep chord with families whose sons and husbands had left for 鈥渙ver there.鈥� Yet, in spite of the difficulty in sacrificing their sons to Uncle Sam, the mother and son鈥檚 respective duties to their nation overrode the domestic duties of a mother to son.

Read more 

7. Alonzo Earl Foringer, The Greatest Mother in the World, 1917

The Greatest Mother in the World. Author Foringer, A. E. (Alonzo Earl), 1878-1948.

The Greatest Mother in the World (1917) was incorporated into numerous Red Cross posters, both by itself as a statement to the work of the Red Cross and as part of the Christmas Roll Call, which strived to raise money to support the nurses. In this image, which clearly evokes the Pieta, the mother is cradling a wounded soldier who is strapped to a gurney and reduced to the size of a child. While the soldier is immobile and unable to continue his fight, the nurse consoles and protects him just as if she was his mother.

8. Clarence Underwood, Back Our Girls Over There, 1918

Women worked with the Young Men鈥檚 Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) and the Young Women鈥檚 Christian Association (Y.W.C.A). assisting soldiers who lived abroad. The Y.W.C.A. financially supported women entering the workforce in order to increase physical participation in the war effort. Women were hired for jobs traditionally held by men both domestically and in Europe, completing the tasks necessary in spite of the absence of men.

鈥� In Back Our Girls Over There (1918), a woman manages the telephone lines to convey messages to the front line, while soldiers congregate in the background, marching to their next battle. This image clarifies that women, too, served overseas in several capacities.

9. Montgomery Flagg, Wake Up America Day, April 19, 1917, 1917

James Montgomery Flagg used this image of Moehle for his poster, Wake Up America Day April 19, 1917 (1917). Moehle herself was extremely interesting. She prided herself on her mechanical abilities, often taking apart car engines to put them back together to prove that a woman, too, could work on a car. Aside from her participation in Wake Up America Day, Moehle also worked for the Y.M.C.A. in France during the war and continued to work for the organization until 1920.

10. Ernest Hamlin Baker, For Every Fighter a Woman Worker, 1918

 Ernest Hamlin Baker鈥檚 For Every Fighter a Woman Worker (1917) depicts female workers marching while holding wrenches, hammers, and other tools that indicate their various occupations. All wearing different uniforms, the crowd of women extends back into space, implying that as the numbers of soldiers increase, so do the swelling ranks of 鈥渨oman workers.鈥�

.