The First World War and
Propaganda
Aims:
• Identify the methods used to encourage
men to enlist.
• Study examples of anti-German
propaganda.
Government Propaganda
• Propaganda is a message that tries to get you
to think or act in a particular way.
• During the First World War the government
used propaganda to encourage the British
people to support the war effort in various
ways.
• Can you think of examples of propaganda that
you have seen so far?
Recruitment
• Propaganda was used to encourage
men to join the army throughout
the war.
• Employers put ‘pressure’ on their
workers to enlist.
• Women gave white feathers – a
symbol of cowardice to young men
not in uniform. The Pals’
Battalions encouraged young men
from the same workplace or town
to enlist together.
• However many young men joined
up with their pals ultimately died
together in the trenches.
In 1914 Heart of
Midlothian were top of
the Scottish League. On
the 26th November 1914
every member of the
team joined the army.
Seven died and never
returned to Scotland.
The photograph is some of
the Accrington Pals from the
East Lancashire Regiment.
720 men took part in the
Battle of the Somme and
584 were killed, wounded or
missing.
Anti-German Propaganda
• A wave of anti-German stories and
posters appeared in the British
press. This whipped up anti-German
feeling and encouraged many young
men to join up.
• Shops with German names were
looted.
• All German citizens living in Britain
were arrested as aliens and
imprisoned for the duration of the
war, in case they were spies.
• The Royal Family which was of
German descent changed its name
from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor
because of growing anti-German
feeling.
Group Task:
• Study carefully the following
propaganda posters from the First
World War.
• Explain how each one would have
encouraged anti-German feeling in
Britain.
1. 2.
3.
How useful are
propaganda posters
to historians when
they are researching
the past?