Propaganda in WW1 literature

Prose
REGENERATION: 'In London, Burns said, in his first trip out in
civilian clothes, he'd been handed two white feathers.'
 
JOURNEY'S END:  When Raleigh gets to the front line, he has
an idealised view of war, created by the media. He talks very
excitedly and is more excited about the prospect of meeting
Stanhope, not being able to understand the seriousness of war
- 'Yes, rather! We were at school together - at least - of course
- I was only a kid and he was one of the big fellows'.

OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR:

'Women of England, do your duty, send your men to enlist
today'.
'Is your best boy in khaki? if not shouldn't he be?'
FORGOTTEN VOICES OF THE GREAT WAR:
'as well as being given white feathers, there was another
method of approach. You would see a girl come towards you
with a delightful smile all over her face and you would think to
yourself, 'My word this is somebody who knows me.' When she
got to about five or six paces from you she would suddenly
freeze up and walk past you with a look of utter contempt and
scorn'. Rifleman Norman Demuth

'One leant forward and produced a feather and said, "Here's a

gift for a brave soldier". I put the feather down the stem of my
pipe. When it was filthy I pulled it out and said "You know we
didn't get these in the trenches", and handed it back to her. She
put out her hand and took it, so there she was sitting with this
filthy pipe cleaner in her hand and all the other people on the
bus began to get indignant... she got well and truly barracked by
the rest of the people on the bus'. Private Normal Demuth
 Poetry
Jessie Pope - 'Who's for the Game?'
•  'Who's for the game, the biggest thats played' compared to 'who thinks he'd
rather sit tight'.
•  'Who would much rather come back with a crutch/than lie low and be out of the
fun?'
Belittles the imporant and seriousness of the war by comparing it to a game in order
to make it seem like an enjoyable thing to do for men. Encourages men to go to war
by making them feel guilty about not going.
 
W.N Hodgson - 'The Call'
• 'Flung but a backward glance, and care-free still/Went strongly forth to do the
work of men'.
Portrays the idea that is a necessity for men to go to war in order for them to
become men.
• A lot of pastoral imagery throughout, which describes England as being
beautiful ('woodland hollows of green lawn' and 'the moon swam low/And
saffron in a silver dusted sky'), and would encourage men to fight to preserve
this image of England.
Rupert Brooke - 'The Soldier'
The same sort of idea as 'The Call', describing England as a type of heaven:
• 'Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of
friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.'
Emphasises what the soldiers are fighting for, and if not what they should be
fighting for.
 
ANTI-PROPAGANDA POETRY
Helen Hamilton - 'The Jingo-Woman'
• 'Jingo-woman/(How i dislike you!)/Dealer in white feathers/Insulter, self-
appointed/Of all the men you meet/Not dressed in uniform'
Evidently very critical of the propaganda practises that women used on the
homefront in order to basically force men into enlisting.
Songs

Links strongly to propaganda poetry, but with songs that

soldiers and the public would sing, such as those in 'Oh What A
Lovely War':
Your King and Country 
 
'at football, golf and polo,
you men have made your name.
but now your country calls you
to play your part in war,
and no matter what befalls you,
we shall love you all the more.'
Newspaper Articles
Newspapers were expected to print what the government
wanted the public to read.
Printed headlines that would stir emotions no matter how
inaccurate the information was.
• 'Belgium child's hands cut off by Germans.'
• 'Germans crucify Canadian officer.'
They would create anger amonst the public and fuel the war
effort both in the trenches and on the homefront.
 
Another common story was that Germans paraded around
Belgium with babies on their bayonets.
 
Newspapers were also liable for printing inaccurate casualty
lists and there wasn't any information on any British military
disasters or failures such as at Ypres.
This is demonstrated in 'Oh What A Lovely War' in the scene
where a pair British women and  a pair of German women have
the same conversation in their respective languages,
describing the supposed actions of the enemy soldiers towards
the people of their country.
Posters
.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Slogans on posters were commonplace in Britain in order to
pressure and persuade men to go to war and fight through now
iconic phrases and effective images.