Any act of promotion can be propaganda only if, and when it becomes part of.
A deliberate campaign to induce action through influencing attitudes. During the Great War we were introduced to the first of its kind in Britain, and we seen it repeated again in the people's war. Today it is evident everywhere, but where did it all begin and what gender roles did it define for society today?.
In 1914 when the Great War started the British government wanted men to fight Germany; at the same time it wanted neutral countries to stay friendly to Britain. To do this it used propaganda. In countries such as Britain the use of propaganda posters was readily understandable: in 1914 Britain only possessed a professional army and did not have in place a policy of national service, as was standard in other major nations such as France and Germany.
One of the very first posters used in the First World War was of Lord Kitchener and his recruitment campaign to enlist young boys into the voluntary army. This poster is aimed at young boys over the age of eighteen. This poster is very simple and minimalist. There is nothing to distract the eye or detract from the message. In fact the red of the written code draws our attention to the message. As expectations of a short war began to recede, the volunteers diminished and the Parliamentary Recruitment Campaign launched a specific campaign on the public. Using various methods of propaganda the aim was at the whole population and they were encouraged to impose pressure on those who could fight but were not doing so e.g. children putting pressure on their fathers. In 1916 the government introduced conscription, this is when every fit and able man had to go to war if he was called up. The poster in figure 2 was concerned with exploiting male pride in the face of family expectations. Developments in lithographic printing were evident in the now more complex combinations of graphical imagery and emotional appeals.
