WWI Propaganda

Bellwork Please look back to Unit 8 Vocab – review with your groups the definition of propaganda. Next, create a T-chart titled: Wartime Propaganda. Label one side Propaganda Objectives and the other Propaganda Tools.

Wartime Propaganda Objectives (What they want to achieve) Recruitment of Soldiers Financing the war effort through the sale of war bonds. Unifying the country behind the war. Conservation of resources. Participation in home-front organizations to support the war effort.

Tools Used in Wartime Propaganda

Demonization Portraying the enemy as purely evil, menacing, murderous and aggressive. It is obvious whom the public should hate as the enemy is portrayed as a beast or the devil himself. Often the enemy is blamed for committing atrocities against women, children or other non- combatants.

Emotional Appeals Playing on people’s emotions to promote the war effort. The emotion used most often is fear as that is considered the strongest emotion to compel people to action.

Name Calling Using loaded labels to encourage hatred of the enemy. Labels like “Commies,” “Japs”, and “Huns” reinforce negative stereotypes

Patriotic Appeals Using patriotic symbols or language to appeal to people’s national pride, for example, the flag, a Uncle Sam, etc…

Half-Truths of Lies Deception or twisting the truth. Some element of truth may be included to make an argument more persuasive and believable.

Catchy Slogans Using memorable phrases to foster support for the war effort. For example, short phrases like “Remember the Alamo!” have been very successful in motivating Americans to strongly support the use of arms.

Evocative Emotional Symbols Using symbols that appeal to people’s emotions – like statues, mothers and children, a wounded soldier, - to promote the war effort.

Humor or Caricatures Capturing the viewer’s attention through the use of humor to promote the war effort. The enemy is almost always the butt of the jokes used by propagandists.

Now that you have looked at several examples of wartime propaganda – you can make your own poster. Just follow the directions on the following slide!

Propaganda Poster Use at least 1 wartime propaganda objective and 3 tools in your poster. Your poster should reflect the time period of WWI and be from a European country It needs to be your own creation – hand drawn, or you may use clip art and the internet. Your poster must be colorful and creative.