Background

Propaganda is the use of subjective, biased, or even misleading information to influence an audience, push a particular agenda, or elicit an emotional response instead of a rational one. Nearly every form of media, from theater to print to television and even currency, has been used throughout history to influence public opinion and support and there are examples of propaganda going as far back as 515 BC in Persia.

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw the first use of systematic propaganda campaigns in history. In Great Britain and Germany, and later in the U.S., propaganda became part of everyday life and was even written into national legislation. The U.S. Committee on Public Information, created in 1917, was the federal entity in charge of creating and disseminating materials that promoted carefully curated messages about America’s goals and the war effort to the public. Some campaigns were used to justify America’s involvement in the war. Others were used to convince Americans to volunteer for either military or civil service (Right: A U.S. Navy recruitment poster, c. 1917, created by Clifford Carleton), or to support the war effort by buying war bonds or rationing food and other materials. There were categories of posters aimed at every demographic of American society, including women, children, and the elderly. In order to support the Allies and fight the war, the U.S. also needed a strong industrial manufacturing sector and so many propaganda materials were directed at workers, imploring them to do their part by volunteering to work at munitions plants or shipyards.

The U.S. also used propaganda campaigns to demonize their enemies and influence public opinion. These images and films often used graphic violence, racial stereotypes, or other suggestive themes to portray the Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and Ottomans as bloodthirsty barbarians who would pillage America if given the chance. The effect of this was a wave of anti-German hysteria that swept the nation. Many American cities with German names, such as Berlin, Michigan and Germantown, Tennessee changed their names and some schools stopped teaching German language in classrooms. The most chilling effects were discrimination, hate crimes, and mob violence that left a German-American baker dead in Illinois.

Anti-War Propaganda

While the American government and the majority of the public were supportive of the war, there were many who opposed it on moral, religious, economic, or political grounds. This minority was especially vocal in the lead-up to America’s entry into the war as they struggled to prevent what seemed inevitable. Anti-war propaganda most often consisted of political cartoons which were published in magazines and newspapers owned by private citizens or organizations.

A political cartoon by George Bellows, first printed in The Masses magazine in 1917, depicting Jesus as a political prisoner accused of making seditious statements like “Thou shalt not kill” and “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

These materials became the flashpoint of one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in U.S. history. Although President Woodrow Wilson pushed for laws that would enable him to censor the press, he could not convince Congress, who passed the Espionage Act of 1917, and its 1918 amendments, without allowing across-the-board censorship. However, these laws did allow the U.S. to prosecute anyone who was suspected of being a spy for the Central Powers or who attempted to obstruct or interfere with military operations, including the draft or recruitment activities. The Act also allowed the U.S. Postal Service to impound any publications which it decided were in violation of the Act’s provisions. The 1918 amendments (sometimes referred to as the Sedition Act) prohibited any speech (written or spoken) which included “disloyal” or otherwise abusive language about the U.S. government, the flag, or the armed services. This unprecedented legislation gave the U.S. broad powers to prosecute and imprison anyone who spoke out against the war.

One of the most famous uses of the Sedition Act was the prosecution of Eugene V. Debs in 1918. Debs was a Socialist presidential candidate who gave a speech praising men who had been incarcerated for obstructing the military draft. Debs was charged with violating the Espionage Act and sentenced to 10 years in prison, which triggered a series of protests and riots in Cleveland, Ohio. The president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and founder of the Jehovah’s Witness movement, Joseph Rutherford, was arrested for disloyalty after editing and publishing a book called The Finished Mystery, which referred to patriotism as “delusion and murder.” The charges were later dropped, but this sentiment was echoed by many Christian pacifists, socialists, labor activists, and other conscientious objectors during the First World War, who were appalled by the industrial warfare and other atrocities occurring in Europe. Their political cartoons often used graphic depictions of violence and death or controversial religious imagery (see image above) to convince the public of the evils of war, capitalism, and imperialism.

Assignment Instructions

For this assignment you will analyze two World War I-era posters or other forms of printed media from the U.S., one with a pro-war-effort message and the other with an anti-war-effort message. When you are analyzing these posters or cartoons, make sure that you view the entire image and the caption. Zoom in so that you can see all the details. Write down notes of what you see if you need to and keep in mind that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Once you have analyzed two images, you will use some of your creativity to create your own propaganda poster.

Step 1: Look through the list of pro-war-effort propaganda posters below and select one to analyze. Once you have thoroughly looked over the image, answer the four questions in 2-3 sentences each.

Poster Choices:

• Industrial Army at Fort Factory, artist unknown, issued by the National Industrial Conservation Movement, 1917
• Buy Liberty Bonds, artist & issuing agency unknown
• Victory garden, by James Montgomery Flagg, issued by the National War Garden Commission, 1918
• Spies are listening, created by Walker Lithographic & Publishing Co. (Boston, MA), issued by U.S. Army Intelligence Officer, Northeastern Dept., c. 1917-1918

Step 1 Questions:

1. Which activity, program, or effort is this specific poster trying to advertise or support?
2. What was the goal of that activity, program, or effort in terms of supporting military objectives? In other words, how would this activity help the Allies to win the war?
3. Who was this poster directed at? What was the message or what is the poster trying to influence the audience to do or think?
4. For whom do you think this was an effective message? For whom was it not an effective message?

Step 2: Look through the list of anti-war-effort propaganda cartoons below and select one to analyze. Once you have thoroughly looked over the image, answer the four questions in 2-3 sentences each.

• Note: Two of the cartoons contain graphic imagery (nudity, gore, and death) and have been labeled [GRAPHIC]

Cartoon Choices:

• “A Plea to Our Fellow Workers,” by Ralph Chaplin, Solidarity, Sept. 1, 1917.
• “Europe, 1916,” by Boardman Robinson, The Masses, Vol. 8, Oct, 1916.
• “His Best Customer,” by Windsor McCay, 1917 [GRAPHIC]
• “After the war a medal, and maybe a job,” by John Sloan, 1914 [GRAPHIC]

Step 2 Questions:

1. Which activity, program, or effort is this specific cartoon criticizing or drawing attention to?
2. Why would someone opposed to the war want to specifically target this activity or program for criticism? What was the goal of the criticism?
3. Who was this cartoon directed at? What was the message or what is the cartoon trying to influence the audience to do or think?
4. For whom do you think this was an effective message? For whom was it not an effective message?

Step 3: It is now time for you to create your own propaganda poster or cartoon! These do not have to be fancy or complicated, they just need to capture the general idea of propaganda images which you have learned about in this assignment. For this exercise, you will select one “war-effort” activity or program from the list provided (do not choose outside this list) and your poster/cartoon will either support or oppose this activity. You can do as much outside research as you need to in order to understand more about the war effort topic you have selected. Links to further reading have been provided in the list.

You can create your poster or cartoon in a Word Document, Microsoft Paint, Photoshop, Google Drawing, or any program you have access to that allows you to combine pictures with text. Some great options include Canva, Visme, Picktochart, Infogram, Easel.ly, Genially, or Adobe Spark. You may use ClipArt or images from Google (try to search for openly licesned images that give you permission to use them, such as from Pixabay, Wikipedia, or by searching for images with a Creative Commons license. You may even draw out your idea on a piece of paper and then scan it or take a picture to upload. Again, this does not need to “look good.” You may draw stick figures if you need to. The point is not to test your artistic skills, but to test your understanding of propaganda as it relates to World War I.

List of War-Effort Activities:

• Food rationing and conservation (Food Rationing in Wartime America)
  • Victory Gardens (The World War I Garden and Victory Garden)
  • Reducing food waste
  • Substituting ingredients to save fat, wheat, sugar, etc.
• Social clubs to create materials or items for military use
  • Sheep & Pig Clubs: children raised livestock for meat and wool (these clubs became the forerunners of the 4-H)
  • Sock/Knitting Clubs: women knit socks or mittens for soldiers overseas
• The Library War Service (Bringing Books to World War I Soldiers)
• Buying Liberty/War Bonds (What Is a Liberty Bond?)
• Volunteering or donating to the Salvation Army, Red Cross, or other relief organization (Relief Efforts and Volunteers)
• Labor-related efforts (Encyclopedia of The First World War: Labor)
  • Working in munitions and automotive factories
  • Working in shipyards or ports
  • Issues related to the impact of the war on working-class Americans
  • Organized labor union issues (Labor Radicalism and World War I)

Step 4: Submit the responses to the 8 questions asked above alongside your propaganda poster. With your poster, write a 1-2 sentence explanation of how it connects to the either supporting or opposing the war effort you selected.

Worked Example of Poster

This image was created in Google Drive using the Google Drawing feature and took about 20 minutes to make. The images were found using Insert→Image → Search the Web, and the text was done using Insert → Word Art. Use your creativity and imagination, but do not get stuck on small details or making your image look professional in any way.

Materials and Resources:

• • Further Reading for War Effort List:
    • Food Rationing in Wartime America, by Laura Schumm, History Stories, History.com: https://www.history.com/news/food-rationing-in-wartime-america
    • “How Does Your Garden Grow?” Online Exhibit from the State Historical Society of North Dakota: https://www.history.nd.gov/exhibits/gardening/militaryevents7.html
    • Bringing Books to World War I Soldiers: The Library War Service, by Danna Bell (April 25, 2017), The Library of Congress: Teaching with the LoC Blog: https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2017/04/bringing-books-to-world-war-i-soldiers-the-library-war-service/

• Liberty Bond, by James Chen (Oct. 14, 2021), Investopedia, Bonds: Fixed Income Essentials: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liberty-bond.asp 

• • Relief Efforts and Volunteers, The United States World War One Centennial Commission, Education Articles: https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/edu-home/edu-topics/584-u-s-neutrality-1914-1917/5052-relief-efforts-and-volunteers.html
  • Labor, by Steven E. Rowe (Oct. 8, 2014), International Encyclopedia of the First World War: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/labor
  • Labor Radicalism and WWI, by Jessie Kindig, Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium (University of Washington): https://depts.washington.edu/antiwar/pnwhistory_wwi.shtml

Rubric