Interpreting the Visual Evidence
War Propaganda
Poster art was a leading
form of propaganda
used by all belligerents
in the First World War
to enlist men, sell war
bonds, and sustain morale on the home
front. Posters also demonized the enemy
and glorified the sacrifices of soldiers
to better rationalize the unprecedented
loss of life and national wealth. The posters
shown here, from a wide range of
combatant nations during the war, share
a common desire to link the war effort
to a set of assumptions about the different
roles assigned to men and women in
the national struggle.
Images
Questions for Analysis
1. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Why would nationalists resort to such
gendered images in a time of crisis? |
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2. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d What do these images tell us about
the way that feelings of national belonging
are created and sustained in
times of urgency? |
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3. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d How might the changes that the war
brought about—an increase in the
number of women working in industry
or outside the home, increased
autonomy for women in regard to
their wages or management of their
household affairs—have affected the
way that individuals responded to
such images? |
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