WWI British Recruitment Poster 1914: Persuading Young Men

WWI British Recruitment Poster 1914

Purpose and Context

The purpose of this poster is to convince young men in 1914 to join up. We can deduce this because the poster is from the British government during WWI and they needed men to fight.

Persuasive Strategy

The poster is trying to persuade young men by prompting them to think about their future and their country. The girl wants to know what role her father played in the war, so the source is trying to make young men imagine their children asking similar questions about them.

Effect on the Audience

The intended effects on the audience include:

• Thinking about the future
• Deciding whether you will be a coward or a hero
• Considering your children's opinion
• The word YOU emphasizes that you are really necessary

Volunteer Motivations

Volunteer

• Some men thought it was their obligation.
• Others felt a sense of patriotism.
• Others felt it was an adventure.
• Being called a coward was another reason to enlist.

Many men thought that going to war included all these reasons. They wanted to feel they were heroes and important. They believed that if they did not go they would be humiliated and ashamed.

Conscripts and Opposition

Conscripts

• The act of killing was inconsistent with most religious teaching.
• Others were afraid.
• Others did not want to risk their lives.

A lot of men were obligated to fight. In the first year, 80,000 men were conscripted. Many men were also convinced by offers the government gave them.

Men who did not enlist were often called "cowards"; these men were afraid because they did not want to risk their lives.

Public Reaction and the Sinking of a Passenger Ship

These posters persuaded many people. They conveyed that fighting against Germany was necessary. During the invasion of Belgium and France in 1914, the German army was held responsible for many deaths.

The British were very angry at Germany, and civilian reports and outrage became exaggerated. The sinking of a British passenger liner increased hatred toward Germany.

The ship sank because of a German torpedo that killed 1,198 passengers. The deaths included people from the USA and Britain. The truth was more complicated: Germany justified the sinking by saying the ship was carrying a secret cargo of weapons from the USA to Britain.

After the British ship sank, many men joined the army—135,000 more enlisted.