David White Mrs.

Aquilina English 4U 9th March, 2011

White-i Your Country Needs You! Or does it? During World War One, two things help true, the army was losing soldiers very quickly and they needed more to replace them. This is where propaganda came into play; riling the populace into rushing to join the army and serve and die for their country. In Britain there were many attempts at recruitment drives but one of the most famous was the poster of Lord Kitchener and his commandment of Your Country Needs You! This is the piece of media which I have chosen to deconstruct (see rear of this assignment for the image), as I have seen it around a lot and seen it used so many times to drum up support for various causes. As with all military propaganda during the Great War; all of it was created and paid for by the government; as the MoD (ministry of defence) was a part of the government, albeit it had considerably more power at this point in history. The reason that this piece was commissioned was to help keep up the number of recruits into the army because as I am sure everyone is aware soldiers during WW1 did not survive very long and needed to be replenished frequently. This was part of a huge campaign the Government/Army did during 1915 and as the trench warfare set in; as the willing recruits dried up more and more had to be encouraged to join; this campaign interestingly enough was continued even when conscription was introduced in 1916 as casualties began to tally up. This massive campaign was predictably targeting the younger generation and those able to fight in military service; men aged 18 to 45ish; farmers, factory workers and labourers every walk of life was asked to join in. It was this systematic targeting of the others who could not actively fight in the war to contribute in other ways; by working in the fields and factories, man other civilian contributions were encouraged through other campaigns. This military drive for fresh meat as it were did also try to help this by making those unable to fight feeling extremely guilty because they couldnt assist in the grand struggle. By pleading to the working classes and the upper; even the lower classes were all asked upon

White-ii to do their bit; this was one of the first instances in Britain where all classes were lumped together in one big advertisement campaign. The way that the class system in Britain could be called upon was by the use of a prominent political figure; Lord Kitchener (a general and war hero). The physical words on the poster were Your Country Needs You! This was accompanied by the face of Lord Kitchener pointing to you and commanding you bend hand and knee to the poster. The use of the stark white background and dark imposing image of the Lord, contributed to almost every walk of life it reaches into the patriotism within all Britons (and indeed all nationalities). The way the text is bolded and spoken also adds to the immense message contained within such a simple design. This simple blueprint has be reused time and time again; notably by the United States army during world war 2; using Uncle Sam in place of Lord Kitchener to drum up support for the war effort. As with most effective propaganda a simple combination of stringing patriotic figure and clear stark message; combines to form an extremely effective piece of media/propaganda. Lord Kitcheners face and body bearing down on the unsuspecting young man walking through town would most certainly have brought up substantial emotion and patriotic feeling. The subtext of this poster is to play at the heart strings of Britons; trying to make you somehow feel as if you are letting your country; your king and your family down if you are not supporting the war by fighting. The way that it seems Lord Kitchener himself is asking you to would strike at every man of the time; Lord Kitchener being as famous as a pop star today; although I should disclaim that notable figures in his day did not have the same cult following as those alive today. Regardless of this Lord Kitchener telling you to do something was during his day like the authority of the King. Another subtle message is that if you dont join willingly you will meet some unfortunate punishment; being unlucky and having all your friends scorn you, these are the kind of implications if you refused to fight. In the later stages of the posters use

White-iii it would also have born the stigma that if you did not join of your own free will you would be forced into the army by conscription. This meant that by 1917-1918 you would have the imposing features upon you and the niggling doubt in your mind that if you were not compliant you would simply be forced into fighting and would have to suffer that you were forced; as well as the shells and bombs. The lifestyle presented is not physically on the image it is entirely implied by the presence of Lord Kitchener; and that is the life of the British soldier. Calm, yet tough, yes you will have to work and suffer for your country but look at Kitchener; you could be him some day, is that not worth sacrificing for? The way that this poster can draw people into the life of a patriot; by simply using Lord Kitchener in this poster his entire life is imprinted into this glamorised image of the triumphant warrior. Key to this is the thought in most Britons of the proud and noble way in which we civilised peoples have tamed the wilds of Africa and India, so why can we not tame the Germans; who have clearly overstepped themselves by daring to challenge us. This thought may not be correct or justified but it was the mentality and so by seeing a successful soldier a young person could easily see that with him by your side how could the Germans possibly win? This poster utilises the deep heart felt love for your country and its heroes to put aside your job and your life and leap upon the band wagon of the idyllic British soldier taming the wild excesses of foreign peoples. Unfortunately the glamorised lifestyle of the British soldiery of the early 20th century promotes many qualities that are quite disdainful in todays mental frame work. About the only worthwhile (although it should be noted potentially deadly) attribute that is promoted is that of patriotism. This value is presented by placing a figure that embodies (in the publics view) the entire idea of British patriotic feeling. As an unfortunate side effect this also gave rise to its promotion of violence and selfsacrifice into a; as we know now very fruitless, war. By utilising these values of determination and authoritative commands from a national icon the poster can very easily compel people to sign up; it

White-iv seems as though Lord Kitchener is not asking, but more telling you to join up and fight the good fight. This is a very effective method of using the military traditional values of, patriotism and sacrifice, in defence of the ideals of a man who would have been to many a, hero. Values are presented very strongly by the use of a wartime hero; this is just one of the many persuasion techniques. Whilst learning about the many forms of persuasion I chose to type up only four as there was almost 20 that you could use in this poster. Primarily in this poster is the use of celebrities; now he may not be as famous now but he most certainly was then, as a city not too great a distance from our current local, [Kitchener], was named for this man. This could tell you how he was during his time; people are far more likely to do what a celebrity tells them to than what an unknown politician restating statistics at them. The big lie; is one of the most powerful methods of persuasion, as with the use of celebrities; lying or leaving most of the facts out of a message are extremely effective ways of getting the consumer of the advertisement to fall into what it wants of you. This poster doesnt necessarily lie; but it implies as such. Using the phrase Your Country Needs You! it although in itself not entirely false, (Britain was in need of more soldiers) but it omitted to tell the viewer what they were signing up for. The lie that it is telling them is that not everyone is made for the army and hundreds if not thousands of people who fell into the clutches of that war were not meant for fighting and this poster and others similar probably contributed to their luring. Also implying that Kitchener would be there with you was another lie; he would be sitting in a stuffy office in London planning how the war would go. This lie although easily seen through was a common way to deceive people; as they thought their commanders and leaders were there with them. Along with celebrities and lies, this propaganda uses the charismatic leadership of Lord Kitchener to influence the way that people will view the army at this stage. The charismatic leadership

White-v of this man came from his long military experience in the Middle East, fighting off rebellion and insurrection. This reputation was exploited during WW1 when he was made Secretary of State for War, meaning he had direct control over the campaign of propaganda and recruitment drives. The way in which the poster uses the prestige is simply by having a huge imposing picture of the Lord Kitchener and having him demand in a very authoritative way that you join up and serve your country. This charisma plays upon the patriotism I have discussed so much in this deconstruction; as if somehow Lord Kitchener is the embodiment of the British fighting spirit. The final prominent persuasion technique is the use of nostalgia; this sort of encompasses all which I have discussed in the first three persuasion methods; the whole message of the poster relying almost exclusively on patriotism and Lord Kitchener. It is these two aspects that nostalgia plays upon, it makes you think of the days before Germany was trying to seize Europe, the days when only Britain could dictate what happened in the world. These are the images that would make people willing to give up their lives and serve. Other more graphic posters of the time depicted Germans impaling babies; but that would not send the same message as this. That was demonising the enemy; whereas this poster plays upon the nostalgia that your country is your first love and that you should be willing to surrender all in defence of your love [Britain]. These are just a few of the hundreds of extremely subtle techniques used by the recruitment offices across the United Kingdom during WW1. This poster with all its persuasion only tries to put out the positive spin on war; trying to hide the sacrifice and loss with a thick layer of patriotic pride. The positive messages that you can take from this poster are things like you will be one of the brave few who saved Britannia from the jaws of defeat at the hideous Hun (the word usage is intended to create the atmosphere and thought of barbarism that existed in the minds of the British over the Germans). You also get the impression that in saving your country you are doing Lord Kitchener a favour; as he is getting on now and cannot fight the war all by

White-vi himself he needs some brave chaps to help him along. All this optimism about an easy war was embellished by the promise that once you had one in a few months you would be returned a war hero and showered in praise by your loved ones and peers. The positives this poster puts out cover the negativity of the war, but to the skilled observer; who looks at other facts to you can pick out the depression and sadness brought on by war. These recruitment posters always ignored the horrors of the war, the shell shock and mustard gas. But through all their smokescreens you can still pick out one negative element in the poster; and that is you are going to have to sacrifice an awful lot if victory is to be attained. This is a negative aspect because it indicates suffering and not very many people want to experience suffering for no reason, so by having Lord Kitchener in the poster tries to play down this and to somehow say, You might lose a leg, but at least it was worth it. It tries to play the negatives as positives and put it down to patriotism. The messages in this poster are tied around a blanket of patriotism and distorted by the image of a war hero; these messages empower one group over all others; it empowers the government in the most extraordinary way. These posters allowed the government to legally increase the size of their military forces and to help fund their enormous plans for a new Europe. This in turn gave the army huge swathes of power over the nations citizens to turn them into cannon fodder or to work in the smouldering heat of the factories to make munitions. This however puts the people at a huge disadvantage because the government can control them and so in war time everything became state orientated; these posters at the forefront paving the way for the total militarisation of the U.K. This served the government well because it meant that everyones minds were on one subject so productivity and national revenue increased; as did industrial output and trade of raw materials. This poster met the needs of the government almost perfectly and so proved its effectiveness as part of a whole range of schemes designed during the Great War.

White-vii The parts of the story that are not being told are those of the actual lives that were affected by the war. The tragedy of the war is never expressed in the media; it is shunned as a part of history that we never want to revisit again; people only use it to isolate and to divide. This poster is extremely symbolic of the entire war; everyone thought it was going to be quick and painless and with enough patriotic fervour no obstacle could stand in the nations way. Any numbers of encyclopaedias and websites have images and information of the war and the effects of the propaganda upon it. But to really understand the huge implications that these media pieces had on people and the effect of the war in general you just have to look at their usage today. Many people still use this striking image to persuade; also the more demonising posters have become embedded in the very consciousness of the public today. There is still today a great feeling of mistrust toward the Germans from countries such as the U.K, the U.S and Canada; this itself must prove to some extent the effectiveness of propaganda in WW1 and WW2. This media piece in particular is a testament to countries views on the military; criticism of the military is an unpatriotic act and if you are not willing to fight then you should remain silent and be shunned. In conclusion this media piece would have to remind me of 1984; with Big Brother is watching you; this I believe is unfortunately what our society has become due to the propaganda and various media like this that is put out. Does anyone want to look at how long media control over our minds has been going on?

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