Men Called to Arms

The use of propaganda was a common thing in war. In particular, posters were used as a reliable and effective form of propaganda. It was the use of these posters that enabled such a great response to the war. These posters stimulated enthusiasm in the people and helped develop a greater sense of Nationalism. War posters were used to recruit soldiers through use of propaganda and repetitive slogans. These men were in a sense being “called to arms” to fight for their nation (Britain). This “call to arms” helped Britain raise enough men to have a strong army.
There were many different posters that all served the same underlying purpose. A poster that read, “More men and still more until the enemy is crushed”, was telling the public that the country and army needed more men. Without more men the enemy could not be defeated. “Another Call” shows that there have been many calls like this and the people in the Nation need to step up and join the army. Similar to this poster is the poster that said, “The Empire needs men! All answer the call. Helped by the Young Lions and Old Lion defies his foes. Enlist now.” Depicted in this war poster are many ferocious looking lions. This picture evokes fierce emotion in the viewer. It de-personifies warriors and soldiers to make them into bold and strong lions. The lion is the focus of the poster and may represent Britain and the other smaller lions behind him are the soldiers needed for the war. This poster is asking for new recruits of healthy young men that resemble lions because of their fierceness, toughness, and will to fight.

The Nation is represented in these posters. Concepts of the Nation were forming around this time and were especially evident in the recruitment of British men into the Army and Navy. One poster that evoked feeling of Nationalism said, “National service. Defend your island from the grimmest menace that ever threatened it.” This poster is implying that one should fight to protect their home country. This “call to arms” is to defend their “island” meaning Great Britain. There are slight hints of propaganda in this poster when it refers to the enemy as “the grimmest menace that ever threatened it”. This propaganda was used over and over to make the British people see their enemy and very savage and threatening and therefore they wanted to rise up and join the army to protect their country and Nation.

There were different types of posters used to recruit men. Some posters evoked emotion whereas other evoked fear and hatred. There were also the other war posters that wanted the viewer to feel a great sense of Nationalism. The people needed to know facts however, so they used posters to teach the people about everything they needed to know about being enlisted in the army. There was a poster with the title, “More men are wanted for His Majesty’s army”. It is obvious that Britain needs as many men as they can get. “More Men” is a prevalent message among these posters and is a slogan that was probably instilled in the peoples’ heads at this time of war. This poster, differing from the others, is more informative than thought provoking. It informs the common man of his duties, pay, allowances, pensions and provisions, as well as how and where to enlist. This information is crucial to the every-day laborer who is looking to understand more about the exact details of being enlisted in the army during World War I.

Along with men being called to arms, there was a strong push for the involvement in women. This involvement helped further the cause of the war effort. It was the men, however, that were the ones fighting and dying every day. The army needed as many men as it could get. Through uses of propaganda war posters the British government succeeded in putting together a large and powerful army for the War. Although propaganda is usually looked at in a negative light, it can be seen here as a sort of good tactic because it benefitted the country as a whole. Without a sufficient amount of national pride, there would not be enough Patriotism and Nationalism that was needed from the people to create a large army with determined middle-age men fighting for a higher purpose and cause, their country, their Nation.