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A major difference between posters of the World
Wars is that unlike in the First World War, in the Second World
War it "was no longer possible to stir patriotic blood by large
references to King and Country", [Footnote 1] neither was xenophobia
rampant. The Germans were no longer depicted as the evil Hun as
improved travel and communications meant that many realised that
Germans were normal human beings. When war broke out, it was less
than twenty years after the previous conflict, and many had believed
that all nations involved in it would wish to avoid such a disastrous
war again, believing that even the Germans would not wish to get
involved again, although they had been visibly re-arming.
The government made
attempts to distinguish between Nazis and Germans;
people were told that it was a war of ideas, that
the "enemy's recourse to war does not represent the
will of the people, but rather reflects the obsessions
of misguided leaders"[Footnote 2]. Hitler, consequently,
appears to have become the symbol for Germany: he
was easy to depict, recognisable simply by a flopped
fringe and a black moustache (Figure 17). Fougasse's cartoon
pictures of Hitler and Goering in all places "perhaps
tended to convey the impression that the Germans were
omniscient, ubiquitous and so omnipotent"[Footnote
3], but they became so well known, that in one poster
they are recognisable simply by their uniformed legs
(Figure 18).
It was felt that propaganda "should
emphasise that our ideals are superior to Nazis' aims ... To harp
on villainy only, misses the point and makes for complacency."
[Footnote 4] The use "of atrocity stories ... only make the nervous
more nervous ... [and] we all suspect that the Germans can and
are producing similar stories for their own people"[Footnote 5].
It was believed that there was a need to
continually remind people
that Hitler's method is to lull them with promises of relative
security and then to destroy them when weakened ... this negative
horror at the idea of German rule must be supplemented by
pride in our own country. [Footnote 6]
as feelings had been aired that
people would be better off under the Germans, and
that a truce would save much loss of life. This doubtless
was what led to the production of the 'Grab, Grab,
Grab' poster ( Figure 19 ) which was to "convince
people of Germany's aggressive attentions, and to
arouse the determination to resist" [Footnote 7].
M-O felt that this poster was a failure as people
did not need any further proof of Hitler's aggressive
intentions, and indeed raised a "reluctant admiration
for Hitler's capabilities and concrete achievements"
[Footnote 8].
'Two Cheers for Socialism
1940-1942', a chapter in Addison's The Road to
1945 [Footnote 9], describes the struggle that
the government had, after the Nazi invasion of the
USSR in June 1941, in trying to combine support for
the USSR as a war-partner, whilst avoiding the popularisation
of Communism. [Footnote 10] Churchill, in particular,
was totally anti-Communist and banned the 'Internationale'
until it was realised that the Soviets were playing
'God Save the King' at every conceivable opportunity.
[Footnote 11] A M-O survey into a Communist poster
( Figure 20 ), produced soon
after the USSR entered the war, encountered differing
reactions, with many enthusiastic about their new
ally. Yet, many others had reservations about the
past behaviour of both the USSR, with its previous
alliance with Germany, and the British Communist Party,
which had previously been completely against the war,
and were concerned that the USSR planned to take over
Britain at the end of the war. [Footnote 12] Pro-Russian
feeling was generally recognised as high in the country,
and Anglo-Soviet publicity was consequently produced,
but only in order to steal the thunder of the left
[Footnote 13], with relations built up between the
Soviet Embassy and the MoI in order to prevent a flow
of information to British Communists. [Footnote 14]
It was emphasised that Russians
were fighting for their homeland, not for Communism as
Inasmuch as he is for
the creation of certain attitudes, the propagandist is necessarily
against others; and the extirpation of what he regards
as false beliefs and doctrines is as much his concern as the
propagation of the 'right' ones. [Footnote 15]
Points of common interest were
to be referred to, not differences. [Footnote 16]
Russians were no more to be referred to as Communists
than Britons were to be referred to as Capitalists.
Bolshevism was accepted only as superior to Nazism,
and it was stressed that "We need not tell the public
again that as Hitler had his Gestapo so Stalin has
his Ogpu. But we need never let him forget it" [Footnote
17]. Propaganda aimed at the working class was to
dwell on the sacrifice of the Russian workers, such
as the newspaper advertisement in Figure 21 , and the efficiency
of the Russian war machine, whilst propaganda for
the middle classes was to stress Russian culture.
[Footnote 18]
Some Soviet posters
were directly re-printed with captions in English,
such as those seen in Figure 22 . The Soviet's generally
depicted Hitler as fairly evil (Figure 23), and one could compare
this with British representations of Hitler as a silly,
and relatively harmless, little figure, (Figure 24) although
this has to be set within the general historical context
of a far longer history of German-Russian enmity than
of Anglo-German enmity, with the Russians suffering
far more at the hands of the Germans.
Other campaigns exhibit
a more subtle Soviet influence. The emphasis upon
the rule of the proletariat in Communist society led
to a glorification of industry in Soviet posters,
and, as the government owned the economy, the Soviets
were able to concentrate upon campaigns to increase
industrial output without worrying about finance.
[Footnote 19] The Ministry of Supply produced a poster
(Figure 25) showing "a gory Hitler
... scurrying away from a concentration of 'Waltzing
Matilda' tanks with blazing guns" [Footnote 20], with
the caption 'When? it's up to us' placing the responsibility
for bringing the war to a speedy end squarely with
the workers in the factory. With the accent upon the
close relation between production and the battle front,
the Soviet influence was repeated many times in posters
in which the soldier urged the citizen on in his/her
duty (Figure 26). [Footnote
21] For the factory workers cartoons superseded 'superb
pictorial reproductions' as the main propaganda weapons,
although action photographs were still to be 'liberally
featured' [Footnote 22].
In 1941 the Ministry
of Labour launched a major campaign, designed to make
work in factories look appealing and important, including
the poster 'WOMEN OF BRITAIN, COME INTO THE FACTORIES'
(Figure 27). We can see the
influence of Socialist Realism in this poster, in
the bright colours which attracted the eye; the statuesque
pose of the woman in peasant type clothes, and the
slogan, which stressed the heroic nature of factory
work; and the background scene a glorification of
industry. A more outright pro-Russian appeal was made
by a poster which declared 'COVER YOUR HAIR, YOUR
RUSSIAN SISTER DOES' (Figure 28), which
held Soviet women up as "appropriate models for emulation
by British women" [Footnote 23].
Allusions to the Japanese largely
do not appear to come into Home Front propaganda until
the end of the war. The Japanese war was seen as a
peripheral activity, something in which the Americans
were engaged, rather than the British [Footnote 24].
After VE-Day, on 8 May 1945, the British people had
to be reminded that the war would not really be over
until the Japanese were defeated (Figure 29).
In relation to its attitude to
ethnic minorities within Britain, it could be assumed
that Britain was entirely populated by white people,
as there do not appear to be any posters which appealed
to ethnic communities. Black people had long been
held to be at the bottom of the social pile, and to
bring them into view as workers alongside white British
women "went against the long-held colour bar" [Footnote
25]. Although Hitler was "told off in public for undervaluing
black men, the British government was privately doing
its best to keep black women out of the forces" [Footnote
26], and the only posters which depicted ethnic minorities
are those which appealed to a sense of Empire (Figure 30), and even in this poster
there is only two ethnic minorities, and they are
relegated to the back rows.
Having seen how the government
dealt with the issue of foreign nations, we will look at some
of the ways in which it tried to make those at home feel that
their contribution to the war was important, knowing that flag-waving
would not work any more.
Footnotes:
If you wish to cite from this page, please use
the following citation:
Lewis, R.M., 'Chapter 5: International Relations
in Posters, Undergraduate Thesis: The planning, design and reception
of British home front propaganda posters of the Second World
War', <http://www.ww2poster.co.uk/research_project/ugrad/dissinternationalrelations.htm>,
written April 1997, accessed Enter Date Here
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The First Posters
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The Direct Appeal
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