World War I Propaganda Posters and Recruitment Methods

1. Station 1 Document #1: British Propaganda Poster The illustration shows a blimp flying over London at night.

2. Station 1 Document #2: British Propaganda Poster

3. Station 1 Document #3: British Propaganda Poster

4. Station 1 Document #4: German Propaganda Poster English translation: “Go on, soldiers, and fulfill your duty! Christ, the good shepherd– watches over his flock– Oh lord! Your kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

5. Station 2 Document 1: Background info on “The Zimmerman Note” Between 1914 and the spring of 1917…while armies moved across the face of Europe, the United States remained neutral. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson was elected President for a second term, largely because of the slogan "He kept us out of war." Events in early 1917 would change that hope. In frustration over the effective British naval blockade, in February Germany broke its pledge to limit submarine warfare. In response to the breaking of the Sussex pledge, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany. In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause.

6. Station 2 Document 2: “The Zimmerman Note” 19 January, 1917: The Zimmerman Noteto the German Minister to Mexico Berlin, January 19, 1917 On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral the United States of America. If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to re-conquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement.... You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan. Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months. Zimmerman(Secretary of State)

7. Station 2 Document 3: American political cartoon. The note reads “Join with Germany and you get a bit of the United States”

8. Station 3 Document 1: Many people in Africa had only the vaguest understanding of what the First World War was about. Certainly the reasons for it were not easy to understand. It was triggered by the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand of Serbia, and in Europe, people thought it would be all over by Christmas of 1914. Without the cooperation of local leaders and chiefs, European powers would not have been able to raise the troops and carriers they needed, and some chiefs were very willing to help. Buganda chief Samwiri Mukasa:"This is one of the most important services that I have done for the peace of the protecting government and for the peace of the whole world.A war against Britain was a war against Buganda, and so, when I was appointed to lead some soldiers, I at once left for Kampala with 5,000 men. There I was told not to go to the battlefield at once, but to wait in my country and do as I was directed. While waiting, these are some of the things I did:(a) I did all I could to recruit men for the armies.(b) I sent in a lot of carriers.(c) I very much encouraged the growing of food…(d) I encouraged further the growing of cotton…(e) Because I very much wanted peace I tried my best to get into contact with the British armies for I did not want the enemy to get to our city London."

9. Station 3 Document 2: People were recruited in a number of ways. One was through a direct appeal for volunteers. This happened first in Egypt, where peasants were attracted by the wages offered. Another was recruitment through chiefs. The British enlisted the help of chiefs and left them to find the men however they could. Although officially nobody was supposed to be forced into signing up, inevitably they were. This happened under the British in northern Rhodesia. In the Congo, the Belgians forced 260,000 men to be porters carrying soldiers, equipment and provisions. A first hand account of what it was like to be recruited: "We came back one night from our yam farm. The chief called us and handed us over to a government messenger. I didn't know where we were going, but the chief and the messenger said that the white man had sent for us and we must go. After three days we reached the white man's compound.Plenty of others had arrived from other villages far away. And the white man wrote our names in a book. And tied a brass numbered ticket round our necks and gave each man a blanket and food.Then he told us we were going to the Great War to help the king's soldiers who were preventing the Germans coming to our country and burning it. We left and marched far into the bush. The government police led the way and allowed no man to stop behind."

10. Station 3 Document 3: the British Empire at War

11. Station 3 Document 4: the British Empire at War

12. Station 3 Document 5: the British Empire at War

13. Station 4 Document 1: British propaganda poster

14. Station 4 Document 2: British propaganda poster

15. Station 4 Document 3: British propaganda poster

16. Station 4 Document 4: American photograph Many women, such as these ladies volunteering at a military canteen in New York, served drinks and made conversation with sailors and soldiers. Military facilities were segregated by race until after World War II.

17. Station 4 Document 5: American propaganda poster

18. Station 4 Document 6: British propaganda poster

19. Station 4 Document 7: American photograph Although the United States did not enter the war until 1918, over 30,000 American women ultimately answered the call, serving in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, the Navy as Yeoman, as well as in the Marines, and Coast Guard.  The U.S. military recruited women as translators, telephone operators, drivers, and cryptologists*. These young women are being sworn in as Navy Yeomen at a Los Angeles naval base. *people who write and break codes, and figure out documents written in code

20. Station 4 Document 8: French photograph During World War I in France a labor shortage developed as many French men were called to serve in the military. To fill the gap, many women began doing industrial work that previously had been done only by men. Shown here, French women work in an ammunition factory during the war.

21. Station 5 Document 1: Graph

22. Station 5 Document 2: Graph

23. Station 5 Document 3: images An unknown solider at a military grave A few of the thousands of British veterans of WWI German trenches: 1915

24. Station 6 Herbert Read (1893-1968) "The Happy Warrior" His wild heart beats with painful sobs,His strin'd * hands clench an ice-cold rifle,His aching jaws grip a hot parch'd tongue,His wide eyes search unconsciously.He cannot shriek.Bloody salivaDribbles down his shapeless jacket.I saw him stabAnd stab againA well-killed Boche.**This is the happy warrior,This is he... Document 1: British poem *strained **an offensive slang term for a German

25. Station 6 "How to Die"by Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) Dark clouds are smouldering into red  While down the craters morning burns.The dying soldier shifts his head  To watch the glory that returns;He lifts his fingers toward the skies  Where holy brightness breaks in flame;Radiance reflected in his eyes,  And on his lips a whispered name.You'd think, to hear some people talk,  That lads go West with sobs and curses,And sullen faces white as chalk,  Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses.But they've been taught the way to do it  Like Christian soldiers; not with hasteAnd shuddering groans; but passing through it  With due regard for decent taste. Document 2: British poem

26. Station 6 Document 3: British poem "Back" by Wilfred Gibson (1878-1962) They ask me where I've been,And what I've done and seen.But what can I replyWho know it wasn't I,But someone just like me,Who went across the seaAnd with my head and handsKilled men in foreign lands...Though I must bear the blame,Because he bore my name.