Friday 13 June 2014

Military History Photo Friday: Strange World War One Propaganda Posters

World War One produced a lot of propaganda art, including iconic images such as Kitchener pointing at the viewer and calling him to arms, and the German soldier leading away the screaming Belgian girl from her burning village.

Other was art was a little more offbeat, like this recruitment poster for the British Tank Corps. One wonders how many recruits ended up with marketable skills after the war. Then there's this image.


It's a British recruitment poster used in India. The Urdu text says, "Who will take this uniform, money and rifle? The one who will join the army."

That sounds a bit mercenary, but considering a lot of Indians wanted Britain out of India, I guess the government felt they needed to offer something other than patriotism.

These images come from the collection of the Imperial War Museum, which has a fun blog post of World War One posters here.

2 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Too bad the tank builders didn't design cars - I'd like one that rolls over slow traffic.

Gina Gao said...

These were really cool to see! Thanks for sharing.

www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Civil War Horror blog, where he focuses on Civil War and Wild West history.

You can also find him on his Twitter feed and Facebook page.