Art of the War

I chose these three posters to represent the artwork of the period, because there was a very large amount of political and recruitment posters during the first world war. The poster above is an American advertisement, trying to get people to help with the war. I chose this piece because it shows just how much people needed to do in order to keep up with the demands of wartime, and to keep their country going. The bottom left poster is an Irish military advertisement, trying to get Irishmen to volunteer but saying that it is the good Irish thing to do. I chose this particular poster because it shows how needy countries were for troops, and they went to different measures to try and get volunteers. I like this one because it tried to make men feel guilty for not being good Irishmen and enlisting, by essentially calling them bad countrymen. The bottom right poster is an American Navy recruitment ad, trying to get volunteers by saying that they would make a very big impact on the history of America. I like this poster in particular because I have always had a soft spot for the Navy (my grandfather was a sailor), and because like the others, it had a sort of guilt complex to it. I like seeing the different techniques that different armies and governments used to get more out of their citizens.