6 WWI Propaganda Posters That Rallied People to Fight

6 WWI Propaganda Posters That Rallied People to Fight

Stephanie Schoppert - February 18, 2017

6 WWI Propaganda Posters That Rallied People to Fight
Russian Propaganda Depicting Kaiser Wilhelm. British Library

Arch-Enemy Kaiser Wilhelm II

Russia was known for being slow to mobilize. In fact, Germany planned on it. For Russia, the drawback to having a massive army was the fact that it took so long to get the army organized and to the front lines. The good thing was that with a massive population there was never a need for conscription, and the army was supplied with men mainly through volunteers. Even with a large army fighting the war, there were still enough men at home to keep things working, at least for a while.

This meant that there was not as big of a need for propaganda in Russia as there was for other countries. Nicolas II did put out some pamphlets and posters that were geared toward getting people to buy war bonds which would fund the war effort. There was propaganda at the time being put out by the Communist Party that was geared toward encouraging people to fight not the Germans, but the Czar and his family. Thus came the Russian revolution of 1917.

Among the few pieces of Russian propaganda that was put out during World War I was this image of Kaiser Wilhelm II being depicted as the arch-enemy of Russia. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the person blamed for the start of the war in Russia. In this image the Kaiser is portrayed with a devil tail, horns, and cloven hooves.

With two skulls in his hands he looks like a figure of absolute evil. The skulls were used as symbols of greed, evil, and brutality. It was posters like this that kept men volunteering for the war even as losses on the front mounted. It was not until after the revolution that Russia finally accepted defeat and signed a surrender with Germany.

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