This is How it Would Look in German Lands
Propaganda in Germany near the start of the war focused on convincing the public that violating Belgian neutrality was necessary in order to get to France. There was a three-pronged approach to propaganda in Germany. They censored their own press so that no negative reports on the war would reach the public, they presented favorable information and publicity about the war to news reporters and agencies, and finally they worked to prevent the home front from being infiltrated with propaganda from the enemy.
The government would supply press releases to journalists who were not permitted to edit the reports. This meant that there was no diversity of information among newspapers and it caused the public to generally distrust the press. Propaganda in Germany toward the second half of the war took a very different turn as the need for money rose. It started playing on the fear of the people and the need for money and men at the front.
This poster from 1918 focuses on the need to for the Rhineland to remain German. The text says “This is how it would look in German lands if the French reached the Rhine.” The Rhineland made up a border with France and it was important to both sides because of that. The Germans wanted to keep France out of the Rhineland not only to keep the front in French territory, but because the Rhineland was a large industrial sector for the country.
The poster depicts French howitzers firing on German towns with buildings on fire. It was supposed to scare the public into continued support for the war. Nationalism in Germany had people willing to support the war in the beginning but now support for the war was as scarce as food so the propaganda started to shift toward that of fear.