University of Hawai‘i at Hilo HOHONU 2015 Vol. 13 of history, propaganda has been aimed at patriarchal Victims or Vital: Contrasting societies and thus, has primarily targeted men. This Portrayals of Women in WWI remained true throughout WWI, where propaganda came into its own as a form of public information and British Propaganda manipulation. However, women were always part of Stacey Reed those societies, and were an increasingly active part History 385 of the conversations about the war. They began to be Fall 2014 targeted by propagandists as well. In war, propaganda served a variety of More than any other war before it, World War I purposes: recruitment of soldiers, encouraging social invaded the every day life of citizens at home. It was the responsibility, advertising government agendas and first large-scale war that employed popular mass media programs, vilifying the enemy and arousing patriotism.5 in the transmission and distribution of information from Various governments throughout WWI found that the the front lines to the Home Front. It was also the first image of someone pointing out of a poster was a very to merit an organized propaganda effort targeted at the effective recruiting tool for soldiers. Posters presented general public by the government.1 The vast majority of British men with both the glory of war and the shame this propaganda was directed at an assumed masculine of shirkers. Women were often placed in the role of audience, but the female population engaged with the encouraging their men to go to war. Many propaganda messages as well. A small amount of propaganda was posters were aimed at men, but used women either as directly targeted at women, and these images either symbols of what needed to be protected, or as images emphasized the importance of their traditional roles, or evoking shame for the men who had not enlisted. These encouraged them to take on new, non-traditional jobs and posters were not aimed at women, but the women in functions. The images of women in British propaganda society would have seen them and internalized the from 1914 to 1918 served a variety of purposes and representations. Generally, these posters depicted appealed to a number of audiences, but generally cast women as passive, helpless, or as outright victims of women in two distinct lights: either as powerless victims, the brutality of the Germans. There were propaganda helpless in the face of the war and needing protection, or posters aimed at women, and these were mostly used alternatively as a vital and important part of the nation to recruit women out of their established occupations. and the nation's war economy. Women were called to work on farms, in munitions Although the word “propaganda” only came factories, as nurses, and many other professions. These into common usage around 1914, the concept and posters depicted women as a vital part of the nation and motivation behind the idea was ancient. The ancient the war effort. Greeks used drama, handwritten books, and oratory British men were called to arms at the beginning to spread their ideas, and as early as the late 1500s, of the war mainly through atrocity propaganda, which propaganda was used in ways that resembled modern almost exclusively depicted women as victims. Atrocity methods. Ironically, in this early example, both Spain propaganda dwelt on the violent acts committed by the and England used propaganda to tell their sides of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, with a focus story of the Spanish Armada. This use of propaganda to on their barbarism. It was used as a means of justifying provide contradictory versions of the same story remains participation in the conflict, and vilifying the enemy.6 At standard fare in modern times. The term “propaganda” the very beginning of the war, this was mostly focused originated in the missionary efforts of the Catholic on the atrocities committed in Belgium. Vivid imagery, Church in the 1620s with the Congregation for the such as the bayonetting of babies and women, was a Propagation of the Faith, created by Pope Gregory XV. main component of this propaganda. The image The This Congregation was in charge of spreading the faith Gentleman German by British cartoonist Edmund J. and regulating the church in “heathen lands.”2 Those Sullivan was one particularly gruesome image of a cherub basic ideas—the transmission of a particular agenda impaled on a German soldier's bayonet (See appendix and the regulation of behavior—were the two guiding 1). An Australian cartoon by Norman Lindsay served to principles of propaganda that remain true throughout the show the way this image was taken up throughout the ages. Propaganda gained a negative reputation as being allied countries. It also expanded on the image of the inherently false, but in reality it was more complicated. bayonetted baby and rampaging Germans to include a The idea of propaganda as untrue rested on a host of trampled Belgian woman underfoot (see appendix 2). It problematic assumptions about what “truth” was.3 was in fact a veritable cornucopia of German atrocity in Simply, propaganda was a version of truth, or intended one image, including but not limited to, poison gas, a truth, and it always had an angle. Another common zeppelin dropping bombs, and someone being crucified, theme in propaganda was the intended audience. As the in addition to the aforementioned victimized women article on the history of propaganda on the American and baby.7 Historical Association website states, “The battle for Historian Nicoletta F. Gullace discussed the men's minds is as old as human history.”4 For most atrocities in Belgium as marketing for the war in her 81 University of Hawai‘i at Hilo HOHONU 2015 Vol. 13 book Blood of our Sons. She argued that the use of a violation committed exclusively upon women, it was the events in Belgium was a powerful marketing tool women who were historically the victims of rape in the because by using images of violence against women and public consciousness. The use of this therefore gendered children, propagandists were able to create “irrefutable term, the Rape of Belgium, was twofold. Partially, it moral imperatives” with which to crush protest, justify linked back to the idea of the personification of the their entrance into the war, and motivate the continued country of Belgium as a woman, but it also evoked the sacrifice of resources, money and sons to continue specter of violence against women, which men should fighting.8 It was unquestionable that the invasion of join the army to prevent. Belgium was violent and brutal. However, there was a Defense of the home front was another subject great deal of hysteria and outright fabrication that marred of WWI propaganda that depicted women primarily as the historical record of the actual events which allowed victims. In this case, it was the idea of women at home— for occurrences like the publishing of two fabricated the mothers, wives and sisters of the soldiers—who were letters, supposedly from Belgian victims, detailing the potentially the victims of the Germans if the war was not horrors they were subjected to. Regardless of the real fought to keep them back. One British poster called for suffering that occurred in Belgium, the events were solidarity with those at the front, in an effort to prevent represented in a stylistic way, which “dwelt on perverse what happened in Belgium from happening in England.12 sexual acts, lurid mutilations, and graphic accounts of In this way, not only was the tragedy of Belgium child abuse of often dubious veracity.”9 The British used continuously evoked, but also the idea of violence the victimization of women, whether real or exaggerated, towards women. The poster showed war torn Belgium to build fervor for war. juxtaposed with a peaceful bit of English countryside and The depictions of violence against women in the text read “The Hun and the Home; back up the men Belgium were not a propaganda tool isolated to the who have saved you” (see appendix 4). At first glance, first year of the war. Nor was it all fabricated. A Dutch this appeared to be another poster directed at women, cartoon by Louis Raemaekers in 1915 called Thrown to but a closer reading reveals references to “our homes are the Swine; The Martyred Nurse was another sexually secure, our mothers & wives are safe,” which implied grotesque representation of violence against women in that this was either directed at men or at the general Belgium (see appendix 3). This image, unlike a few of population. These ideas of the safety of home were set the other images of violence against women in Belgium, opposite “their homes are destroyed, their women are was inspired by a true event, although turned grotesque murdered & worse.” Presumably, the “worse” that was in caricature. On October 12th, 1915, British nurse referenced here was rape, once again tying the idea of Edith Cavell was executed by firing squad for helping Germany's aggression to the idea of women as victims. over 200 allied prisoners of war to escape Belgium for Only this time there was the added terrifying factor of the Holland.10 The image was a woman's body, her blood idea that rather than being a distant tragedy, it would be on the floor, surrounded by Germans personified as pigs. coming for them and their loved ones. At least one of the pigs was drooling, and they appeared An Irish recruitment poster showed the potential to be leering at her dead body in a sexual manner. This of Germans breaking into a home and threatening the image directly supported Gullace's statements about the occupants: a man, woman, child and old man.