Allied Powers Propaganda Poster: “Destroy This Mad Brute”
This propaganda poster was drawn and written by H.R. Hopps in America in the year 1917 during World War I. It was targeted towards american men during the war in order to attempt to boost their confidence and give them the desire to enlist in the war effort against the Central Powers. With reference to the origin and purpose of the poster, its value is that it depicts a large ape-like creature carrying a half naked woman in one hand and a bat in the other with the word “KULTUR” (culture) written on the bat. It is showing the people that Germany, depicted by the ape-like creature, will come and storm America with its culture and destroy the foundations of, in the eyes of American men, the ideal country as well as take the women of America and is trying to motivate the men that view it to “destroy this mad brute” and save their country as well as protect their wives, children, mothers, grandmothers, and any other women around them. Its limitations are that it gives no reference as to how one would go about helping to aid our country in destroying the Germans, although it is implied. Another is that the only suggestion that the ape-like creature represents the Germans is the word “KULTUR” written on his bat, which is easily missed and could be mistaken for many other languages or even gibberish if the viewer does not know the German language. A third limitation is that the only suggestion that this ape-like creature is coming to destroy America is the word “America” written on the ground below the ape, which, much like “KULTUR,” can be easily missed by the viewer.
This propaganda poster was drawn and written by H.R. Hopps in America in the year 1917 during World War I. It was targeted towards american men during the war in order to attempt to boost their confidence and give them the desire to enlist in the war effort against the Central Powers. With reference to the origin and purpose of the poster, its value is that it depicts a large ape-like creature carrying a half naked woman in one hand and a bat in the other with the word “KULTUR” (culture) written on the bat. It is showing the people that Germany, depicted by the ape-like creature, will come and storm America with its culture and destroy the foundations of, in the eyes of American men, the ideal country as well as take the women of America and is trying to motivate the men that view it to “destroy this mad brute” and save their country as well as protect their wives, children, mothers, grandmothers, and any other women around them. Its limitations are that it gives no reference as to how one would go about helping to aid our country in destroying the Germans, although it is implied. Another is that the only suggestion that the ape-like creature represents the Germans is the word “KULTUR” written on his bat, which is easily missed and could be mistaken for many other languages or even gibberish if the viewer does not know the German language. A third limitation is that the only suggestion that this ape-like creature is coming to destroy America is the word “America” written on the ground below the ape, which, much like “KULTUR,” can be easily missed by the viewer.
Central Powers Propaganda Poster: “U Boote, Heraus” or “U-boats, Out!”
This German propaganda poster was created by Hans Rudi Erdt in the year 1916 during World War I. Its intended audience was German men to try and help recruit them for the newly developed U-boats, or submarines. Because this was a new technology, they needed all the men they could get for these naval war machines to be of use. The artist uses simplistic symbols that are very large and bold. He keeps the overall message of the poster simple using only three main symbols, those being “U”, “Boote”, and “Heraus”. In the background of the picture, he depicts a sinking ship and smoke rising from it, which displays the power of these mechanized underwater weapons because of their stealth and the fire power that they carry on them. The poster’s value, is that because of the simple messages and display of the boats’ power, even common and uneducated men could understand it, causing even more men to be inspired to help the U-boat effort. The poster has various limitations though. One being that, because they only included propaganda for U-boats, the other parts of the military may have become short on men due to the majority of them going to help with the U-boats. Although the simplicity of the poster is a value and that it may help to recruit and motivate even more men for the U-boat effort, it may also be another limitation to the poster and its overall goal. Because the poster is so simple, it may not be very interesting to some men and because of this it will not catch their attention and convince them to read the poster in the first place. This will lead to less men being influenced by the poster.
This German propaganda poster was created by Hans Rudi Erdt in the year 1916 during World War I. Its intended audience was German men to try and help recruit them for the newly developed U-boats, or submarines. Because this was a new technology, they needed all the men they could get for these naval war machines to be of use. The artist uses simplistic symbols that are very large and bold. He keeps the overall message of the poster simple using only three main symbols, those being “U”, “Boote”, and “Heraus”. In the background of the picture, he depicts a sinking ship and smoke rising from it, which displays the power of these mechanized underwater weapons because of their stealth and the fire power that they carry on them. The poster’s value, is that because of the simple messages and display of the boats’ power, even common and uneducated men could understand it, causing even more men to be inspired to help the U-boat effort. The poster has various limitations though. One being that, because they only included propaganda for U-boats, the other parts of the military may have become short on men due to the majority of them going to help with the U-boats. Although the simplicity of the poster is a value and that it may help to recruit and motivate even more men for the U-boat effort, it may also be another limitation to the poster and its overall goal. Because the poster is so simple, it may not be very interesting to some men and because of this it will not catch their attention and convince them to read the poster in the first place. This will lead to less men being influenced by the poster.