Tuesday, March 31, 2015

World War I Propaganda


The Use of Propaganda During World War I by Mimi deLisser

Before Reading, Take a Look At the WW1 Propaganda Gallery

What was Propaganda and Why Was it Used?

According to Google, Propaganda is “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” During World War I, this biased information was often communicated through visuals such as posters of gruesome images or heavy topics. Propaganda is and has been used through out time due to the persuasive images that convince people to hop on the “band wagon”. Although it may sound like nothing, Propaganda in the past has been the cause of many political leaders road to regime.


        One thing’s for sure, citizens only knew what their governments wanted them to know. The government for each country involved in World War I wanted their citizens to think a certain way, to increase their hatred for the enemy and encourage them to join the army. 
All sources of media that citizens were able to see were read through thoroughly by the government, for they only wanted people to know specific information. The government also used the media, mainly newspapers, to distribute their propaganda. 

Russia's Use of Propaganda During World War I 

Russia's use of propaganda was not similar to other European countries during World War I. The Russian government didn't use propaganda for recruitment for the army (they're army was already extremely large and did not need any more fighters) nor to turn their citizens against the enemy, but to encourage the Russians to buy government bonds to fund the war. Like I mentioned earlier, the Russian army was huge and did not need a draft any more soldiers. So, more than anything, the Russian army needed ammunition to keep the large army up and running. Their army lacked weapons, equipment, food, and mobilized infantry to keep this army on the move, but did not have the wealth to endure these resources. With this concept in mind, Russia used propaganda to persuade Russian citizens to buy government bonds to fund the war at 5 1/2% return per month. 


5 1/2% was the return rate per month

A British recruitment poster

Britain's Use of Propaganda During World War I

The British were in the exact opposite position of Germans, they lacked a large number of professional troops after entering the war in 1914. Since the British were extremely weak in warfare, it was important that they recruit more soldiers to fight. The British government decided to use propaganda to spread the word about army recruitment, instead of enlisting men through a draft or by force. The British propaganda also influenced women, for they felt inspired by the men who went off to war, so in return they stepped up in their daily duties to support the country in every way possible. 








Britain's Portrayal of Germany


The British also used propaganda to turn their citizens against the enemy, the Germans. The Germans had started this propaganda fight when they depicted the British as an evil force in their propaganda. The British retaliated, and adopted the German ways of propaganda. As shown in this image to the left, the British illustrated the Germans as evil beasts to their citizens. The British used media to their advantage by placing propaganda advertisements in newspapers and posters.  For example, the newspapers spiced things up by fabricating events. One headline on a British newspaper was “Belgium child’s hand cut off by Germans” and another was “Germans crucify Canadian officer”. These headlines, as well as other Propaganda, were used by the British to strengthen the hatred of their enemy, the Germans within their country. 







Germany's Use of Propaganda During World War I

A German propaganda stamp

A German cartoon mocking the British
             Germany was among the first countries to utilize propaganda, and initially used it to spread hatred for the British. They depicted the British as monsters, not humans to create hostile feelings among the German citizens. These messages were spread through newspapers, posters, and even postal stamps. When word got back to the British that the Germans were referring them as monsters in their propaganda, the British quickly reciprocated and took up the German ways of Propaganda.

The United States' Use of Propaganda During World War I

Even though the United States was the last country to participate in World War I, they were extremely motivated to persuade their people to participate in the war. The United States mainly used propaganda to urge men to join the army and fight for their country. These pieces motivating propaganda often depicted heroic images, so men thought that if they went to fight that after the war they'd be considered heroes. 








Propaganda artists even used women and children as a symbol to encourage men to fight for the United States, who are depicted beckoning the men to join the army. The United States propaganda used methods similar to Germany, by illustrating the enemy as "bloodthirsty monsters." These monsters were shown in propaganda attacking American citizens, which provoked men to fight in the war. 

The United States did not only use propaganda for recruiting purposes, but also encouraged people to support the war by buying war bonds issued by the government. Other posters asked for donations to the armies, such as clothing and food. 







Propaganda Today

Even though propaganda was very influential during World War I in the 1900s, this method of manipulation still exists today. Most recently, Isis has released an excerpt from their recruiting video. The video depicts their soldiers as being heroic and looking like action movie stars, and tries to encourage young people to come work with them. Take a look at this 5 minute clip: 




Take a Look At This Article About Isis' New Film "Flames of War"

Also Take a Look At This New Exhibit In Turkey About WW1 Propaganda

Works Cited

https://worldwaripropaganda.wordpress.com
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_and_world_war_one.htm
http://www.ww1propaganda.com

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Causes of WWI

Introduction
World War I was caused by a combination of increased nationalism throughout the world, an age of imperialism, an arms race between countries, and social tension throughout Europe. However, all these issues can be traced back to the industrial revolution. When countries began to industrialize and join together as a people and feelings of nationalism arose. Also as nations gained wealth and power, they felt the need to imperialize in order to gain more power, resources, and consumer markets. This caused tension between countries in places like Africa where many nations wanted land. Following the industrial revolution, countries were able to mass produce weapons which lead to an arms race in which countries tried to produce as many weapons possible. Finally industrialization lead to social tension because the working people in industrialized nations gained suffrage and were no longer content with their social status. All these reasons on the eve of WWI severed alliances and allowed the war to spread so far so fast.


This picture personifies the European Powers preparing for war.  


Nationalism 
Nationalism was one of the major causes of WWI and a huge source of strain on the affairs of the European powers. Germany's nationalism was driven by the fact that they felt they should be the dominant power in Europe. They allied more closely to Austria Hungary, in an effort to take control of South Eastern Europe. Due to their nationalistic mindset, Germany presseured Austria Hungary to declare was on Serbia once Franz Ferdinand was killed by Serbian nationalists (so they could obtain the SE block), which kickstarted WWI. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the spark that started WWI and was caused by nationalism. Austria Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina to prevent it from becoming part of Serbia, which was trying to expand at the coast of Austria-Hungary. To retaliate, a member of a Bosnian-Serb terrorist nationalist group, the Black Hand, assassinated the Archduke and his wife. This action exploded into the Great War in about a month.
Archduke Ferdinand Source: http://hd.housedivided.dickinson
Gavrilo Princip, his assassin Source: http://serbianna.com/blogs












Imperialism 
Imperialism made alliances much more complicated and made the war more crippling. Imperialism brought countries together that wouldn't normally interact, such as Russia and Japan in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, which was fought over colonies in China. That was helped form the Triple-Entente by allying Russia with France and Britain. Imperialism also created resentment between the European powers, which generated more complicated alliances. The Germans felt that they were entitled to foreign colonies, and they pursued their goal by challenging Britain's maritime dominance. This provoked a naval arms race between the two countries. Germany created another crisis over imperialism by interfering in Morocco, a country where France was establishing a protectorate. These actions forced Britain to ally with France first (1904) and then Russia (1907), forming the Triple Entente. Also, it has been said that Germany was motivated by imperial aspirations to invade Belgium and France. Those invasions ultimately activated alliances and started the war. Thus, imperialism directly contributed to the outbreak of the war and alliances that made the war so devastating.


Cartoon exemplifying British imperialism
Source: http://philosophersforchange.org/2015/02/17/the-new-imperialism/
    

           


External Links
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/origins_01.shtml Here is an in depth article about some of the causes of WWI from the BBC 
Works Cited 
"World War I." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. Vol. 5. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 2751-2766. World History in Context. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.

The 4 M-A-I-N Causes of World War One in 6 Minutes. YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRcg_t2oJkc>
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Monday, March 30, 2015





Erich Maria Remarque      
A poor German soldier turned american celebrity
By Maximo Moyer                                                       
Erich Maria Remarque was born on June 22, 1898 in Osnabruck. His father was a lowly bookbinder, as a result the family was very poor. Because of their lack of income the family moved 8-11 times during Erich's childhood. Among all this uprooting he began to write at age 16. At age eighteen he enrolled at the University of Munster, where yet again his life took a turn, when he was drafted into the German army to fight in World War I.

Remarque was drafted because Germany had just begun to militarily support Austria-Hungary. Remarque was assigned a position on western front where he was wounded once seriously and upwards of four other times. After the fighting Remarque wrote his first novel whilst recovering from wounds suffered during his time on the front.  It was called Die Traumbude ( The Dream Room ) and was published in1920.

http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-hitlere.html
-comparison of Hitler and Erich's lives and how it was to fight on the same front at the same time

 After the war Erich lacked direction in life. He bounced around doing various jobs such as teaching, stonecutting race-car driving, and sports journalism. Altough seemingly devoid of focus, during this time he was writing Im Westen Nichts Neues. In one year the book sold 1.2 million copies and was translated in 12 languages. The English Translation "All Quiet on the Western Front" was wildly popular and it experienced similar success. In fact, the book was so popular it was transcribed into a Hollywood film in 1930.

 The book was so popular because of Remarque's ability to portray the brutal physical trauma experienced in the war, as well his frustration about the German government for sending its own unwilling people into a war they did not believe in. This ideology is represented throughout the book in quotes such as "I see how peoples are set against one another and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another. I see that the keenest brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring." These two aspects of the novel encapsulated the unrest of the German populous regarding the war and were the driving forces behind its popularity. Another reason the book was revered in Germany is its unconventional style of writing. Similar to Arnold Zweig's Sergeant Grischa the book was written in a brunt, report like style that the Germans and the rest of the world adored. This book was so anti-government that the Nazi's band it during their reign for being "prejudicial to German national prestige". 
Remarque, becoming aware of the effects of hie newly found style of writing, went on to write nine more books. Many such as Der Weg zurück (1931; The Road Back). Drei Kameraden (1937; Three Comrades) condemned the German government while illustrating the futile destruction of the war. In The Night in Lisbon, his last novel written in Germany, he refutes Hitler's genocide of the Jewish people and his ridiculous assumption that the Aryans are the master race. These three books, supporting pacifism and exuding sadness surrounding the state of Germany, caused Remarque to be stripped of his citizenship in 1938.http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/fales/exhibits/remarque/documents/intro.html
-website about a collection of original diaries, manuscripts, letters, photographs, documents, and personal effects along with some Erich's view regarding his self image.
-Famous quotes of Remarque
  

Later life

 As a result of being blacklisted In the 1947's Remarque became a legal citizen of the United States, where he was beloved.  His books were admired in America for giving the American people a means to see a war from the opposing side and for being stark good stories. In America he became increasingly productive. Flotsam and Arc de Triomphe (which returned him to the best seller list) were his two most popular books from his time in the U.S.  Aside from writing Erich transformed into quite the celebrity. When he was not in hollywood spending time with actress Marlene Dietrich he was a regular in New York night life. 

                                        
Toward the end of his life he lived in Switzerland on the shore of Lake Maggiore, at Porto Ronco where he died with his wife, actress Paulette Goddard, by his side.
Paulette Goddard



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World War I Weaponry

World War I Weaponry


World War I was a brutal war fought in the early 1900’s. Throughout the war, many weapons, such as tanks; airplanes, submarines, chemical munitions, assault guns, and machine guns, were used.
One airplane used during World War I was the Zeppelin. The Zeppelin was a blimp like shape and first used by the Germans for bombing raids.  
    Rifles were also used during World War I. Each country had their own version of the rifle. The German army used the Mauser Gewehr 98 while the British army used the Lee-Enfield and the French army used the Lebel rifle throughout the world war. The United States used a carbine which is a slightly more advanced rifle. In the war, the United States used the Springfield but due to the short supply of them, the United States also used  the ‘American Enfield’.
In World War I,machine guns were very helpful for fighting. The first country to use machine guns was Germany. Shortly after Germany, the British followed. By 1918, most of the countries were using machine guns to fight. Eventually, the machine guns were added to ships and planes. Gas, although not used as much in World War II, was used in World War I. Gas was first used by the Germans during the second battle of Ypres. The gas they used was chlorine which led to the shut down if the respiratory system and choking attacks.
  



Link to video:


sources:
http://firstworldwar.com/weaponry/gas.htm
http://firstworldwar.com/weaponry/machineguns.htm  
http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/rifles.htm   
Google.com


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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Chemical Warfare


Chemical Warfare


World War I
Chemical weapons became true weapons of mass destruction when they were used in WWI. The German army started the era of modern chemical warfare by launching Chlorine attacks against Belgium and advancing through the french troops. The Allies then late countered with their own chemical warfare. This resulted in 1,300,000 casualties including 91,000 fatalities
WWII Posters
World War II
American and Great Britain
Developed and planned to use chemicals as a form of warfare.
Germany
Unable to create/import any such chemicals that could be used in a harmful way due to the Treaty of Versailles
Geneva Gas-War Protocol.
44 nations attended the Geneva conference in 1935, but only 38 agreed and 10 nations refused including America, Japan and various South American Nations
During WWI General Amos A Fries developed chemical based weapons and stated that they were “a solution to new wars” and a “blessing in wars” General Amos A Fries was the manager of “chemical Warfare Service” and his opinion was voice during the Hague conference in 1899. America was a prominent and vocal supporter of chemical weapons as being more humane.
During WWII both sides had poisonous shells, but Germany was not allowed to use chemical warfare or use chemicals to prevent the harmful effects of the chemicals from the allies.
First Incident
While in Poland the German army was victim to a mustard gas explosion. While investigating this incident the German High Command discovered that the gas was made in England.
Chemical Weapon
Churchill’s Plan
In 1940 Churchill prepared England to use chemicals if Germany dared to attack England. Sir John Dill, Chief of the British Empire General Staff tried to convince Churchill to start to use Chemical Warfare even though Germany lacked Chemical weapons. On June, 30 1940 Churchill order England to start using chemicals he then stated “It is my intention not to wait too long before England shall use chemical weapons.” Many say that this showed his Callous toward the English population.
On April in 1942 Churchill offered Stalin 1,000 tons of mustard gas, but Stalin requested 5,000 tons of Chlorine which he would use to make his own chemical weapons.
Winston and Stalin
On May 10 1942 Churchill through the use of propaganda told the English population that Germany was advancing through the use of chemical warfare and that England would start to use chemicals and German cities.

 The Gas-Catastrophe in Bari
On December of 1943 American merchant ship John Harvey, 10617 BRT was bombed by the German Luftwaffe and cause the mustard gas that was onboard to explode killing hundreds of civilians and soldiers died and the cause of their death was kept as a cover up. Only the captain and a few crew mates knew about the mustard bomb on board and with their deaths after the bombing many suffered the effects of the mustard gas. Winston Churchill’s medical personnel discovered the cause of the deaths and were ordered to not to tell the reason of death.
Bari Catastrophe
The German Scientist Fritz Hahn found in the archives in Washington DC plans showing that the United States intended to use gas-war against Germany.  The plan was to take 15 days after the Axis-countries initiated the conflict of bombing.  In totally the U.S meant to drop 28 million lbs of poisonous gas over Germany.
The Winston Churchill had brutal and bone chilling plans of starting  “a cold blooded war effort to be started and the use of poisonous gas ... When we start this I do want everybody to go for it with all they got. I want sound people to start the planning and not allow any psalm-singer to stop us from what we are about to do." . Churchill also said: "We can bomb the cities along the Rhein and many other cities and towns so hard sprinkled with gas that most of the people will have to have medical care for the rest of their lives. And we will do this by using poisonous gas."


Most Used
Phosphorous Grenade
White Phosphorous
Purpose: Set things on fire

Effects: As the Phosphorous bomb exploded pieces of white phosphorous would scattered over a wide area and the particles would explode when exposed to air. If it came into contact with skin it would stick and cause a severe burn thus taking the soldier out of combat
Napalm
A more advance and efficient way of chemical warfare as it came in contact with organic material it would burn for long periods of time.
Purpose: It was used on entrenched soldiers,which caused terror as the soldiers were turn into “human torches”
Effects: Napalm burn for a very long time and cause the demoralization of entrench troops due to the disadvantage that trenches faced with chemicals like Napalm.

 Mustard Gas
Mustard gas AKA sulfur Mustard is a chemical that cause burning of the skin, eyes and respiratory tract.
Mustard Gas can be absorbed into the body through inhalation, ingestion or by coming into contact with the body. It causes blisters, redness and itching sensations that results in yell pus-filled blisters.
Curable, but there may be lasting effects such as disfigurement and or a higher risk of other diseases such as cancer.

Chlorine
Chlorine it its natural gas from is very harmful to the human body as it is a respiratory irritant. Inhaling it cause Pulmonary edema, which is a excessive buildup of fluids in the lungs that can lead to breathing difficulties
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwN21M2eyI

Historylearningsite.co
"Chemical Warfare and World War Two". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.
Rense.com/gas.htm
Britannica.com
Chlorine
Mustardgas
Un.org
Icrc
S/O to Google for all the pics
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Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Allies



The Allies- WWI

The main 4 allied countries of World War I included Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States of America. These nations fought the inevitable war against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, also called the Triple Alliance. The allies of WWI were specifically important because they all need and fell back on each other. When one nation was attacked, the others would jump in to help.

 France- 

 France was part of the Triple Entente which also consisted of Russia and Great Britain. The French Army fought mainly on the Western Front which is France, Alsace-Lorraine, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The French lost and extreme number of soldiers, which forced them to have to raise the age of conscription (being drafted) from 34 to 45. France's main mission in WWI was to take back what was theirs, Alsace-Lorraine.

 Russia-

 Russia was on the other side of Germany, therefor fought on the Eastern Front. They were also a part of the triple entente. Russia had a great advantage in man power, but lacked in resources and technology. Russia's soldiers were very poorly equipped, but were 12 million soldiers strong. After the Russian's had lost over 1 million civilians and 1.6 million troops, they were the first to back out of the war.

Great Britain-
In history, Great Britain has always been known for their dominant navy. This is definitely true in WWI. Great Britain's greatest fear was that Germany was trying to increase their navy to be able to dominate them. This is the main reason they stepped in to fight in the war. Germany had been building a navy that no one knew about with the use of submarines. After the British had discovered this, they went to war with Germany.
United States of America-
US recruiting propaganda in WWI
The United States was the latest to the party, and joined the war on April 6, 1917. The US fought on the Western Front, primarily in France. They had put over 2 million soldiers in Europe, and lost about 120,000 soldiers during the war. Thankfully, just a little over a year after the US joined the war, Germany had formally surrendered on November 11, 1918. The victory was a huge morale boost for the nation and the other allies.




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The Central Powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire
By Bobby Frazier and Anja Pelkola

Austria-Hungary
Tensions had been rising throughout Europe, especially in the Balkans. After the assassination of the Archduke, Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination as a way of showing Slavic nationalism. (Austria-Hungary had control over parts of Serbia, and wouldn't allow Serbia to declare independence) Russia supported Serbia, and if intervened, Great Britain and France (Russia’s allies) would back them up. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and within weeks peace crumbled and World War I had begun.
This picture illustrates the complexity of the alliances involved in World War I



Germany
Germany, led by Kaiser Wilhelm was the most powerful member of the Central Powers. Their military power was unmatched. After recently taking over for the great Otto von Bismarck, Wilhelm declared that he would build a navy to rival that of Great Britain. Aligning themselves with Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the hatred of Russia shared between the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary. Supporting Austria-Hungary quickly resulted in the entirety of Europe sucked into war.



The leaders of the Central Powers from left to right, Wilhelm of Germany, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria  

The Ottoman Empire


November 14th, 1914 the Ottoman Empire declares a holy war upon Britain, France, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. Starting out the war, the Ottoman Empire began losing a lot of territory in Europe. The ottomans navy, which included two German ships, attacked Russian ports in the Black Sea, ultimately causing Turkey to enter the war. Because the Ottomans declared it a holy war, they demanded that Muslim peoples around the world stand up and defend the Empire.   

Map illustrating Europe during the War. Central powers are in red. 
Bulgaria
Bulgaria entered the war, siding with the Central Powers, due to their want to defend themselves against Serbia, and their major ally, Russia. Bulgaria also sided with the Central Powers due to economic reasons, due to these countries were Bulgaria's partner in trade.


Trench warfare was the prevalent form of combat on the Western Front of the war which was located in France.
"Bulgaria Enters World War I." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
    <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bulgaria-enters-world-war-i>.
"Ottoman Empire Declares a Holy War." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
    <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/
    ottoman-empire-declares-a-holy-war>.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Vierbund05h.jpg
http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/files/2011/03/alliances.png





Reguer, Sara. "World War I." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Philip Mattar. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 2365-2368. World History in Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
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