Recruitment, Conscription, Censorship and Propaganda in Germany

Recruitment & Conscription GERMANY Germany at the time of the start of World War One did not have the need for recruitment as conscription had been an accepted part of German society for decades prior to 1914. When war broke out on the western front conscription was not needed by the German army as there was an influx of young men in search for adventure, excitement, patriotic duty and the desire to impress. Source One Source Three Source Four Source Two

Recruitment & Conscription GERMANY ‘GERMAN CROWDS CHEERING TROOPS.’ The photograph on the right creates a visual image of the first impressions of war within Germany. It emphasizes the initial feelings towards the war and how the German people responded to those soldiers who chose to fight for their country. ‘World War One: From Sarajevo to Versailles’

Recruitment & Conscription GERMANY GERMAN TROOPS HEADING OFF TO WAR’ ‘Whilst in many countries orders were put out for recruitment, Germany already had conscription in place. This image shows the lines of conscripted men marching through the streets, alongside women as they marched on to fight the war. ‘World War One: From Sarajevo to Versailles’

Recruitment & Conscription GERMANY ‘HELP US WIN” This World War One German poster is aiming to entice soldiers and soften the attitudes towards conscription throughout Germany. It is calling all citizens to ‘Help Us Win!’. It also strives to portray the government desire to boost the morale of German soldiers. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.earthstation1.com/Warposters/jckaelin/Help_Us_Win!_jk.jpg&imgrefurl=

Recruitment & Conscription GERMANY ‘KAISER”S MOBILISATION ORDERS’ One famous picture taken in Munich city centre on 1 August shows a joyous crowd cheering after a young army officer publicly announces the declaration of war on Russia. In contrast, the crowd in the photograph, appears more subdued by the turn of events. Many Germans, as local police reports from this period illustrate, greeted the outbreak of war with a sense of foreboding. http://www.worldwar1.com/foto/fww0101.jpg&imgrefurl=

GERMANY Censorship Before 1914 the German government kept tight control of all press. Newspapers had not been able to openly discuss the reasons for war. It was not only information from the front that was held from the public view after the war broke out but the German people were never told about peace demonstrations, international peace efforts or low morale, casualties and desertions on the western front. Source One Source Three Source Two

EXTRACT: “TOTAL WAR-TOTAL CONTROL?” GERMANY Censorship EXTRACT: “TOTAL WAR-TOTAL CONTROL?” This extract is by Altenhöner, Florian and briefly describes the progression of German censorship during the war. This extract also explains the reasoning behind the restrictions and how it formed into its later stages. “Although the German General Staff had intensified its intelligence activities prior to 1914, its preparations for war proved to be insufficient after the beginning of the war. Before the war, Department IIIb of the General Staff had almost exclusively dealt with espionage and counter-espionage. By the armistice its tasks by far exceeded this: in addition to being an espionage and counter-espionage political police, a censorship and propaganda authority, [and] it issued identity cards and organized postal censorship." service, by 1918 it also was a http://intellit.muskingum.edu/germany_folder/germanywwia-e.html

DOMESTIC REGISTERED LETTER GERMANY Censorship DOMESTIC REGISTERED LETTER The markings on this letter are all the different symbols of German censorship. The markings are all from the various offices that the letter had gone through. Lower left-parcel censorship Upper left-examined Middle top- Censorship place http://phist.webpark.cz/cen/cen1.htm

Censorship GERMANY GERMAN STAMPS MEANINGS Bottom- pass on Top- censorship place Middle- back only openly permissible These three minor sources are different stamps that were used by the German censorship offices as symbols to show that mail had been through censorship programs. http://phist.webpark.cz/cen/cen1.htm

GERMANY Propaganda German propaganda in many ways followed the British propaganda campaigns but with it’s own little kicks of individualism. One of the major differences was that Germany did not have to promote recruitment. Taking on an anti-British tone the German people were encouraged through propaganda to hate the English. German propaganda also worked to justify the actions of the German government. Source One Source Three Source Four Source Two

GERMANY Propaganda Source A describes the German Propaganda and the methods that were used to lower morale on the western front. These methods were targeted at the allied troops in order to drain the Allied morale and is cleverly conducted so to contain inflammatory political matters in order to do so. Source A “the Germans use paper balloons in large quantities…they consist of flysheets in bad English announcing German successes on other fronts…boasts of the results of the U-boat campaign.” http://www.psywarrior.com/GermanWWIPSYOP.html

Propaganda GERMANY ‘IT”S THEIR FAULT!’ The German poster ‘It’s their fault’ illustrates the German media and it’s reliance on blaming the war on Britain and the allied forces. The poster is mainly for the public viewing from the government who had strict policies on what could and could not be said about the war. In order to give reasons for the outbreak of war and gain German support propaganda blaming the allied forces was used all over Germany.

‘A CHANT OF HATE AGAINST ENGLAND.’ GERMANY Propaganda This chant, publicized later in the New York Times, 15 October, re-iterates the chant of many German civilians during the war. It demonstrates the great hate that had brewed over the years of the war and clearly symbolizes the outcomes of the various methods of propaganda that had been used. ‘A CHANT OF HATE AGAINST ENGLAND.’ “Come, hear the word, repeat the word, Throughout the Fatherland make it heard. We will never forgo our hate, We have all but a single hate. We love as one, we hate as one, We have one foe and one alone- ENGLAND! …” http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_Hasslied

‘GERMAN SOLDIERS ON TRAIN’ GERMANY Propaganda The men depicted in this photograph on the right are all conscripted German soldiers. The photograph was taken in order to reinforce the idea of high morale and adventure that was to be had on the western front. Whilst the photo was not intentionally taken for these purposes it was later used to promote the war effort and disguise the real effects of the war. ‘GERMAN SOLDIERS ON TRAIN’ www.csustan.edu/.../faculty/weikart/gerhist.htm