Rare World War I Propaganda Shows the Biomech Soldier of100 Years Ago

Rare World War I Propaganda Shows the Biomech Soldier of 100 Years Ago

One hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, the first golden age of advertising methumanity's deadliest conflict: the First World War. The emerging art of graphic design, aided by theinvention of lithography and later chromolithography, was suddenly used for propaganda--and theresults were terrific: a bold, optimistic, merry and extremely fictive vision of a gory war that killedmillions.

The National Sz?ch?nyi Library (OSZK) in Budapest, Hungary, has a huge and wonderfully richinternational collection of paper ephemera from these bloodstained years. These propagandaposters, postcards, photographs were unseen since the end of the war, until now: A small part ofOSZK's collection was published recently in a book titled Picture the Great War, curated, written,and edited by the researchers of the OSZK: Anik? Katona and Anita Szarka.

What we see in these colorful images is the beautiful beginning of a new age of technology: machineguns, tanks, airplanes, poisonous gases, and a multitude of tools developed to kill. As the book says:

The new war situation brought posters to the limelight. This genre, after all, counted as the mostmodern and effective means of mass communication at the time, only later conceding that positionto the radio, and then to television and the internet. Poster propaganda was born in the West Europeof the 1870s. It first flourished during the Art Nouveau period, at the turn of the last century. By the1910s, it had also gained ground in Hungary as well as practically all other parts of the world. Fromthe outset, posters were designed by creative artists, who saw the excellent opportunity it offeredfor publicity and earnings. The graphic artists working in the genre increasingly specialized;courses, societies, and periodicals were launched, many poster exhibitions took place. The postersnewly appearing in the streets kept the public busy. By the early 1910s, politics had recognized thepotential of the medium, which had formerly been a commercial tool in the first place. Left-winggroups would turn to posters from the beginning of the 20th century in order to gain publicity fortheir struggle for workers' rights, inviting people to mass assemblies and demonstrations.

The poster art of World War I gave rise to radically new types within the genre. New themes wereadvertised: recruitment (in countries with voluntary military service), fund-raising in the form of warloans, standards concerning the way people lived (e.g. savings), or social solidarity in the form ofvarious charity events. The manifold tasks all pointed to one ultimate aim: to sustain society'ssupport for the war. With the hostilities dragging on, this proved an ever greater challenge in allparticipant countries.

[...] They also represented phenomena concomitant with the war: everyday life on the front and inthe hinterland - mostly in idyllic settings. Life on the battlefield was presented as an exciting,masculine adventure. Soldiers were depicted during pleasant and calm activities such as cooking,eating and drinking, coffee-time, reading, or social games. The depiction of armed clashes was muchless usual.

As time was passing, the severe social problems caused by the war came more and more to theforeground. A greater number of posters advertised charity events and fund-raising for the benefit ofwidowed, orphaned, or disabled people, often depicting those suffering such afflictions. In the finalyears of the war, reflecting the common sentiment, a desire for peace would dominate the posters inall parts of the world. Doves, women waiting for their husbands to come home, and images ofrestarting work and development were among the advertisements that attempted to raise one lastwave of enthusiasm.

The following set of images from the vaults of OSZK, republished here with permission, show aseries of impressive artworks from the ruined streets of Europe--plus a few rare pieces from theUnited States as well.

Great Britain as a knight in shiny armor

The famous 'Take Up the Sword of Justice' poster from the United States. Created bySir BernardPartridge shortly after the sinking of the Lusitania.

Through Darkness to Light. Through Fighting to Triumph.

Peaceful French soldiers

Recruiting poster from England.

Eat less.

Enlist today if you don't want to share the fate of Belgium

Save food for your fighting soldiers

The trench is such a peaceful place: resting Hungarian soldiers reading the newspaper, called 'TheEvening'

Meet the Hungarian biomechanical hussar. This is one of the most powerful propaganda postersever: with prosthetic arm our disabled soldier can live a full life again

Exhibition of war photography

Exhibition of war planes at Budapest, Hungary

Half man, half robot

Captured British tank on exhibition

Propaganda poster by the United War Work Campaign

Weapons for Liberty, poster for the third liberty loan campaign by the boy scouts of America

The ships are coming - propaganda poster from the United States

Buy Bonds!

Cinematic scene from the war industry