Never Such Innocence: British Images of the First World War Click on the image to start the slideshow. Once the slideshow has begun, mouse over the right/left side of image to see the next/previous buttons

Take Up the Sword of Justice recruiting poster P. B. David Allen & Sons, London UK 198 C Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives

Women of Britain Say—"Go!" E. J. Kealey Parliamentary Recruiting Committee Hill, Siffken & Co., London UK 194 B Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives

Irishmen, Avenge the Lusitania Central Council for the Organisation of Recruiting in Ireland John Shuley & Co., Dublin UK 524 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives The Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine, U-20, on May 7, 1915. The ship sank in just 18 minutes, eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard. Because 128 Americans had died, the British assumed that the United States would enter the war; instead, President Wilson sent a formal protest to Germany.

"We serve neither King nor Kaiser but Ireland" The 12th of May publication IE 25 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives This antirecruitment poster is a photograph of the Irish Citizen Army at Liberty Hall, Dublin, and includes the famous quotation associated with James ("Big Jim") Larkin, the Irish trade union leader and socialist activist: "The great appear great because we are on our knees. Let us rise!" (The quotation’s origin actually dated from the French Revolution.)

Daddy, What Did You Do in the Great War? Parliamentary Recruiting Committee Johnson, Riddle & Co., London, S.E. UK 187 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives

The Kaiser’s Monster Carnival of Terrorism Harry Furniss The Cartoon Publishing Office, London, E.C. 1915 UK 1527 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives

The Young Lions Arthur Wardle Parliamentary Recruiting Committee Straker Brothers Ltd., London UK 195 A Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives The 1915 recruitment poster by Arthur Wardle, a famous painter of animals, shows Britain’s dominions—the “young lions” of the empire—coming to its aid. South Africa’s absence may be because, when it entered the war in August 1914, a group of Afrikaner nationalists protested the government’s decision.

Turn Your Silver into Bullets Parliamentary War Savings Committee, London Sir Joseph Causton & Sons, Limited, London UK 7 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives Civilians at home could help defeat the enemy by contributing their savings that would buy bullets to kill Germans on the front line.

Play the Greater Game Publicity Department Central London Recruiting Depot, Whitehall, London Johnson, Riddle and Co., Ltd., London S.E. UK 482 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives

Building Aircraft C. R. W. Nevinson The Great War: Britain’s efforts and ideals (lithographic print collection) Hoover Institution Archives

What Did You Get in the Great War? The Labour Party David Allen & Sons, Ltd., London UK 1571 Poster collection Hoover Institution Library and Archives

NEVER SUCH INNOCENCE: BRITISH IMAGES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

January 10, 2008, through March 01, 2008

This exhibition of government posters, photographs, fine art, and rare editions of poetry has been gathered from the collections of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, the Cantor Center for Visual Arts, and the Special Collections of Stanford University Libraries. Members of Professor Peter Stansky’s class, Art and History: Modern Britain, were the guest curators.

The exhibit will be open to the public Jan 10, 2008, through Mar 1, 2008, in the Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibit Pavilion, next to Hoover Tower, and is free of charge. Pavilion hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. For further information, contact 650.723.3563.

This exhibition features two versions of British participation in the First World War (1914–18): one by the British government in thousands of posters and one in nonofficial war art, poetry, and photographs.

Because Britain did not introduce conscription until 1916, the country needed volunteers. Urged on by images and texts that promoted duty, the protection of women and children, manliness, and patriotism, more than two million men enlisted. Once the volunteers had spent time in the trenches, however, the war, with its anonymous death by fire power and clouds of poisonous gas, had become for them a “dance of death.”

Members of the class History and the Arts: Modern Britain, taught by Stanford history professor Peter Stansky, provided the text and chose the images for the exhibition. We would like to extend a special thank-you to the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University for the loan of the Percy John Smith Dance of Death etchings and to Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, for the loan of poetry texts. All other materials are from the collections of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives.

Below are brief descriptions of the themes in the exhibition cases. (The slide show contains at least one image from each case.) Descriptions of each theme, written by students in Professor Stansky’s class, can be viewed at the exhibition or by clicking on the title of each case.

	Creating an Army To counteract the large numbers of men conscripted by the German government, English officials had to enact an aggressive propaganda campaign. The vast output of the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee’s posters, leaflets, and newsletters, appealing to patriotism, honor, and manliness, among other virtues, resulted in a volunteer force between 2 and 3 million.
	Enlisting the Irish Recruiting for the Great War drew in a quarter of a million Irish soldiers, but was the campaign as successful as it might have been? Certainly it was successful in the north, but it may be that the recruitment efforts of the British in the Great War gave Ireland a large, trained force of soldiers who then used their skills in the fighting in Ireland that followed the war.
	Mobilizing the Women Britain mobilized not only men but also women to contribute to British victory. Propaganda posters merged women’s domestic duties with national duty, transforming domestic femininity into a form of patriotic service.
	Demonizing the Enemy Although British appeals to nationalism and the glory of empire certainly did their part, the First World War could not have been won without a certain amount of fearmongering. Despite the ruling royal family of Britain being German in origin and Germany’s having been a British ally in earlier wars, notably against Napoleon, the enemy had to be portrayed as less than human.
	Helping the Old Lion Britain, the “old lion,” the greatest imperial power at the turn of the twentieth century, was greatly assisted by its dominions and colonies in its battle against the Central Powers in the First World War. At the outset of war, in August 1914, Britain’s self-governing dominions of Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa joined the war effort against Germany.
	Paying for the War The British government spent as much during the years between 1914 and 1920 (£11,268,000,000) as it had during its prior 226 years, 1688–1914 (£10,944,000,000, not adjusted for inflation). By 1920, the British war debt was £8,079 million.
	Illustrating a Modern War The use of art as propaganda was overseen by Wellington House, a War Propaganda Bureau established in August 1914 to spread the British government’s view of the war to neutral and later allied countries, especially the United States.
	Returning Home The three posters in this case make clear several aspects of postwar British society, including discontent, both real and manufactured, over how the government had handled the war and its aftermath. At the same time, the public greatly respected its soldiers, making them a primary symbol for those seeking to sway public opinion.