“Everything is grossly mismanaged―the command of the army, the commissariat, the ordnance, and all are none knows where… Lord Raglan has not been seen for three weeks, and the report is he has gone to Malta for the winter. In fact, he has succeeded in giving general dissatisfaction. There is nothing but discontent prevailing, from the heads to the subordinates of the army here―despondency everywhere.”T

The Times of London during the brutal winter of 1854-1885, while Britain and France fought with the Russian Empire in the Crimea. Scathing reports like this one, detailing the army’s mismanagement of the war and heavily criticizing its leadership, led to Lord Aberdeen’s resignation as Prime Minister of Britain and major military reforms. The issues plaguing the British Army were shared by their allies, the French, who suffered nowhere near the same backlash at home. The key difference was in the control of information: French censors limited the negative commentary in soldiers’ letters to save their army’s reputation. 

This is just one example of the power of propaganda and information control to boost morale during wartime, not only for soldiers, but for civilians. Keeping the public engaged in supporting the war is just as important a component of war as resources, manpower, and strategy. Britain would learn from its mistake in later years, engaging in a censorship campaign and turning letters from the front from a potential scandal into a propaganda tool itself.

Controlling the Narrative in the First World War

The First World War was by far more devastating than any prior conflict in human history. Besides the new tactics and weapons of war introduced during this time, a leading cause of death at the front was due to poor hygiene. Despite the discontent soldiers felt about their living conditions, postcards like this one, available to members of the 4th Division to send home for Christmas, make light of the issue. It’s rather clever: there is truth to the message, but the cartoon diverts attention away from the negative side of the problem and reassures the public of the safety and quality of living conditions for the soldiers on the Western Front. Distributing these types of postcards to their soldiers allowed the British Army to control the narrative about life at the front.

A more common strategy for propagandists to take was to build a negative image of the enemy. Pictured here is John Bull, a mascot of sorts, serving as the personification of Britain, with his ‘haul’: German U-Boats, stylized to appear as fish. Again, this postcard has a shade of truth to it: the naval engagements in the North Sea were primarily British victories, especially as the war was nearly over in 1917. We see again how these postcards fall somewhere between news and comedy, taking inspiration from current events in the same way late-night talk shows feature jokes about the day’s headlines.

For more, visit the British Library’s WWI postcard collection.

Alex Foster-Petrocco

Alex has a BA in History from Carleton and is currently a 2nd-year Professional Writing student at Algonquin.