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The British Propaganda Poster

Building on the concepts of propaganda identified in the introduction, this chapter briefly investigates the difference between propaganda within totalitarian states (as generally associated with halitarian states dictatorships, particularly the Nazis) and within democracies (where the British considered they were producing information). The Nazis, backing their propaganda with violence, believed that they were building upon the British First World War model that the British had provided. It will briefly consider the origins of propaganda, British propaganda in the First World War, and developments in the inter-war years. It will consider the theories and models available to the British at the outbreak of war.

The majority of this chapter will consider posters as tools of propaganda. It will enable the historical context of the British wartime experience of posters to be understood, from the late 19th Century (modernity) until the outbreak of the Second World War. This chapter will foreground the British experience of poster design within the world-wide context, considering the growth of pictorial posters and the graphic design movements associated with them. The poster will be considered as a commercial tool, with growing professionalisation, and the significance of travel posters including those by Shell and the London Underground. The use of posters by governments will also be considered, in the First World War, by political parties, as a tool of protest, and the use of state-sponsored schemes in the inter-war years.

Propaganda I Posters I Graphic Design I Branding & Advertising I Political Parties

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