2.  Because You’re British. It’s what’s expected of you.  It’s what comes naturally.  Your reaction to an unforseen and potentially frightening event should be one of unflappable fortitude and apparent indifference.  No flapping.  Got that?

3.  Consequences. If you should flap then someone with a plummy voice will be forced to administer a swift slap and command you to “pull yourself together”.  That constitutes a scene.  No one wants a scene.

4.  Tradition. It’s what that formidable lady, Great Aunt Harriet, would have wanted.  She kept calm, probably in a winceyette nightgown.  I doubt there was much carrying on though.

5.  Because It’s Relevant. It’s an iconic slogan that’s rooted deep in the past – though it was never actually used during World War II – but its message still holds good today.  Why worry about that double-dip recession that you can’t do much to influence?  Why worry about potential terrorist activity that you can’t stop?  Why worry about the man peering over your shoulder as you read this?  No, on second thoughts, do worry about him.  He’s probably up to no good.

6.  Because The French Do Neither. We keep calm and carry on.  The French do not: They je ne sais quoi. On bicycles, probably.

7.  Because You Are Told To.  Your poster demands it of you; your greetings card demands it of you; your t-shirt demands it of you; your mug demands it of you; the coaster on which your mug sits demands it of you; your key ring demands it of you; your fridge magnet demands it of you; your shopping bag demands it of you; your deckchair demands it of you; your cuff-links demand it of you; your sticking-plasters demand it of you; your tea-towel demands it of you; your chocolate bar demands it of you; your flight-bag demands it of you; your apron demands it of you; your rug demands it of you.  It’s bloody everywhere.  Seriously, if one more person buys me anything else that says “Keep Calm And Carry On” on it, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.  I will freak out and stop.

Taken from here.

A key work for this project which fully considers the administrative history of the Ministry of Information, the lead government department for propaganda. He argues that for two years, the measures taken by government propagandists were:

• Unnecessary and inept
• Based on misunderstanding and distrust of the British public
• Products of the class and background of the propagandists themselves.
• He feels that after two years:
• The Germans were still characterised as irretrievably wicked.
• Efforts were made to separate Communism from the ‘Russian’ (not Soviet) war effort.
• Propaganda was intermittently prompted by doubts about people’s martial stamina and devotion to Parliamentary democracy.

McLaine felt that the achievements of the Ministry of Information were that:

• The MOI realised importance of full and honest news as a factor
• They recognised that in the fight against totalitarianism, it was important not to disregard one of its main weapons, although within a democratic context.
• With benefit of Home Intelligence, the MOI came to regard the British people as sensible and tough, and so entitled to be taken into the government’s confidence

See if you can get hold of a copy on Amazon.}

No abstract available.

Abstract: The thesis examines the creation and development of enemy imagery in writing about the German people during the Second World War, tracing the gradual redefinition of the enemy from the Nazi elite to a wider hostility which, for some people, embraced the entire German population. The German role of enemy was established by the development of an imagery of the `other’, which placed the enemy outside the realms of Christianity, of culture, of civilisation, even of humanity. The German character was defined in opposition to British qualities; thus, the issue in wartime was as much about defining the British character as the condemnation of the German character. An introductory chapter outlines the history of Anglo-German relations from the mid-nineteenth century, tracing the growing hostility between the two cultures, noting the importance of the 1914-18 war in destroying the older, more favourable images of Germany, and discussing the war’s legacy and the British response to the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. The main body of the thesis consists of `slices’ of narrative – each chapter deals with a short, significant period of the war. These `slices’ are: the first week of the war, the period from Dunkirk to the fall of France (May-June 1940), the week after the German invasion of Russia (June 1941), the allied victory at El Alamein, which is often cited as the turning point of the war (first half of November 1942), the week following the D-Day landings (June 1944) and the last week of the war against Germany in May 1945. Each of these significant periods is approached from three different points of view – a general overview of `public opinion’, the press, and personal diaries written for Mass-Observation. The expression of private opinion in the diaries enters into dialogue with the published opinion of the press, challenging the accepted and establishment views expressed in newspapers, while dealing with the pressure to conform to this establishment view of the German people.

Abstract: Presenting the Soviet Union to the British public – whether as an adversary during the period of the Nazi-Soviet Pact or as an ally in the Anglo-Soviet Alliance – posed great problems to British wartime propagandists. This thesis is an examination of the methods employed by the British government, armed as it was (theoretically) with the wartime power to control every film, newspaper or radio broadcast, to influence the portrayal of the Soviet Union in the British media between 1941 and 1945. The official propaganda campaign launched in the wake of Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 can best be understood in the light of the image of the Soviet Union to which the British had been exposed during the years of the Nazi-Soviet Pact and before. Chapter One therefore provides an analysis of propaganda about the Soviet Union during this period, together with a discussion of those problems encountered by the propagandists which were to persist in the period of the Anglo-Soviet Alliance. Chapter Two examines the propagandists’ response to their new Soviet Ally in the immediate aftermath of Operation Barbarossa. It provides a detailed analysis of policy-making at the Ministry of Information and Foreign Office during the summer of 1941 which led to the creation of the Soviet Relations Division at the Ministry of Information in October of that year. Once it became clear that the Soviet Union was not to be easily defeated, the greatest problem facing the propagandists was the fact that their new ally was a Communist state. Chapter Three therefore examines the measures taken throughout the war by the government to prevent the Soviet Union’s popularity being converted into votes for the Communist Party of Great Britain. Citing examples from broadcasts on the BBC Home Service, and from films and newsreels shown in British cinemas, the chapter analyses the effectiveness of the policies adopted to counter the Communist electoral `threat’. Chapter Four examines the presentation of the Soviet attitude to religion as a case study. This chapter aims to illustrate that, succumbing to the pressures of both domestic and foreign audiences, the British government abandoned its avowed intentions of maintaining an accurate and objective presentation of the Soviets. As War became Cold War, the way in which the Soviet Union was presented to the British people became even more important. Relations between the Allies were deteriorating; attitudes in government circles were changing. Yet, on paper at least, the Anglo-Soviet Pact remained and was scheduled to last until 1962. Chapter Five is an analysis of how far changing attitudes on the part of the government and its propagandists were reflected in the British media.

One for the nostalgics… interesting to see how history is reconstructed, especially in a magazine which is popular overseas! “The UK’s best-read nostalgia monthly: Founded in 1995, Best of British celebrates our glorious past – and all that’s best about Britain today. The blend of cherished memories from yesteryear with features celebrating the people and the places that make Britain so special as established Best of British as a firm favourite with folks all around the world.”

No abstract

Published Works:

• British Propaganda in the Twentieth Century
• Munitions of the Mind
• Britain and the Cinema in the Second World War
• Steven Spielberg
• War and the Media
• The Historian, Television and Television History

Through three themed case studies – into foreign influences on posters; how the government impressed upon people the importance of their role in the war; and a specific look at the way women were represented, and appealed to, in posters – this study attempts to address an area on which little has previously been done.

If you wish to cite from this page, please use the following citation:

Lewis, R.M., ‘Synopsis, Undergradute Thesis: The planning, design and reception of British home front propaganda posters of the Second World War’, <URL>, written April 1997, accessed Enter Date Here

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