Wartime Posters

During World War One, Canada used posters to promote the war and enhance Canadian propaganda on the home front. Posters were an effective and useful way to encourage men to enlist in the Canadian armed forces, and to promote the civilians on the home front to buy victory bonds, and to ration food and other goods to aid the soldiers overseas. Posters were also an effective form of communication because they could reach a wider audience as they were printed and posted across Canada, and they could be published in newspapers and magazines. The main aim was to use images and texts to portray the ideal Canadian citizen, one which is engaged in helping Canada and the Allied countries win World War One. Posters often included patriotic elements and catered to the social norms, especially in terms of the women's and men’s traditional roles the war and in society. Overall, posters were successfully used to send messages to Canadian people, and inspire them to support and engage in Canada’s war effort.

The main categories that posters fell under were: information, behavioural modification, patriotism, security, economic, domestic morale, international solidarity, and hostile propaganda. Oftentimes, the posters could be attributed to more than one category.[1] Posters also aimed to connect the home front with the overseas effort. Overall, posters give viewers a better understanding of the lives of those who lived in Canada and overseas during World War One. 

The posters were often used to promote recruitment into the Canadian military. In 1914, only 3000 men had been enlisted and able to fight in the Canadian army.[2] As a result, the Canadian Expeditionary Forces and the Canadian government sought to promote the enlistment in the armed forces by creating posters to enhance the citizens' interests and desires to support Canada. The aim was to convince the general public of Canada that part of doing one's duty is to have young abled-body men enlist with the Canadian military to fight overseas in World War One. Poster production often increased local interest, and many men would enlist to join their district battalion alongside others they knew within the community.[3] In the early years of the war, many posters were aimed to subtly push for more men to join, but as time passed, it became necessary for more men to enlist and so posters became more forceful. Conscription was also introduced and promoted in Canadian war posters. Posters would also use women as a device to shame men into doing their duty, and to get women to influence men’s decisions to fight in the war.[4] Other posters recruited men for their skills in engineering, sawmilling, medicine, and trades that were useful to the overall war effort. Posters also aimed to appeal to people of different backgrounds, including French, Scottish, and Irish. Overall, posters were useful in promoting recruitment into the Canadian armed forces during World War One. 

During World War One, Canada needed financial assistance with the war effort. As a result, posters about buying victory bonds and donating to the Canadian Victory Loan became increasingly popular. Victory bonds were loans that the Canadian citizens gave to the government, which could be redeemed with interest after five or more years had passed. In 1915, millions of dollars were purchased, and there were five different campaigns during the war to promote the buying of victory bonds.[5]  Each victory bond campaign had posters created by the Victory Loan Dominion Publicity Committee. Posters often reflected the experiences of the soldiers overseas and the civilians on the home front, which was done to gain more support of and inspire more Canadians to purchase victory bonds. Women and children on the home front were encouraged to engage in buying victory bonds, and collecting Thrift Stamps that could be put towards purchasing a victory bond. By 1919, the campaigns had been successful in promoting the purchasing of victory bonds, and had helped finance Canada’s war effort. [6] Similarly, posters promoted the Canadian Patriotic Fund, which was used to provide support for the wives and other dependents of the men serving overseas. The fund would often give the wife or dependent monthly payments, which would go towards basic necessities to help the family during the war.[7] The success of the victory bond campaigns was immense. Prior to World War One, Canada had never raised more than $5 million, but the first victory bond drive brought in $100 million.[8] Public campaigns had included thousands of posters that increased the public’s interest in buying victory bonds. 

Posters were also used to promote rationing of food and other goods on the Canadian home front and overseas. Canada needed to build up its economy to maintain wartime agriculture, manufacturing, and productivity. The Canada Food Board established many of the food rationing posters during World War One.[9] Posters often promoted farming and rationing, and it encouraged Canadian people to make their own victory gardens. Additionally, until 1914, Britain relied heavily on imported food such as, wheat, bacon, sugar, and cheese.[10] As a result, during the war Canada was expected to provide a vast amount of food surplus to aid Britain alongside Canada’s growing war effort. The Canadian government made food production a major theme portrayed in war posters to integrate Canadians into the war effort.[11] There were Canadian propaganda campaigns supporting food policies and promoting rationing. Propaganda posters emphasized that everyone must contribute to Canada’s wartime needs, and food production was one of the ways in which civilians were able to partake in the war effort. Food production was viewed as an act of patriotism. By 1918, the Canadian government produced posters to encourage farmers to increase the production of eggs, butter, and meat (beef and pork).[12] Posters were used as a way to increase wartime food productivity, and to encourage Canadian citizens to do their duty and aid Canada and the Allied countries in winning World War One.

Finally, posters were a main form of propaganda media that was used by the Canadian government to encourage soldiers and civilians to engage in the Canadian war effort.