The iconography of death in World-War-I propaganda

Abstract

World War I was a conflict of a new type, blurring the borderlines between the front and the rear, the army and the civilians. During the prolonged military confrontation, which exhausted human, material and financial resources, it was essential for the political elites to gain and maintain their nations’ support for continuing the war effort. Crucial in this respect was propaganda. Death was often explored by World-War-I propagandists. They stylized death-related motifs in various ways, trying to harness them into the war effort. The iconography was dominated by allegorical pictures of death, in particular the traditional image of the human skeleton. Among allegorical and symbolic representations one can distinguish several major topoi: e.g. a tired death (alluding to the horrendous, previously unwitnessed numbers of casualties), a modern death (i.e. infl icted with new kinds of weapons), death as an enemy, and death as a sacrifi ce to the fatherland. Images of death in visual propaganda had varied functions. They were intended to blame the mass homicide on the battlefi elds in the years 1914-18 on the enemy, who had deceitfully provoked the outbreak of the war, was using barbarian methods (also against unarmed civilians) and had an interest in prolonging the confl ict. Such a depiction of the enemy was to stir outrage, hatred and disdain, thus making it a moral duty to continue the war until victory. The enemy, going hand in hand with death, responsible for immeasurable suffering, was shown as acting not only against “us” but also against its own society, or more generally against civilized humankind. “Our” fallen were stylized as martyrs, their sacrifi ce comparable with Christ’s sacrifice, which was to rationalize their death and help the families in mourning. Propaganda images of death were also utilized in the photographs that got published. They usually showed the corpses of the enemy’s soldiers (as evidence of “our” army’s efficiency and prognostics of victory) or ceremonious funerals of “our” men (creating the cult of the fallen). Unfortunately, it is impossible to assess the impact of the above-mentioned topoi of death on societies and their morale since there are no sufficient sources, and additionally, death-related motifs were entwined with many other elements used to create a consistent propaganda message.