Propaganda in the Great War (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary 

Propaganda was used on the Scottish Home Front to encourage recruitment, keep workers motivated to work hard to support the war effort, and boost morale. Posters, leaflets and cinema newsreels were common and encouraged unity on the home front.

The purpose of propaganda

• Propaganda posters were used to persuade men to enlist in the Scottish regiments

• Cinema newsreels showing short films of factories and royal visits to the Clyde and Rosyth were created to boost morale, reduce fear and doubt

• Scottish newspapers such as The Glasgow Herald printed pro-war stories

  • DORA censorship removed harmful details and instead included patriotic stories

• Propaganda was designed to encourage behaviour change on the Home Front

  • This included thrift, volunteering and later, acceptance of conscription

The impact of propaganda

• Propaganda posters encouraging recruitment led to enlistment surges in the early years of the war

• Food habits changed as people became more ration-minded

  • They also grew their own food in allotments or dug up their gardens to grow food

• Public meetings in churches and schools led to social pressure and a stigma on shirking