British Government

Men who weren't enlisted began receiving white feathers and were called 'shirkers', therefore, in 1916, the British government followed in the footsteps of their French and German counterparts and introduced conscription, compulsory military service of all those unmarried men between the ages of twenty and forty-one, in order to combat this outcry and make sure all men eligible were involved. Four months later, this was expanded to all fit men between the ages of eighteen and forty-one. The only exception to this was skilled workers in 'reserved occupations' whose work was seen as a necessity to the war.

Britain was the only country in Europe to recognise that individuals had a legal right to be exempt from conscription on the basis of conscientious objection. Six thousand conscientious objectors were then placed in non-combatant units instead. 'Absolutists' took this belief one step further and were those people who blatantly refused to serve the war in any way.

Rupert Brooke was one of the most famous war poets during the world war. This fame was not necessarily due to his talent, but rather his opinion of the war. The government took many of his poems and used them for propaganda purposes. Poems such as the one displayed (indicate to screen), which was written at the beginning of the war in 1914, has been effectively entitled 'Peace', it has been written to encourage British men around 18-41 years old to enlist in the war, through the use of emotive language. These words appeal to the audience's emotions of pride and patriotism or lack thereof, as well as the embarrassment and shame they will be faced with daily by society if they fail to enlist in the war. The validity of the words used in the poem is severely undermined by the fact that Brooke himself, never actually made it to the war. However, it is a reliable example of wartime recruitment propaganda used by the government.

In order to preserve the government's propaganda and protect it from being attenuated by those with beliefs opposing the war, censorship was enforced by the government and authoritative figures. Anti-war groups were allowed to express a few of their opinions, however, those who openly questioned and berated government policies risked harsh penalties including; seizure of printed materials, police raids, arrest, prosecution and even imprisonment. Due to this, the preponderance of newspapers and churchmen supported and aided through the use of propaganda, government efforts to expand the war effort.

Propaganda is an organised way of disseminating an attitude or practise, a biased and deliberate attempt to convince viewers of a particular point of view. This was integral to the effectiveness and encouragement of both recruitment and conscription. Both governments and anti-war groups alike recognised its importance and power.

Propaganda was found to be effective for