For Home and Country

World War I Propaganda on the Home Front

Celia M. Kingsbury

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780803224742
• eBook ISBN: 9780803228320
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War I
• Index: History

World War I prompted the first massive organized propaganda campaign of the twentieth century. Posters, pamphlets, and other media spread fear about the "Hun, " who was often depicted threatening American families in their homes, while additional campaigns encouraged Americans and their allies to support the war effort. With most men actively involved in warfare, women and children became a special focus—and a tool—of socialmanipulation during the war. For Home and Country examines the propaganda that targeted noncombatants on the home front in the United States and Europe during World War I. Cookbooks, popular magazines, romance novels, and government food agencies targeted women in their homes, especially their kitchens, pressuring them to change their domestic habits. Children were also taught to fear the enemy and support the war through propaganda in the form of toys, games, and books. And when women and children were not the recipients of propaganda, they were often used in propaganda to target men. By examining a diverse collection of literary texts, songs, posters, and toys, Celia Malone Kingsbury reveals how these pervasive materials were used to fight the war's cultural battle.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Food Will Win the War: Domestic Science and the Royal Society
• 2. “One Hundred Percent”: War Service and Women’s Fiction
• 3. VADs and Khaki Girls: The Ultimate Reward for War Service
• 4. “Learning to Hate the German Beast”: Children as War Mongers
• 5. The Hun Is at the Gate: Protecting the Innocents
• Conclusion: Learning to Love Big Brother—or Not
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index