Propaganda posters- WW2

World War 2 was the most widespread war in history and lasted from 1939 to 1945. During the War all countries involved were using posters to recruit people for all sorts of jobs from joining the fighting forces to being a nurse to running farms and growing their own food. Along side these posters there were also a lot that were telling people to keep their mouths shut to stop the enemy countries from finding out what their plans where and in England and America there were also poster about buying war bonds and giving money to help fund planes and guns. Propaganda posters were everywhere and different countries had very different ideas as to what worked well. 

Here you can see how English posters and American posters are using similar techniques, both of these posters were used to get people to enroll into the armed forces, this type of poster is possibly the most iconic style of propaganda posters. These posters both have an extremely strong connection to the viewer, they both have eye contact with the person looking at the poster and the use of the pointing hand really makes the reader feel like it is addressing them personally. This idea of the poster reaching out to you personally is very clever, it makes the viewer feel wanted and needed which is a huge confidence boost, this may well be the small boost that they need to finally join. Both of these posters use a large, very easy to read font and the word "you" is highlighted in both again going back to this idea that the reader is being personally talked to. 

This is a Russian propaganda poster which has a similar idea to the English and American posters above as the text says "Your motherland needs you" but there are some huge differences between the posters as the look on the woman's face is very stern and the way she is holding out the forms makes it look very forceful. The English and American posters make you feel like it is your choice to join however with this poster it comes across a lot more like you are being told to join. The other huge differences in these posters are the colours both of the posters above are quite dull and the colours they use are dark, however in this Russian poster they have used a very eye-catching, bold red which from what i have seen is used in most if not all other Russian propaganda posters, this does work well as it makes you link the posters back to Russia as well as catching peoples eye. A lot of these posters would have been put on dark, dull walls, using such a bright red makes the view stop and look. The last huge difference that I can see is how this Russian poster has used guns in the background. Almost all of the English posters I have seen that are recruiting show people completely untouched by war, they dont have a cut or scratch on them, it is like they have stayed away from the idea of aggression and hurt in war, however the Russians didn't seem to have a problem with showing things that cause pain and death. Many people fear guns and stay away from anything they are involved in which is why most countries stayed away from showing that side of the war in their posters, this Russian poster has taken war on head first and it has actually made he poster look very powerful and gives the impression that they can not be beaten. 

This is another American poster promoting war bonds. War bonds were the best way for the government to fund the military while making the public feel involved and giving them the feeling of importance. This poster is very well put together, the colours are the perfect balance between being eye-catching but not too overwhelming and too bright. The text in this poster is effective as the first part is written in slang, using "'em" instead of "them" and using quotation marks, this sort of text brings the poster back from being about war and the government and makes it a lot more personal and really brings it home, because it is as if the man in the image is talking to you or possibly writing home. The fonts choice backs this up as they have used a slightly hand written style of font making it look like a message home. The man in the poster looks very happy and positive restoring peoples faith that the war is going well and in their favour. This sort of image shows how different the approach from Russia's harsh, agressive, guns blazing sort of poster is to this friendly, positive, unscratched man. The font at the bottom is much like other fonts used in other propaganda posters as it is bold, large and easy to read. This poster makes Americans want to put money into the war, while maintaining the image that no one is getting hurt and everyone is staying positive.