THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD
Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection from Cambridge University Library

Part 3: Allied Propaganda of the First World War

“The First World War was the world-changing event of the 20th century. With all that has been written about it, large areas need to be enriched and deepened by access to a wider range of material.”
Professor Trevor Wilson, Department of History, University of Adelaide .

The War Reserve Collection at Cambridge University Library is one of the finest collections in the world of materials documenting the First World War.  

Parts 3 & 4 concentrate on one of the great strengths of the collection – its holdings of Allied and German propaganda.  With a strong visual component, many of these are very striking indeed.  There is literature aimed at troops on the front line; at businessmen at home; at wives and mothers; and at politicians.

In Part 3 there are leaflets dropped by allied planes and balloons, posters, cartoons by Raemaekers and others, cigarette cards, pamphlets by John Buchan and Hilaire Belloc, and propaganda aimed at Venezuela, Turkey, China, Japan, Spain, Italy and America.  There is material on the origins of the war, the violation of Belgian neutrality, the conduct of war, the religious dimension of war, appeals to race, Empire, the role of women and many other topics.