David Monger - Böcker

The First World War’s centenary generated a mass of commemorative activity worldwide. Officially and unofficially; individually, collectively and commercially; locally, nationally and internationally, efforts were made to respond to the legacies of this vast conflict. This book explores some of these responses from areas previously tied to the British Empire, including Australia, Britain, Canada, India and New Zealand. Showcasing insights from historians of commemoration and heritage professionals it provides revealing insider and outsider perspectives of the centenary. How far did commemoration become celebration, and how merited were such responses? To what extent did the centenary serve wider social and political functions? Was it a time for new knowledge and understanding of the events of a century ago, for recovery of lost or marginalised voices, or for confirming existing clichés? And what can be learned from the experience of this centenary that might inform the approach to future commemorative activities? The contributors to this book grapple with these questions, coming to different answers and demonstrating the connections and disconnections between those involved in building public knowledge of the ‘war to end all wars’.

The First World War’s centenary generated a mass of commemorative activity worldwide. Officially and unofficially; individually, collectively and commercially; locally, nationally and internationally, efforts were made to respond to the legacies of this vast conflict. This book explores some of these responses from areas previously tied to the British Empire, including Australia, Britain, Canada, India and New Zealand. Showcasing insights from historians of commemoration and heritage professionals it provides revealing insider and outsider perspectives of the centenary. How far did commemoration become celebration, and how merited were such responses? To what extent did the centenary serve wider social and political functions? Was it a time for new knowledge and understanding of the events of a century ago, for recovery of lost or marginalised voices, or for confirming existing clichés? And what can be learned from the experience of this centenary that might inform the approach to future commemorative activities? The contributors to this book grapple with these questions, coming to different answers and demonstrating the connections and disconnections between those involved in building public knowledge of the ‘war to end all wars’.

A comprehensive A to Z examination of British propaganda during the First World War, this book explores 26 dedicated topics.The First World War was a critical period in the development of modern propaganda and Britain’s activities were particularly influential. Combining analysis of the latest scholarship with discussion of original propaganda sources, Monger provides a critical introduction to the diversity of British First World War propaganda. Examining subjects ranging from Duty and Jokes, to Kultur and Unofficial Propaganda, the author highlights how each form of propaganda was conceived, who was involved in its creation, and how it impacted its targets, whilst also crafting a narrative that links each topic from A to Z.Individual forms of propaganda are central to Monger’s account, and each form serves as a starting point to examine broader social and cultural aspects of wartime Britain. For example, by linking imperial support to Britain’s self-styling on both world and home stages, and demonstrating how notions of ‘the British way of life’ played into ideas about duty and encouragements to enlist, Monger highlights the pervasive nature of British propaganda during the First World War, and reinforces its dependence on existing sociocultural factors.

A comprehensive A to Z examination of British propaganda during the First World War, this book explores 26 dedicated topics.The First World War was a critical period in the development of modern propaganda and Britain’s activities were particularly influential. Combining analysis of the latest scholarship with discussion of original propaganda sources, Monger provides a critical introduction to the diversity of British First World War propaganda. Examining subjects ranging from Duty and Jokes, to Kultur and Unofficial Propaganda, the author highlights how each form of propaganda was conceived, who was involved in its creation, and how it impacted its targets, whilst also crafting a narrative that links each topic from A to Z.Individual forms of propaganda are central to Monger’s account, and each form serves as a starting point to examine broader social and cultural aspects of wartime Britain. For example, by linking imperial support to Britain’s self-styling on both world and home stages, and demonstrating how notions of ‘the British way of life’ played into ideas about duty and encouragements to enlist, Monger highlights the pervasive nature of British propaganda during the First World War, and reinforces its dependence on existing sociocultural factors.

The story of propaganda and patriotism in First World War Britain too often focuses on the clichés of Kitchener, ‘over by Christmas’ and the deaths of patriotic young volunteers at the Somme and elsewhere. A common assumption is that familiar forms of patriotism did not survive the war. However, the activities of the National War Aims Committee in 1917-18 suggest that propaganda and patriotism remained vigorous in Britain in the last years of the war. The NWAC, a semi-official Parliamentary organisation responsible for propaganda to counteract civilian war-weariness, produced masses of propaganda material aimed at re-stimulating civilian patriotism and yet remains largely unknown and rarely discussed. This book provides the first detailed study of the NWAC’s activities, propaganda and reception. It demonstrates the significant role played by the NWAC in British society after July 1917, illuminating the local network of agents and committees which conducted its operations and the party political motivations behind these. At the core of the book is a comprehensive analysis of the Committee’s propaganda. NWAC propaganda contained an underlying patriotic narrative which re-presented many familiar pre-war patriotic themes in ways that sought to encompass the experiences of civilians worn down by years of total war. By interpreting propaganda through the purposes it served, rather than the quantity of discussion of particular aspects, the book rejects common and reductive interpretations which depict propaganda as being mainly about the vilification of enemies. Through this analysis, the book makes a wider plea for deeper attention to the purposes behind patriotic language.