Germany vs Britain WW1 Comparison

Germany vs Britain

A WW1 Comparison

Great Britain Propaganda

British Aftermath

Sources

• People celebrated for three straight days in 1918.
• People took to the streets, tore down the propaganda, and burned them.
• Memorials were created all across the country.
• Britain went nearly bankrup.
• Gained new territory.
• Total Deaths: 994,138
• Troops: 7,100,000
• Military Deaths: 885,138
• Civilian Deaths: 109,000

• pbs.org
• www.bbc.co.uk
• wikipedia.org
• Treaty of Versailles (via historylearningsite.co.uk)
• library.leeds.ac.uk
• www.worldology.com
• firstworldwar.com
• ww1propaganda.com

Great Britain Joins the War

Germany Joins the War

• Germany offered its military services to Austria for if they didn't, then Germany would be surrounded by enemies.
• Germany wanted to replace Britain as the world power.
• Germany needed more colonies and territories.

• People were demanding changes in the government and society such as women's right to vote, reforms, etc.
• Then, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand caused Germany to attack Serbia.
• Russia needed to back up Serbia, to which Russia's allies, Britain and France, were forced into the Great War.

Comparison Continued

• It's hard to say who had a better reason for entering the war. Britain was pulled into the war through alliances, so it wasn't like they really wanted to start fighting. Germany, on the other hand, chose to fight for they wanted to be able to grow as a country. This would probably mean Germany had better reasons than Britain.
• Germany suffered greatly after the war, due to the Treaty of Versailles, and ended up basically being bullied by most of the other countries.
• Britain's people were mostly just relieved to no longer have the war to fight in. Women in Britain had ended up being responsible for a lot of the work so by the end of the war they had proven they were just as capable as men, which resulted in them receiving the right to vote.

German vs Britain Propaganda Comparison

German Propaganda

• The propaganda were similar in art, as well as in the message they were trying to convey, and although some of them depicted similar messages, the techniques used also differed.

In this British propaganda poster, the same technique is used as with the U.S. Uncle Sam poster, encouraging citizens to sign up to help out with the war.

This German poster states "War loans help the guardians of your happiness." This poster is encouraging citizens to use war loans to assist the military and therein keeping themselves (and their families) safe.

This German poster reads, "Your Fatherland is in danger, register!" This encourages Germans to join the army and fight.

This British poster is also encouraging citizens to spend their money to assist the military, but the British use the strategy to defeat, or "crush", the other side rather than appeal directly to the safety of family.

Though different in styles and persuasive techniques, both of the countries asked their citizens to join their cause for the war.Other propaganda posters would be similar with one another in some way, but when comparing these two directly, it would seem the countries were different in how they presented the war to their citizens.

German Aftermath

• Alsace-Lorraine given to France; Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium; Northern Schleswig to Denmark; Hultschin to Czechoslovakia; West Prussia and Posen and Upper Silesia to Poland.
• German army reduced to 100,000 men; no tanks.
• Blow to economy and foced to pay other countries.
• Generally driven to bankruptcy.
• Germany was forced to admit full responsibility for the war.

By: Kathryn Donovan and Alexis Haas