Children as the target of war propaganda

During the First World War the countries involved also sought to win the support of women and children for the war. In addition to the forces fighting in the various theatres of war, the hinterland or home front was also expected to contribute to achieving the war aims. Children were by no means exempt from this mobilization and duly became the target of war propaganda.

The reasons for this intensive ‘infiltration’ of the younger generation were many and varied. On the one hand the authorities were keen to actively win over children and young people in direct support of the war effort and to use them as a workforce. On the other hand children were used to disseminate propaganda. The authorities speculated with the huge influence children wielded over their parents, as revealed in a memorandum from the Ministry of Culture and Education: “School children will be instructed on the importance of the initiative and encouraged to secure the support of their parents. Young people will devote themselves to this task with enthusiasm and zeal, and not without success, considering how receptive parents are towards their children’s requests.”
Children were co-opted to convey norms, values and politically biased information to parents and families.

There was also another reason for this intensive mobilization. In Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Germany and France the war was viewed ideologically as a conflict between civilizations. As the generation of the future, children played a crucial role. Parents, teachers and ideologists seem to have been convinced that the war would have an educational effect on children. The young generation was expected to emerge from the conflict as an elite, more industrious, earnest and patriotic than the cohort that had preceded it.

Duty, discipline and obedience played a central role in the messages transported by teachers, parents and other figures of authority. Pupils were intended to demonstrate these qualities by working for various patriotic initiatives. Active support for these initiatives was encouraged by the portrayal of the conflict as a war waged in defence of Austria-Hungary and Germany. This argument was bolstered by the perceived betrayal by Italy of its commitment to the Triple Alliance. Other circumstances that were exploited for propaganda purposes included the general privation and shortages, which were represented as being caused by enemy states rather than by mistakes in national economic planning. Fears were deliberately stoked by invoking the horrifying prospect of the ‘food and goods blockade’.

Children were expected to make their own contribution to the ‘success of the war’. Victory or defeat was portrayed as depending just as much on the ‘war effort behind the lines’ as on military defence of the homeland. Whether it was by displaying patriotism and particularly good behaviour, by praying for the soldiers or in doing actual war work, children had a duty to support their brothers and fathers at the front: “Surely you can’t find it so very difficult! Think of the great sacrifices your fathers and brothers are making, the unimaginable travails and privations they have accepted, even risking their lives for their Fatherland.”

Translation: Sophie Kidd