Victory 1915 Poster Analysis

TITLE
During the First World War governments often used war posters in order to encourage men to join the army. The poster “Victory 1915” from 1915 created for the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee in the United Kingdom shows British soldiers marching towards victory. Through the use of glittering generalities, transfer, and bandwagon the poster is emphasizing that men should join the army now. Glittering generalities is used in the poster to make the war seem idyllic in order to attract more men to enlist. When the audience look at the poster, one of the first things that attracts the eye are the warm colours. A large part of the poster is covered with a warm orange colour from the sun rising, which makes the poster seems more attractive and positive. The sun is also shining on the soldiers marching towards the horizon in unity, with an erect and proud posture. As a result, the audience is able to associate a soldier with a respected man, proudly marching into the war. The font used on the top of the poster also contributes to the

In this case, the creator is the British government, and therefore the poster also uses ethos in order to appeal to the audience with credibility. The government is wishing “a happy new year to all our gallant soldiers”, and this shows that the government is very positive towards men who join the army, and that they want them the best. Since the government is governing the country they could be expected to have a lot of experience in the field of war and therefore know what is best. Thus, their word choice of “gallant” and the word “victory” in the horizon have greater credibility because the audience sees the government as a respected authority. The audience is not part of “our soldiers” and therefore the government are not directing positive words towards them, which contributes to the bandwagon