Embedded Files
"Women's Land Army of World War I." National Women's History Museum
Semez des Pommes de terre
Semez des Pommes de terre
This poster dates back to 1917, it comes from the municipal collection of Remiremont (Vosges), and it was drawn by Georges Henri Hautot. There are three characters, a soldier on one side, and a woman and an old man on the other side, standing in a field. The slogan makes it clear that this poster was meant to convince people at the back to "grow potatoes", "For our soldiers", "For France". In the foreground of the poster we can see the soldier from behind, wearing the typical blue uniform worn by French soldiers at the beginning of WW1.
In the background, the artist has drawn a typical French village. In the middle there is a woman with a basket filled with potatoes, next to her there is an old man who is heavily leaning on a shovel. This poster shows that the woman and the old man had a very important role to play. They worked the land to feed the soldiers and their families. France was a very rural country at the time, a vast majority of soldiers came from small villages and had been farmers. The artist used a striking patriotic image to convey the message. In fact, food is always an issue during war time, the message displayed by the poster is an appeal to French civilians, urging them to grow their own food. Then, the surplus could be sent to the soldiers in trenches. This supply was most necessary after major battles like the Marne or Verdun.
We have chosen this poster because we find it interesting to deal with French and not only soldiers. Moreover, this poster conveys a very interesting message.
Lycée Margueritte Students Verdun, France
Take a minute to compare and contrast French propaganda the "The Woman's Land Army of America" which is an excellent example of American propaganda.
Take a minute to compare and contrast French propaganda the "The Woman's Land Army of America" which is an excellent example of American propaganda.
The Other Battle
The Other Battle
"French farmers, please honour Free America's soldiers who have come by millions to shed and mix their blood with our sons', so that we can go on working in our fields and stop the barbarians (the huns) from ravishing our established liberties."
This propaganda appeared in several newspapers such as "Le Miroir"; "Illustration" or "Petit Journal", they showed the work of women in France, especially when they cultivate the land. This was to encourage the mobilization of forces in the USA and in Great Britain.
This document is a propaganda print, which is dated 1917, towards the end of World War One. At that time, American soldiers were coming to France to help the exhausted French soldiers and relieve the families, friends, children, as we can see in the document.
We can distinguish many people, most of them are peasants, harvesting their field but also, some American soldiers.
In the foreground, an American soldier is helping a French woman chopping and collecting sheaves of wheat, the wheat which will feed everyone. Behind them we can see another man with another woman, both waving at the walking American soldiers as a way to probably thank them for helping and make them feel welcomed. In the distance, a train can be seen. Its first car seems to be transporting weapons, bombs and especially cannons since the soldiers are coming as a military help. The second one is full of men, soldiers, waving at the French peasants, some of them waving with their helmets. The overall message is one of hope and gratitude.
We chose this propaganda engraving because we were scrolling though the documents, we'd only see old black and white documents so at the moment that we saw this colorful engraving, our eyes were immediately attracted and our attention was fully caught. Moreover, the war battles with the soldiers are very important but we wanted to put forward the other battle that was for other soldiers, the soldiers that had to keep on working and feeding everyone, all that while having the relationship between French people and American soldiers. Therefore, this document seemed perfect since we can see french peasants greeting American soldiers while farming.
Lycée Margueritte Students Verdun, France
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