Finances Posters and Propaganda

The first document is a poster displaying a key message about the war: money was badly needed. This particular poster was displayed in the Rhône (a department). France needed money to help French soldiers on the war front and the government had to convince its citizens to participate. This poster encouraged the population to give their gold to help fight against Germany. In fact, the German soldier in the foreground could be easily identified thanks to his distinctive helmet, the pickelhaube (spiked helmet). Coins transform into bullets, the message conveyed is clear, the more money people gave, the more ammunitions could be made, and the easier it would be to defeat the enemy.

The second document is another poster displaying the same key message about collecting gold. It targets the whole French population; it is not specific to a given area. When French people saw this poster, they could immediately understand that money could "crush" the enemy. Once again, the German soldier could easily be identified because of his attire. As it was often the case at the time, this poster uses numismatic imagery to illustrate its point. It also relies on symbolism as France is personified by a Gallic rooster. With this money, France could win against Germany. Those who did not enlist.

I have chosen these documents because the Great War required war-making countries to mobilize and sustain financial resources on an unprecedented scale. On both posters, we can see a German soldier being attacked and numismatic symbols wining over. On the first document, the German soldier endures shelling as gold coins are turned into ammunitions. The second one shows us another German soldier crushed by a huge coin on which we can identify the words "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" which means that civilians were expected to support and help in the name of “Freedom, Equality and Fraternity,” the French motto. During WWI, the impact of posters as a means of communication was great, there were a major tool for raising money to finance the war.