Themes

Article highlights

• Introduction

• The Use of Posters as Propaganda

• Interpreting Propaganda Posters

• The Royal Navy in Propaganda

The Royal Navy in Propaganda

The Royal Navy featured significantly in propaganda posters from both wars.

Posters were needed, for example, to stimulate recruitment, emphasise the Navy’s role in securing the country’s food supply, to assist in raising money for the government in the form of War Savings, etc.

Select the links to explore in detail three themes dealing with propaganda and the Royal Navy - patriotism and shared values, industrial production and intelligence.

 

Looking at the posters it is also important to consider what is not shown. There were many parts of the Navy’s operations that did not feature. For example, there are many images of convoy escorts and the Battle Fleet, but few of the contribution of minesweepers or naval aviation.