On July 28, 1914, the First World War erupted in Europe. For over four years, the conflict persisted. Hostilities finally concluded on November 11, 1918. Although the United States eventually entered the war on the side of Great Britain, France, and other Allied Powers, the nation officially remained neutral for nearly three years, for several reasons. Historically, U.S. policymakers had attempted to avoid becoming entangled in European affairs; many continued to support this principle of nonintervention. Much of the U.S. public preferred peace as well, not eager to participate in the carnage.

Yet as war dragged on, public opinion gradually turned in favor of the Allied Powers and against Germany and its fellow Central Powers. Many Americans, including President Woodrow Wilson, came to believe that the United States must help end the conflict and then take the lead in forging a lasting peace. Motivated by this logic, U.S. government officials and private citizens increasingly began to favor military intervention on behalf of the Allies. Public support, however, was by no means universal. Even by the time the United States entered the war in April 1917, many Americans remained opposed to joining.

To counter this resistance and to generate enthusiasm for the war effort, the Wilson administration created an agency called the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and charged it with mobilizing public support. It also relied on such humanitarian organizations as the American Red Cross and Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) to rally the public. In a climate of wartime patriotism, these organizations largely echoed the U.S. government’s official publicity, thus complementing the CPI’s efforts.

Together, these agencies orchestrated a major public relations campaign, designed to convince the American public to support both the war effort and American international engagement. Publicity makers used diverse forms of mass media to fulfill their mission, including films, speakers, and magazine advertisements, but perhaps the most iconic of these was the poster. Posters relied on stunning visual imagery and few—if any—words in their attempts to persuade. They appealed to viewers’ patriotism, their emotions, and their identities. They urged Americans to enlist in the military or to volunteer in other ways, to save food and to buy Liberty Bonds, to aid the Allies and to despise the enemy. Viewers, significantly, did not always interpret posters in the way their producers had intended. Nevertheless, posters played an important part in nurturing a wartime culture of American internationalism.

The Fronts of World War I, 1914–1918