As part of the effort to assemble the massive armies that were required for total war, governments on both sides relied heavily on propaganda. Posters, films, and speeches used dramatic words and images to drive home the justness of the cause and the evil of the enemy. They also targeted the values and self-image of young men. Offering an implicit, and sometimes explicit, challenge to the masculinity of those who did not serve, propaganda messages presented young men with images of war that resonated with their own ideas about ideal male values and behavior. In this way, the war was personalized, transformed from an abstract conflict between nations into a test of the honor, courage, and masculinity of each individual man.

A similar approach can be found in propaganda messages targeted at young women. Thousands of young women like Vera Brittain volunteered to serve as military nurses, prompted in part by propaganda that linked nursing to traditional feminine virtues and attributes. Presenting nurses as simultaneously angelic, maternal, and physically attractive, wartime propaganda suggested to young women that such service offered an opportunity to achieve their personal aspirations as women, and to do so while serving their country.