How shaming played a big role in Canada's WW I recruitment - Action News
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Nova Scotia

How shaming played a big role in Canada's WW I recruitment

For Canadians who weren't serving overseas during the First World War, every day was a reminder they weren't on the front lines. Posters put out by the government could easily be found on buildings and in newspapers and magazines, all talking about the war effort.

Posters communicated how citizens should contribute to war effort, but message was blunt for unenlisted men

An undated photo shows a recruiting office for the Nova Scotia Highlanders in Wolfville, N.S., amid the First World War. (Wolfville Historical Society)

For Canadians who weren't serving overseas during the First World War, every day was a reminder they weren't on the front lines.

Posters put out by the government could easily be found on buildings and in newspapers and magazines, all talking about the war effort. The posters were mostlyfound in larger, urban centres, althoughsomewere in rural communities.

In an age without the internet, TV or widespread radio, posters were the primary way government communicated with its citizens.

"It's not just one poster on a wall somewhere, it would constantly be in your face," said John Macleod, the manager of the Nova Scotia Archives.

The posters had many messages to share, but some of the key ones were the need to make sacrifices such as rationing for the collective good, buywar bondsand for men to enlist. If they hadn't signed up yet, the posters had a very specific message.

Hundreds of different posters were produced during the First World War and could be easily spotted amid daily life. (CWM 19900053-073/Canadian War Museum)

"There was the full-on shaming of young men, accusing them, 'Why are you not in uniform?' You know, forcing them to justify why they were staying at home while so many others were in uniform," said Tim Cook, the director of research at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

While enlistment was initially voluntary, Canada implemented conscription in 1917 as the war dragged on and the need for more soldiers grew.

More than 600,000 men served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. (CWM 19820376-014/Canadian War Museum)

Cook said there were hundreds of different posters produced. Many of them have been digitized and can be found on exhibits by the Canadian War Museum and the Nova Scotia Archives.

The posters were usually bright, colourful and used key words and phrases. The combination of powerful imagery and "constant bombardment" had an effect on Canadians, said Cook.

"They're really at times tugging on people's heartstrings, demanding that they contribute to the war because the boys are suffering overseas," he said.

"At other times, they're playing up on guilt for young men, issues of masculinity, 'Are you man enough to serve overseas?' And the list goes on and on."

Some posters used sports analogies to convince men to sign up. (CWM 19880262-001/Canadian War Museum)

Some posters even used sports analogies, said Cook. One poster questioned why people would want to be spectators at a hockey game when they could "play a mans part in the real game overseas."

When Canada entered the Great War in 1914, its military consisted of about 3,000 members. By the end of the war, more than 600,000 men had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

A man stands in a muddy and cratered field.
The mud and barbed wire of Passchendaele, Belgium, November 1917. (William Rider-Rider / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-002165)

"These were citizen soldiers," said Cook. "These were citizen armies. They were raised from the civilian population and they were staggering numbers."

During the First World War, the population of Canada was around around seven million people. About one in three adult Canadian males served, said Cook.

He saidrecruitment posters could often be found near armouries that were in need of men.

To help fund the war effort, Canadians were encouraged to buy war bonds. (Back Him Up!/CWM 19920108-016/Canadian War Museum)

Posters atgrocery stores might include messages regarding rationing or the need to produce more butter.

Cook, the author of 12books on Canadianmilitary history, has studied letters and diaries from thousands of soldiers. He said that while some soldiers talked about feeling pressure to enlist, many believed in the cause.

Recruitment posters could often be found near armouries that were in need of more men signing up. (Wanted Gunners & Drivers For 63rd Battery/CWM 19900076-832/Canadian War Museum)

"Others felt that tremendous pressure as the young men in the community went off to war and the absences in the school classroom or on the factory line or in the community wereseen and there was more and more pressure, and I think these posters added to that," he said.

While the posters that shame men for not enlisting don't hold up well in today's society, Cook saidit's important to remember that those from the First World War come from a different time and place.

While enlistment in the Canadian military was initially voluntary, the tone on recruiting posters became increasingly guilt-ridden over time. (Your Chums Are Fighting Why Aren't You?/CWM 19910001-503/Canadian War Museum)

But he said some of the messages still resonate, such as the need to make sacrifices for the greater good.

"Some of that messaging, we see it now every day with COVID," said Cook. "It's a part of the messaging around the need to social distance or wear masks or to sacrifice one's own civil liberties for the greater good. And this is the messaging that comes through very prominently and in some of these First World War posters."

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