Are You a Man or a Mouse? (poster): Difference between revisions
Are You a Man or a Mouse? (poster) (view source)
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[[File:Your Country Needs You (postcard).jpg|thumb|270px|One of many of Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener's recruiting poster.]]
[[File:Man or Mouse Poster.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale]]'s striking and provocative recruiting poster.]]▼
The Great War had turned into a war of attrition. Neither side were moving and the lives already lost had made a substantial impact on the Regular and Territorial Force already in place. The BEF had to retreat from Mons. This resulted in needing more men if it was to successfully provide the support the French desperately needed to hold off the overwhelming German forces on the Western Front.
Field Marshal Lord Kitchener called for volunteers to join the army and help with the fighting overseas. The volunteers would join for a duration of three years, giving time for adequate training before being shipped abroad. Lord Kitchener had promised that friends who joined up together would be able to train and serve together; an interesting strategy used to gain the numbers required. Little did he know at the time how successful this was to become. Within just three weeks 100,000 men had volunteered for [[Glossary:Kitchener's Army|Kitchener’s New Army]]; men from many different backgrounds across the entire country. These men would be formed of ‘local’ battalions relative to the county/town in which enlisted. They became known as the ‘Pals’ battalions.
Kitchener’s recruiting poster and the propaganda behind the drive to bring new recruits in had worked. The powerful wording alone of {{quote-left}}'''
▲[[File:Man or Mouse Poster.jpg|thumb|left|270px|[[Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale]]'s striking and provocative recruiting poster.]]
{{quote-left}}'''
It’s not difficult to see why this poster caused so much controversy. Nonetheless, whichever way the reader interpreted it, it was to have a significant impact on the recruiting process that Lord Lonsdale wanted. Men from all over the county joined up to serve king and country. Men who were farm servants and general labourers, shopkeepers, miners, clerks, industrial workers and shepherds all wanted to do their bit.
The war had changed many things and men on opposing sides could no longer benefit from friendships they may have shared in the past.
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==See also==
*[[Notes of the Week (Editorial against Man or Mouse Poster)]]
*[[Notes of the Week (Editorial about Raising the Lonsdales)]]
*[[Men of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newspaper advert)]]
[[Category:11th Battalion (Lonsdale)]]
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