| Place | Europe: United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | ARTV03942 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Measurement | Overall: 50.5 x 74.6 cm |
| Object type | Poster |
| Physical description | chromolithograph on paper |
| Maker |
Unknown Parliamentary Recruiting Committee David Allen & Sons Ltd |
| Place made | United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London |
| Date made | 1915 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Lord Kitchener says enlist today
Description
First World War British recruiting poster, produced by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. Depicts a photograph of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, with his trademark brush moustache. Kitchener's face was a popular image on recruiting posters. He had a high public profile, having served in the Soudan conflicts, and was the officer who signed the death warrant of the famous Breaker Morant. Before the war, he achieved the high offices of Commander-in-Chief in India, and then Consul-General in Egypt. His legendary status as a colonial warrior and administrator made his features a powerful propaganda tool in posters.
This design is dominated on the right side by Kitchener's face. The left side contains a direct quote of one of Kitchener's speeches, urging people to join. He asks: 'Does the call of duty find no response in you until reinforced - let us say superseded - by the call of compulsion?' It is a simple, but iconic design.