Sus bonos de la libertad [Your liberty bond will stop this]

A war loan appeal in Spanish and English from the Philippines, an American colony at the time of the 1914-18 war. Depicts an Allied soldier being crucified against a tree by a German. In the background American troops advance towards the hapless soldier. While atrocity propaganda was common on both sides, there was a persistent myth that German soldiers crucified Allied soldiers. The use of the crucifix was initially popularised by Dutch artist Louis Raemaekers in 1915. Raemaekers had travelled to Belgium and witnessed numerous German atrocities which he documented in his cartoons. These works were subsequently distributed by Britain, the country he fled to following the Germans putting a bounty on him. Norman Lindsay also used the crucifix trope in a 'Bulletin' cartoon. This Phillipino poster is an excellent example of how widespread atrocity propaganda had become in the battle of images between the warring nations.