Perspective/Evidence

During the WW1, In Canada, the government and other organizations often used posters with emotionally charged words and descriptive images to promote the war effort.

There existed among French Canadians a tradition of suspicion towards the British Empire, and while sympathetic to France, Britain’s ally, few French Canadians were willing to risk their lives in its defence either. In Quebec, mostly French-speaking with few ties of sentiment or lineage to Britain, they saw the Military Service Act as a means of forcing them to fight in a distant war that had no connection to them.

Because of Quebec’s particular political and social climate, recruitment posters there sometimes used unique forms of appeal not seen in the rest of Canada. For example, Some of French-Canadian’s greatest historical heroes and heroines appeared on enlistment posters.