Politics

I've been working on the WWI British...

In other news I have been enjoying the ongoing row on the Flames of War section of the ETC forums. I am sure that a psychiatrist would find it useful as a case study into the mindset of tournament wargamers.

Back in the real world this thread from the Great War forum was most interesting.

It concerns the famous Kitchener recruiting poster, and the claims made earlier in the year by James Taylor that the pointing finger of Lord Kitchener had significantly less effect than is popularly imagined. Again the story makes an interesting case study - this time in media studies - as it turns out that the poster didn't exist in the form, or within the timescale, that numerous set designers have imagined in films of the period.

However it turns out that far from the moustachioed Lord staring down Big Brother-like, stirring the patriotic juices of young men, it would seem his influence was of a far more personal nature. As the image originally appeared on the front cover of a London magazine, which subsequently sold postcards of the print in batches of 100. Making the appeal of a far more personal nature.

Also within the discussion on the Great War forum was this link to a book by Keith Greaves called The Politics of Manpower, which highlights the difficulties the authorities were having in recruiting men for the army - which again undermines another of the myths perpetuated in popular fictions concerning 'war fever' over the issue of plucky little Belgium.

Oh and while I'm on the subject of the way in which the media alter distort events to create a different reality that suits political realities, this is a very useful documentary that both highlights the tragedy of the Serbs and rather blows a hole in the narrative that the events of the holocaust was an aberration that appeared seemingly out of nothing. And on a related topic I doubt the Guardian would want to be reminded of their wish that the Sebian nation should be dragged out to sea.

peace:)