From Hun-Beast to Abstract Threat: Portrayals of the German Enemy in Australian War Posters

While books and articles on Australia’s war history occasionally discuss the jingoistic portrayal of the German ‘enemy within’ and overseas in the Australian press in WW1, they rarely mention depictions of the German enemy in the visual media. This paper investigates the portrayal of Germans in Australian posters produced during WW1 and WW2. It argues that Germany was depicted as a threat to Australia in both wars, albeit in different ways. Given the government’s need for an increasing number of recruits in the course of WW1, many recruiting posters hysterically depicted the German enemy as brutal invader. The portrayal in WW2, meanwhile, was much more subtle and rational and refrained from jingoistic portrayals of the Germans, which were now directed at the Japanese. Nonetheless, posters of both wars depicted a German invasion threat to the Australian continent, although such a danger never existed. Looking at the posters today, the viewer not only sees reflections of certain war events but, more generally, illustrations of Australian ideology and mythology. The posters particularly visualize Australia’s deep concern for the security of her borders and, connected to it, a deeply rooted suspicion of the ‘other’. Since ‘White Australia’s’ fear of invasion had existed since the very beginning of the 20 century (Hage, 2003: 52), it was logical for propagandists of both wars to invoke this image in the aid of recruiting and the selling of war loan bonds. While it is conceivable that some propagandists made use of the invasion theme because they believed in the reality of a German invasion threat themselves, to mobilise this primal Australian fear was also one of the most effective ways to unite the population behind the war effort. In addition, such posters conveyed a sense of direct involvement and strategic importance to Australians. This was particularly important in WW1 when Australia’s geographic remoteness from the theatres of war led many Australians to question the extent of Australia’s involvement, especially in later war year.