The 1918, Great War Era Propaganda Poster, “Don’t talk, the web is spun for you with invisible threads, keep out of it, help to destroy it–spies are listening” is an immaculate display depicting how widespread the effects of World War I was within the United States. Not only does this poster represent one of the first, major times that propaganda was being used in relation to warfare, but it also demonstrates how substantial an effect the fear of Germany had on American society.

Immigration was still apparent in the U.S. during the Great War. However, once the war began, anything associated with Germany received immense backlash from U.S. citizens. For example, towns, streets, businesses, families, and even food were all renamed if they had any type of affiliation with Germany or German culture[1]. If something was to bare a German sounding, or known German title, anyone that proudly associated themselves with that hypothetical item or place began to lose credibility. This was partly because in 1917, Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI). This organization had no regard for any culture or way of life during WWI and portrayed Germany in a negative limelight through demeaning propaganda. For example, according to Clayton Funk’s journal article Popular Culture, Art Education, and the Committee on Public Information During World War I, 1915–1919, “The CPI portrayed Germany as a sinister enemy in order to convince Americans that war was necessary for keeping the world safe[2].” Disloyalty was the most popular word choice in relation to Germany during the first World War, a quality no one wanted to possess, even if they were in fact German. During this time in history, Americans wanted nothing to do with what Germany stood for and as a result, they isolated the culture.

With Americans personifying images of Germany and its leader (Kaiser Wilhelm II) in the most negative of lighting, it was an enormous fear, at the time, that German spies were within the U.S., ready to catch a breath of military intel, opinionated citizens, or anything that could potentially help their cause in the war. Concerns about spreading information to Germany can be noticed within this poster as it is written boldly at the top, “DON’T TALK.” The poster goes on to read, “Ask yourself if what you were about to say might help the enemy[3].” However, these messages can be viewed as extremely counterintuitive towards the reputation of America being the “land of the free” with freedom of speech written as part of the First Amendment in the United States’ Constitution. By using the wording of “invisible” and “web,” the U.S. was doing its best to keep their citizens quiet through the portrayal of Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm II promoting a unforgiving, ruthless, sneaky way of life that’s only goal was to take advantage of any instability across the Atlantic. However, according to Benjamin Paul Hegi’s journal article “Old Time Good Germans”: German-Americans in CooSke County, Texas, during World War I not even all Germans sided with Germany. It is stated in his article, “A significant portion of the German-American community, in fact, criticized Germany’s actions as much as they did Britain and France’s…labeling the war as the consequence of ruling-class arrogance and greed holding no sympathy for Germany since they viewed it equally as guilty as France and Great Britain in exploiting the masses[4].” This perhaps shows that WWI propaganda created in the U.S. may have been for a cause that was not as needed as the Wilson administration believed it to be.

By representing Kaiser Wilhelm II as a spider, using his web to catch any negativity about the U.S., or intel regarding the war, Americans were forced to decide to either stand loyal to their government’s wishes or exercise their right to speak freely. Ultimately, this poster and ones like it implemented enough fear in citizens to keep their mouths tight of any information, important or negativity aimed at the U.S. In addition, a year prior (1917), the U.S. implemented the Sedition and Espionage Acts that stated, “anyone who helped the enemy, encouraged insubordination, disloyalty, or refusal of duty in the armed services, or interfered with the war effort in other ways, could be imprisoned for up to twenty years.” They also “outlawed saying, writing, or printing anything ‘disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive’ about the American form of government, Constitution, or the army and navy[5].” Not only were these laws created to put a stop to any rumors of Germany receiving American intel from American citizens, but according to Geoffrey R. Stone in his Judge Learned Hand and the Espionage Act of 1917: A Mystery Unraveled, additional motivation to create these laws stemmed from other reasoning as well. Stated in his article, it is mentioned, “as the nation moved closer to entering the war in Europe, however, Wilson administration officials increasingly expressed concern that they ‘had no laws adequate to deal with the insidious methods of internal hostile activities[6].’” Much of these practices adopted by the U.S. were instilled to generate enough fear in Americans to not share their beliefs and negative outlooks about the war into the public. However, messages behind posters like this and others that share similar themes also enabled Americans to grow a sense of gratitude in their country for staying loyal to democracy because of the methods of government that were advertised to have been taking place in Germany.

Overall, posters like “Don’t talk, the web is spun for you with invisible threads, keep out of it, help to destroy it–spies are listening,” have a tremendous impact upon citizens and the way in which people view warfare. Propaganda, in general, maintains its ability to ingrain certain opinions and frames of mind even in today’s world, starting with its success in the Great War against Germany and its web-spinning leadership.

[1] Shi, David Emory. America: a Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019.

[2] Funk, Clayton. “Popular Culture, Art Education, and the Committee on Public Information During World War I,

1915-1919.” Visual Arts Research 37, no. 1 (2011): 67-78. Accessed April 7, 2020.

doi:10.5406/visuartsrese.37.1.0067.

[3] “Don’t Talk, the Web Is Spun for You with Invisible Threads, Keep out of It, Help to Destroy It–Spies Are

Listening.” The Library of Congress. Accessed April 7, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.53575/.

[4] Hegi, Benjamin Paul. “”Old Time Good Germans”: German-Americans in Cooke County, Texas, during World

War I.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 109, no. 2 (2005): 234-57. Accessed April 7, 2020.

www.jstor.org/stable/30242266.

[5] Shi, David Emory. America: a Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019.

[6] Stone, Geoffrey R. “Judge Learned Hand and the Espionage Act of 1917: A Mystery Unraveled.” The

     University of Chicago Law Review 70, no. 1 (2003): 335-58. Accessed April 7, 2020. doi:10.2307/1600562.