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from volunteering to conscription
11
Lord Kitchener,Secretary of State forWar,
recognised that the war would be long and
bloody, and that the strength of theArmy must
be increased as a matter of urgency. His call for
volunteers was first made on 11August 1914,
within days of war being declared.Later that
month the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee
was established.
The response to the recruitment drive was phenomenal. By Christmas 1914,
one million men had answered the call to the ranks of Kitchener’s‘new’Army.
Kitchener himself was to become a figurehead for the recruitment campaign,
his face a prominent feature in what is arguably one of the most iconic images
of the war and of any advertising campaign since. As MargotAsquith is quoted
to have said, ‘If Kitchener was not a great man,he was,at least,a great poster’.
The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (PRC) was an all-party body formed
towards the end ofAugust 1914. Key members included the Prime Minister and
leaders of the main political parties. The PRC produced pamphlets,organised mass
recruitment drives and produced eye-catching posters to encourage men to enlist.
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