Poster, 'Remember The Lusitania'

Avenging the Lusitania

This text-only First World War poster details the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. After the invasion of Belgium, the torpedoing of the Lusitania was the second most powerful event used in anti-German propaganda.

British and American Posters in New Zealand

This poster is part of a collection of First World War posters sent to New Zealand as examples of British propaganda. From 1917-1919, the Dominion Museum (now Te Papa) collected such war material with the help of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London and the Department of Defence.

The museum intended to collect and display such objects in a planned national war museum in Wellington which never eventuated. Instead, the museum toured over 100 war posters around New Zealand in the early 1920s in the context of increasing commemoration of the war during peacetime. For many, the posters illustrated important aspects of the war and the history of New Zealand's part in the war. This commemorative function was far removed from their original function to encourage wartime contribution.