Leaflets of German propaganda were distributed to American troops through air drops as a form of psychological warfare during World War I. Aerial leaflets were used on a large scale by all forces during the war - by the end of the war, British military intelligence had distributed approximately 26 million of them, and the U.S. Air Service 3 million.
These two German leaflets were picked up by American soldier George Archer, who mailed them to Catherine Luckett of St. Louis, Missouri. The collection, which also contains French currency and a welcome letter from King George V of England to American troops, is available at the
State Historical Society of Missouri.
The first leaflet encourages American soldiers to desert. In an article for the
Professional Engineer written later in life, Major Garrison Babcock recollects the leaflet - "The only comment I could make on their slogan, "The better part of valor," is that it is an echo from the hollow chamber of German sham, and there are no soldiers in the American Army who would not fight the Hun all the harder after being called a coward for not "saving himself first.""
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| C0198 |
Transcript: The better part of valor. Are you a brave man or a coward? It takes a brave man to stand up for his principles. Cowards stand behind leaders and die, imagining that by so doing they become heroes. The motive of an act is its measure. If you think the war is hell and that you as a citizen of the united States of America have no business to be fighting in France for England you are a coward to stay with it. If you had the courage to face criticism you would get out and over the top in no time to a place where there is some likelihood that you may see home again. What business is this war in Europe to you anyhow? You don't want to annex anything, do you? You don't want to give up your life for the abstract thing <humanity>. If you believe in humanity and that life is precious, save your own life and dedicate it to the service of your own country and the women who deserve it of you. Lots of you fellows are staying with it because you are too cowardly to protest, to assert your own wills. Your wills are the best judges of what is best for you to do. Don't ask anyone's opinion as to what you would better do! You know best what is the right thing to do. Do it and save your life! Germany never did any harm to you, all the newspaper tales of wrongs were printed to inflame you to the fighting pitch, they were lies, you know you can't believe what you read in the papers. If you stay with the outfit ten chances to one, all you will get out of it will be a tombstone in France.
The second leaflet, which is printed in French on one side and English on the other, calls for an armistice and declares that the Germans want to 'quickly end the slaughter.' In
Hell's Observer: The Epic Wartime Journal of Private William J. Graham, 28th Division Army Private William Graham states that this leaflet was air dropped on the front line during October and November 1918.
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| C0198 |
Transcript: The German People Offers Peace.The new German democratic government has this programme: "The will of the people is the highest law." The German people wants quickly to end the slaughter. The new German popular government therefore has offered an Armistice and has declared itself ready for Peace on the basis of justice and reconciliation of nations. It is the will of the German people that it should live in peace with all peoples, honestly and loyally. What has the new German popular government done so far to put into practice the will of the people and and to prove its good and upright intentions? a) The new German government has appealed to President Wilson to bring about peace. It has recognized and accepted all the principles which President Wilson proclaimed as a basis for a general lasting peace of justice among the nations. b) The new German government has solemnly declared its readiness to evacuate Belgium and to restore it. c) The new German government is ready to come to an honest understanding with France about. Alsace-Lorraine.d) The new German government has restricted U-boat War. No passengers steamers not carrying troops or war material will be attacked in future. e) The new German government has declared that it will withdraw all German troops back over the German frontier. - f) The new German government has asked the Allied Governments to name commissioners to agree upon the practical measures of the evacuation of Belgium and France. These are the deeds of the new German popular government. Can these be called mere words, or pluff, or propaganda? Who is to blame, if an armistice is not called now? Who is to blame if daily thousands of brave soldiers needlessly have to shed their blood and die? Who is to blame, if the hitherto undestroyed towns and villages of France and Belgium sink in ashes? Who is to blame, if hundreds of thousands of unhappy women and children are driven from their homes to hunger and freeze? The German people offers its hand for peace. I picked this up in Vandieres one day while I was looking in the cellars for potatoes to stock the observation Post, this one fell in the streets.
Graham remarks "The German people want to end the slaughter!
There is no doubt in my mind, the same people who are asking for peace
are the same ones who tortured and slaughtered those poor helpless old
men and women in Belgium...Yes, now that the American boys are grasping
the Hun by the throat, he squeals for peace. The new German government
has solemnly declared its readiness to evacuate Belgium and to restore
it..it makes me laugh..they will evacuate Belgium? I guess you will Mr.
Hun..if you don't..well...there are many shell holes still in need of
some good German soldiers. Dead ones. We don't need any peace pact to
decide about your evacuation from Belgium or France. The American
doughboy is sending you out of these two countries just as fast as you
went anywhere!"
Sources:
Archer, George L., Papers, 1918-1919. C0198. The State Historical Society of Missouri.
Babcock, Garrison. "Past president of the A.A.E. in at the last shot."
Professional Engineer. American Association of Engineers.
Friedman, Herbert. Allied PSYOP of WWI. (http://www.psywarrior.com/WWIAllies.html)
Graham, William J. Edited by Bruce A. Jarvis and C. Stephen Badgley. 2012.
Hell's Observer: The Epic Wartime Journal of Private William J. Graham. 2012. Badgley Publishing Company.
Office of Air Force History. 1979.
The U.S. Air Service in World War I. Volume IV.
