During WWI, the United States Army used propaganda posters to influence people to help the war efforts to the best of their ability. Whether the purpose was to get families to gather scrap metal or to get men to join the forces, the propaganda posters always pushed a certain agenda. One of the most iconic propaganda posters from WWI was “Destroy This Mad Brute” which was created to rally men into joining the U.S. army. This poster also helps create the idea that the United States is going to war with barbaric animals and not men which helped improved enlistment numbers. The use of color, space, and scaling in “Destroy This Mad Brute” helps the U.S. army push its agenda of recruiting soldiers which is evident through the posters’ historical and social context. 

Harry Ryle Hopps, author of “Destroy This Mad Brute,” uses color to help convey that the Germans are evil. The enemy in this poster is clearly the Germans because of the signature helmet, the pickelhaube, which was worn by the German army. The gorilla representing the Germans is black which represents evil, and this shows that the Germans are a threat to the American way of life. The dark sky and horizon represents a bad omen and impending doom because the sky is reaching out to America showing that the battle has finally come to the United States, and the dark horizon is a warning of what is to come if men do not enlist into the U.S. army. Hopps used a nuclear green color for the background to represent an apocalypse that the Germans caused to try to change the world for the worst. The red on the gorilla’s club and hands is a warning of how much of a threat the Germans are since it appears that the gorilla brutally murdered other people. These instances Hopps uses puts fear into the eyes of all Americans that the barbaric Germans are coming to destroy America. 

Spacing, the relation of elements to each other, in this poster warns that the Germans are evil and are coming to destroy America. The fact that the gorilla is holding Lady Liberty captive shows that the Germans are directly attacking America. The gorilla is also stepping on the word “AMERICA” which directly indicates that the Germans have come to America, and this is a warning that the Germans must be stopped or they will destroy America just like they had destroyed the city across the water. That city being behind the gorilla shows that he had come from and wreaked havoc there. This also stands as a warning of what the Germans could potentially do to America. Hopps is trying to inform the American people of the danger that the Germans pose to the livelihood of the United States itself. 

Hopps’ message is clarified through scaling to show what the important parts of the poster are. First, the gorilla is three times the size of Lady Liberty which emphasizes how much of a threat the Germans are. Also, the size of the words shows that they are very important. It guides the reader to viewing the gorilla as a threat and makes them seriously consider enlisting. Finally, the gorilla’s face is one of the largest parts of the whole poster to force the reader to stare at its jarring gaze and its mouth which looks like it is making some sort of aggressive sound. Americans would look at this poster and be drawn to what Hopps wanted them to see because he used scaling to emphasize what he thought was important to recruiting soldiers. 

All the design elements that Hopps used are easier to catch if one knows the historical and social context of this time. The gorilla has a mustache which refers to Germany’s leader during this time, Windhelm II, who had a mustache in that fashion. The gorilla’s helmet says “Militarism” which is another indicator that the gorilla represents Germany. Militarism is when a country emphasizes the importance of military power which can be seen in an increase in military spending, and Germany was militaristic during WWI. During WWI, women were not fighting in the wars, so the propaganda posters for enlisting were directed solely to men. Having Lady Liberty be a damsel in distress in this poster causes men to feel an emotional responsibility to protect her and their country. The word “Kultur” on the club is supposed to show that the Germans are uncivilized and brutish. By characterizing the Germans as uncivilized and as a gorilla, Americans felt more like they were going to war against monsters than against other humans. While this tactic to dehumanize Germans created even more racist tensions towards Germans and German immigrants, it also increased the amount of men who enlisted because people find it easier to kill monsters or animals than they do to kill other humans. The enlistment of men was the purpose of this poster, so like many propaganda posters, it was successful in getting the reader to feel a certain way. 

Hopps’ poster, “Destroy This Mad Brute,” used many design elements to convince men to join the United States army. The use of color helps deliver the narrative that the Germans are evil by using dark and unnatural colors. By using space, Hopps shows how near of a threat the Germans are because the gorilla has Lady Liberty captured and is on American soil. Scaling was used to highlight the most important parts of this poster; such as, the importance of enlisting and how large of a threat the Germans are to America’s way of life. Hopps knew how to capture men’s attention by creating a monster to defeat and a damsel in distress to rescue. This poster ultimately dehumanizes Germans to convince men to enlist in the U.S. army. 
