Description
This poster shows an infantry man shaking hands in solidarity with a factory worker. The background, with its smoking factory and howitzer, refers directly to British political events of the time. In 1915, Britain was suffering from a shortage of both soldiers and ammunition; recent British defeats were blamed on a lack of high explosive shells. The subsequent shell scandal of 1915 led to the creation of the Minister of Munitions and a public campaign urging workers to ally themselves with brothers in the trenches by working early and late in munitions factories. Inevitably, labor issues erupted, resulting in the Munitions War Act of 1915, in which union rights, such as the ability to strike, were curtailed for the duration of the war. One of the outcomes of the shell scandal was the employment of large numbers of women in munitions factories. Munitionettes, as they were known, produced approximately eighty percent of Britains weapons and shells.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1915
- Dimensions:
- 20 x 29⅝ inches
- Medium:
- color lithograph
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Aimée and Rosamond Lamb, 1981