Lord Kitchener Wants You

This was an illustrated poster made in 1914 during the first World War/The Great War by Alfred Leete.  This poster was made for a recruitment campaign by the British government that was only originally intended to be put as the front cover for the London Opinion magazine before being a widespread poster.  The image of Lord Kitchener pointing his finger at the viewer was said to inspire many people to enlist. This poster was also the main inspiration behind the iconic Uncle Sam “I want you” poster, also used as part of a recruitment campaign. It is said that less than 10,000 of these posters were printed among the almost 6 million posters printed from 1914-1918.  The poster now serves as a permanent symbol of World War 1.