Ann P. Linder
Exploring the poster propaganda of the world wars
About the Author
I was born in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1947. My father served in the Pacific in World War II, was recalled to active duty at the outbreak of the Korean War, and continued to serve in the Army until his retirement, so I grew up as an Army child all over the US and in Germany, where I acquired my love of languages and history.
I studied French and German literature at George Washington University, and then earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in comparative literature at Rutgers University.
In 1972 I married my husband Steve, who followed his father into the Air Force and served 30 years as an Air Force JAG. During those years, our tours included Washington, DC, California, North Dakota, Montana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as Holland and England. I held an eclectic series of teaching jobs at universities and private preparatory schools, while pursuing my research in World War I.
My first book, Princes of the Trenches:Narrating the German Experience of the First World War was published in 1997. In the course of research for that book, I became fascinated by the propaganda posters of that war, out of which came my second book, World War I in 40 Posters, published in 2016. I am currently working on a third book on the posters of World War II.
My husband and I now live in Alabama with our tabby cat Smudge, named for the streak of white fur on his nose. We enjoy travel (a legacy of the military life), and take pleasure in our social life and volunteer work.
In addition to research and writing, I practice tai chi, participate in French and German-speaking groups, and pursue my hobbies of cooking and jewelry-making.
Contact: annlinder@charter.net
Ann and Steve Linder, Summer 2017
My Books
Princes of the Trenches
Princes examines the German experience of World War I through the combat narratives that proliferated during the interwar period. Despite the similar physical experiences of the various national combatants, the lessons drawn from those experiences differ from nation to nation. Unlike the British or French literature, the German reaction focused on comradeship and a national rebirth out of the ashes of defeat, attitudes that influenced the nationalist politics of the interwar period. Available on Amazon.com.
World War I in 40 Posters
Offering a new approach to wartime propaganda posters, this book analyzes 40 representative posters in detailed essays, unraveling the symbols and allusions in each poster, and documenting the historical, military, social and cultural contexts. Each poster with its essay forms a window into the world of the First World War. Available on Amazon.com.
World War II in 50 Posters
Work in Progress
Like my previous book on World War I posters, this book will dissect 50 posters from Europe and America to reveal the goals and attitudes that drove political propaganda in the respective combatant nations.
Poster Gallery
The Gallery will showcase a selection of posters and commentary that will change periodically. It provides the opportunity to display and discuss posters that have appeared in my books, as well as many that have not, allowing for new insights, comparisons and contrasts.
Fritz Erler, Germany, 1917
This group of two posters begins with Erler's iconic poster of a German front soldier in the 1916 steel helmet (Stahlhelm) that became the symbol of the German veteran and his experience of the war. An immense improvement over the previous spiked helmet, the Stahlhelm was made of molded steel and effectively protected the ears and neck. Its form also evoked medieval German helmets in the art of Dürer and Cranach, providing it with historical resonance and legitimacy. This image is famous for the soldier's distant, steadfast gaze, reminiscent of Dürer's Knight, Death and Devil.
More than any other, this image is the point of origin for all subsequent posters featuring the image of the German soldier.
Mjölnir (Hans Schweitzer), Germany, 1941
This recruiting poster by Hitler's favorite artist, who had been a party member since the mid-1920s, represents the German soldier at the apex of German World War II victories. He is no ordinary soldier, but a member of the elite Waffen-SS--the SS rendered by the lightning runes, which were Nordic runes signifying victory. The Stahlhelm occupies the center of the image, signaling steely strength and readiness for battle. As in Erler's image, the soldier has blue eyes, and his expression exudes the same steady belief in victory. The Nazi ideological commitment to victory is embodied in this poster, a visual image of strength that endured, despite the reverses suffered by the German army, to the end of the war, and is still present in Mjölnir's last posters of 1945.
Caricature of enemy soldiers is as common a propaganda technique as idealization of ones own. This poster by Karl Koehler and Victor Ancona won the category "This is the Enemy" in the National War Poster Contest in 1942. As an exercise in exaggeration, it draws on both the stereotype of the rigid Prussian/German officer, and the Nazi reputation for brutality. The splendor of the uniform, with its prominent swastika, is undercut by the beaked nose, the icy stare, and the thin-lipped sneer. But most striking is the artists' use of the monocle--made famous by Erich von Stroheim in La Grande Illusion--to reflect a victim hanging from a gallows. The head of the officer is slightly off-center, bringing the reflection near the center of the whole and grabbing the viewer's attention. The title, in a modified but appropriate Fraktur, drives home the message. And in 1942, that message was that Nazis were the embodiment of a cold, inhuman brutality that was the opposite of American values.
