The Medieval Knight
Hanuš Svoboda
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PST 6712
Unknown
Britain Needs You at Once
1915, PST 0408
One of the most prevalently used historical references employed in First World War posters was that of the medieval knight. The very word ‘knight’ instantly conjures ideas of chivalry and honour. Each country embroiled in the war regarded their national cause as fighting on behalf of justice, and the image of the knight easily embodied such noble virtue.
The knight also allowed for an emphasis on pre-industrial warfare, when combat was still a hand-to-hand trial of individual bravery or strength, thus sanistising the portrayal of warfare for civilian consumption. The British poster offers a scene of St George wielding a sword against a fearsome dragon, without the shedding of any blood. Such scenes romanticised the idea of battle and bore no relation to the mechanised slaughter occurring on the Western Front.
Svoboda's poster also shows a solitary knight as a figure of action, with his sword drawn, ready for battle. The contemporary soldier is thus represented as the descendant of these heroes of the Middle Ages. Portraying them in this medieval guise embodied the soldier with a mystical aura, raised above ordinary men.
