Why Fight For Russia?

Norman Angell (Author)

This is a leaflet by British Pacifist, Norman Angell in 1914 as it clearly states on the bottom right hand corner. It is also a leaflet because he is trying to get ‘members’ to partake in persuading the British government to stop them from getting involved in the war. The context as to why it was written was because Britain was just on the brink of a war (the first World War actually), thus seeing as how Norman Angell was a pacifist, he utilised his power in the media to get his ideology across of maintaining peace. Hence, is why he wrote this leaflet; to get his countrymen on the side of peace as well. This text is unique because it shows the evolution of what we know; how things were in the past to what we know them to be now, seeing as how eventually Britain did take part in the war, and actually fought on the same side as Russia. However, there was a time when this was not always the case and this leaflet is a testament to that.

The British public was the target audience for this leaflet and the reason being (as stated before) was to persuade and convince them to take part in his ideology, being a pacifist. An assumption could be made that there were already talks of Britain participating in the war, which is most likely why Normal Angell used his power of being in the media and wrote this leaflet. In addition why he sprung this ‘rebellious’ attitude in fight for peace, and for people to join that ideology.

The tone that is expressed by the author throughout the whole text is somewhat preachy. Starting with his use of diction and how the leaflet is set-up. His diction is very strong but short and brief; allowing his phrases and sentences to stick in the audience’s minds. In addition it was intended that the writing be basic and easy to follow, instead of using excess amounts of jargon. This was so that more people could understand and appreciate the overall message that was trying to be conveyed. For example: ‘Russia is the country to fight which we spent 50,000,000 (P) in the Crimea’. This example displays the strong phrasing, shortness of the sentence and the ‘easy/basic’ language that is used (relating back to his diction). The author also utilises statistics and vocabulary that all link back to the theme of being preachy. This tone leads to the left behind mood on the audience of feeling guilty, because since he is showing a very one-sided ideology people could be blinded to simply what and how he is saying rather than maybe looking at both sides.

There is a wide range of literary devices that were applied throughout the whole leaflet in order to help his argument and ideology. For example: the use of Logos in several places in the text like: “which we spent 50,000,000”. This can be considered logos due to the inclusion of statistics. And leaves the impact on the audience of just seeing a better well-rounded argument, and a more convincing one at that. In addition it sets the situation in the perspective that the author intended it, leaving a sense of shock in the reader’s minds. As well as the use of Pathos “Russia is the country to fight which we spent 50,000,000 in the Crimea. This is pathos since it is appealing to emotions and making the British feel bad for the Russian people. It basically pulls on the people’s heart strings, feeling for their country’s troubles. In addition Ethos as well, considering that Leaflet is written by a British Pacifist, which allows the audience (British people) to feel the reliability of what is being said in the text, and believing it.

In conclusion this leaflet by Norman Angel before the start of the first World War, was used to get new ‘members’ to join his ideology of pacifism. This was explained by how he used literary devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos to target the British public to join his movement of peace. In 1914.