War Propaganda Bureau

UK civil service organization set up in 1914 to promote British government propaganda during World War I. Established under the leadership of Liberal member of Parliament Charles Masterman, its work was considered crucial to victory. The bureau promoted a positive attitude to the government's cause both to the British public and to the rest of the world, and attempted to counter German propaganda. Hundreds of writers and artists were employed to produce stories, posters, and films to keep up morale. From 1915 the bureau also produced a monthly newsletter, Nelson's History of the War, that gave the official government version of the war.

Well-known writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the detective ‘Sherlock Holmes’, and Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book were recruited to produce pamphlets for the bureau. Official war artists such as Paul Nash and the Irish portrait painter John Lavery were employed to paint scenes of the Western Front.