Want a Second Front? Then Build the Fighting Ships! Ships Mean Victory

Four heads of working men in brown tones rise behind a dark warship against a yellow ray background, over the question 'Want a Second Front?' and the answer 'Then build the fighting ships!'. The tell is the faces of ordinary workers presented as the builders of the ships (plain folks) and the closing slogan 'Ships mean victory', a virtue claim with no figures (glittering generalities).

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Plain folksGlittering generalities

Date

1939

Period

Second World War

Made by

Issuer not printed; poster urging shipbuilding

Region

North America

Country

Canada

Medium

Poster

Issuer type

State

Regime

Mackenzie King Government

Leader

William Lyon Mackenzie King

Audience

Domestic public

Purpose

Mobilize or secure compliance

Themes

War and the military, Labor, Home front

Event

World War II

Source

Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are

Source

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026

Rights

Held by NARA, Unrestricted; Canadian wartime publication (Crown copyright, if any, expired); hosted by owner decision
Issuer not printed; poster urging shipbuilding. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-719.

Want a Second Front?
Then build the Fighting Ships!
SHIPS MEAN VICTORY