---
title: We have just begun to fight!
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-have-just-begun-to-fight-1943/
description: A painted, mud-streaked soldier with a bayonet rifle shouts with one arm raised; beside him is a list of ten battles from Pearl Harbor to Tunisia under
section: Collection
---

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3. We have just begun to fight!

[![We have just begun to fight!, 1943 US poster: A painted, mud-streaked soldier with a bayonet rifle shouts with one arm raised](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/we-have-just-begun-to-fight-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/we-have-just-begun-to-fight-1943.jpg)

# We have just begun to fight!

A painted, mud-streaked soldier with a bayonet rifle shouts with one arm raised; beside him is a list of ten battles from Pearl Harbor to Tunisia under the headline 'We have just begun to fight!'. The list names engagements with no outcomes or casualty figures, so setbacks and successes read as one run of effort, a selective presentation (card-stacking). The slogan itself is a general rallying phrase.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
We have just begun
to fight!
PEARL HARBOR
BATAAN
CORAL SEA
MIDWAY
GUADALCANAL
NEW GUINEA
BISMARCK SEA
CASABLANCA
ALGIERS
TUNISIA
[imprint: OWI Poster No. 62. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.]
[imprint: U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943--O--527284]
```

Imprint lines at the foot are tiny; the GPO number is read with moderate confidence.

[← We Can Do It!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-can-do-it-1943/) [We need lumber for boxing →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-need-lumber-for-boxing-1943/)

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- [Colour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lithograph-res-gestae-ancyra-heading-0014/) (Roman Empire · 0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalities)
- [Bronze sestertius of Trajan, reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C, the emperor on horseback riding down an enemy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-trajan-optimo-principi-0103/) (Roman Empire · 0103 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (Roman Empire · 0313 · Glittering generalities)
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- [Medal of Elizabeth I: portrait in a ruff, reverse an ark on stormy waves with SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS (18th-century aftercast of a 1588 model)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/elizabeth-i-ark-medal-aftercast-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
