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“How war propaganda emotionally guilted people into supporting World War 2 efforts”

“The whole period saw an unexpected flowering of the arts amid the rubble of hard times, and this work gives an unusual vantage point on what was taking place then; it helps us gauge the spirit and tenor of the age.” (Bennington, J.B & DaSilva, Zenia Sacks, 2016)

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Propaganda is the dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion. It is often conveyed through mass media.

Propaganda can be used in several areas, such as commercial advertising, public relations, political campaigns, diplomatic negotiations, legal arguments, and collective bargaining. It can be targeted toward groups of varying size and at the local, national or global level. (Britannica)

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Propaganda as viewed through social sciences

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Propaganda as viewed through social sciences

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"During the 1920s and 1930s, a critical framework for analysis of social influence, called propaganda analysis, gained sway in American social science. The epistemic rationale of the paradigm was its ability to explain the phenomenon of modern mass persuasion. The paradigm's ideological appeal came through its ability to widen citizen participation in society and its match with postwar disillusionment and Depression‐era skepticism. [...] Critical propaganda studies were displaced by a rival paradigm, called communication research, the latter able to render useful and politically noncontroversial wartime and postwar service to government and private grantors."

(Sproule, J. M. , 1987)

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“During the interwar period in particular, there was much interest, especially in the USA, in the role of propaganda as a means of mass persuasion. The level of academic interest was itself a direct reflection of the increased prominence and visibility of propaganda in international politics.”

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It was only when propaganda began appearing in different media, such as films, music, and art, that people began to take its influence seriously.

Consequently, Professor Leonard Doob commented, “In America the word propaganda has a bad odor, it is associated with war and other evil practices.”

(Chapman, J. 2000)

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Despite this, it was used in media for various means, “Popular culture, in all its forms, was utilized to build the support the American government needed for the country to engage in a war. Popular culture would assist in the war effort by doing things such as inspiring distrust of the enemy, helping to educate the military and civilians on various wartime issues, and assist in building home front support for the war effort.”

(Bryan, Baillie Victoria Catherine, 2022)

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“It is interesting to find Mr. Roosevelt momentarily quoting Senator Borah with approval:

As he and I both agreed, the object of neutrality is to prevent the United States from doing two things: first, from becoming involved in a foreign war. The second is, in the event of a foreign war, to put the United States in a position where it won't help one side or hurt the other side. In other words, where we will be fair to both sides in the conflict.””

(Sears, L. M., 1943)

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Eleanor Roosevelt's Response to Germany's Invasion of Poland

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Eleanor Roosevelt's Response to Germany's Invasion of Poland

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Can one help but question his integrity? His knowledge of history seems somewhat sketchy too, for, after all, Poland possessed Danzig many years prior to the time that it ever belonged to Germany. And how can you say that you do not intend to make war on women and children and then send planes to bomb cities?

No, I feel no bitterness against the German people. I am deeply sorry for them, as I am for the people of all other European nations facing this horrible crisis. But for the man who has taken this responsibility upon his shoulders I can feel little pity. It is hard to see how he can sleep at night and think of the people in many nations whom he may send to their deaths.

Eleanor Roosevelt - My Day

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Editorial cartoon drawing shows large guns firing at night time, conveying the constant fighting during World War II.

https://www.loc.gov/photos/?c=200&q=america+world+war+ii&sb=date&sp=2&st=None

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress, January 6, 1941

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We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want . . . everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear . . . anywhere in the world.

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers-of-persuasion

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Persuading the American public became a wartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets and planes. The Government launched an aggressive propaganda campaign with clearly articulated goals and strategies to galvanize public support, and it recruited some of the nation's foremost intellectuals, artists, and filmmakers to wage the war on that front.

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In the United States, radio was so widely used for propaganda that it greatly exceeded the use of other media that was typically used against other nations. President Roosevelt's fireside chats are an excellent example of this use of radio.

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The earliest Hollywood production to satirize any of the Axis governments was You Nazty Spy!, a Three Stooges short released on January 19, 1940, satirizing Hitler (Moe Howard as "Moe Hailstone"), Goering (Curly Howard as "Field Marshal Gallstone") and Goebbels (Larry Fine as "Larry Pebble"), nearly two years before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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A poster quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt in opposition to the Nazi book burnings

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U.S. forgers distorted Hitler’s image on stamps like this one, which mimicked a real German stamp of Hitler. These fakes were placed on mail that was air-dropped into Germany as a form of covert propaganda.

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Used every kind of media outlet to spread propaganda. From movies to cartoons and advertisement, every piece of entertainment had some relation to the war.

Propaganda also used many themes and aimed to many different groups

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Companies rushed to advertise the war as it was beneficial for them as well. Armed forces overseas also preferred to have magazines with ads in them.

Many commercial also urged the public to buy war bonds.

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Comic books and cartoons often showed superheros fighting with the opposition.

However, comics also showed the difficulty of war, which helped keeping up the sympathy and support.

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Movies sometimes just subtly used the war as a background for the story, while in other cases it centered around the war.

They were used as orientation films for new recruits as well.

This industry was so important, that many irreplaceable film workers' got postponed military draft.

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US army partnered with Walt Disney to create not only war propaganda or political commentary against Axis power. BUt also to create training and instructional animations for the troops.

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Magazines were favored because they were widely circulated and were quick to release or consume.

Certainmagazines aimed for different groups, for example Ladies' Home Journal targeted housewives.

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Anti-German/Japanese/Italian

Victories and False optimism

War effort and war bonds

Civil defens and conservation

Agricultural production

Womanpower

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Pearl Harbor was an event that, for many who was hesitant about the war, finally settled the decision.

All of the Pearl Harbor propaganda posters are meant to further U.S. patriotism. Most were positive, but some are specifically anger inducing.

It used the shock of the event to call for action.

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War bonds were crucial in the funding of WW2.

Posters used patriotic symbols to encourage people. It also gave them a feeling that they did something for the war and victory.

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Focused on encouraging men to enlist in the armed forces.

The imagery was designed to evoke a sense of duty, honor, and urgency, compelling men to join the fight to protect their country and seek justice for the fallen.

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The attack was portrayed as a brutal and unprovoked assault, and remembering it became a call to action, urging citizens to support the war effort with unwavering resolve.

It caused an emotional response to unite the American public.

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They framed the attack as not just a military defeat but a direct affront to American honor, fueling a desire for retribution and justice. This slogan reinforced the idea that the entire nation was united in the cause of fighting back against the aggressors and defending American values.

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Massive propaganda operation accompanied the D-day landings.

warning leaflets

radio speeches

airborn newspapers

Within two days of the invasion, 9 million leaflets had been dropped.

one contained a large map of encircled and bombarded Germany, announcing that she is fighting on four fronts

Weeks after D-Day, crates containing dozens of different British and American books and pamphlets, were landed in Normandy.

Reed, C. (1984, June 6). D-Day Propaganda. History Today. 34(6).

Hench, J. (2016). Books As Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

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The Purple Heart (1944) - film used to dramatize Japanese atrocities and the heroics of American flyers

My Japan (1945) - anti-Japanese propaganda short film produced to spur sale of American war bonds

1944, december opinion poll, 13% of the U.S. public were in favour of the extermination of all Japanese, as well as 50% of American GI's

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purple_Heart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Japan

Feraru, A. N. (1950). "Public Opinion Polls on Japan". Far Eastern Survey. 19 (10): 101–103.

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Efforts were aimed at convincing the U.S. public to accept a harsh peace for the German people.

removing the commonly held view that the German people and the Nazi party were separate entities

CASEY, S. (2005). The Campaign to Sell a Harsh Peace for Germany to the American Public, 1944–1948. History, 90(1 (297)), 62–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24427180

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In September 1945, after Japan officially surrendered, thus ending World War II, the United States Office of War Information was dissolved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Office_of_War_Information

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“The end of the war of course did not result in propaganda being discarded, although it raised difficult questions about what kind of goals the American government hoped to achieve in post-war propaganda and what sort of agency should survive the war.”

“American propaganda matured during World War II, and with the maturity came more realistic assessment of what propaganda might do.”

Lefler, Laura Clarkson, "A War of Words: America's Domestic and Foreign Propaganda Efforts in World War II" (2001). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects.

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Morgenthau Plan (1944-1947)

Marshall plan/European Recovery Program (1948-1951)

The Cold War (1947-1991)

(Wikipedia)

https://explore.britannica.com/study/cold-war-policies-propaganda-and-speeches

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Us propaganda combined entertainment with awareness of the war effort.

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besides work, volunteering and other responsibilities during the war, Americans still found time to escape into popular culture

couldn't escape since WWII touched virtually every part of life

"the war, the effort of the Allies to win it, was the subject of songs, movies, comic books, novels, artwork, comedy routines—every conceivable form of entertainment and culture"

artists kept the public informed about the war while persuading people to cooperate with the government's programs

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cultural outlets built a sense of community and shared experience showing that Americans were all in it together.

idealism laced with therapeutic humour - popular culture helped strengthen the bonds of what it meant to be an American

"living in historic times and fighting an epic battle of good against evil"

"by 1945, a whole new world of war-related sights and sounds had become part of America’s popular culture, some intended purely for entertainment, others as propaganda"

many of the more iconic symbols of this era—like Rosie the Riveter —are still used today

World War II and Popular Culture. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. (2018, August 10). https://www.nationalww2museum.org/

Popular Culture: Everyday Diversions in Extraordinary Times. Oregon Secretary of State. https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/ww2/Pages/life-culture.aspx

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Zsófia Farkas, Sára Szabó, Bianka Makó, Zita Magyar