Propaganda During Ww1 Essays

During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.

In the early 20th century, the United States found itself on the brink of entering World War I, following repeated German attacks against maritime vessels traveling near England and France. President Wilson originally known as the peace candidate, soon found himself asking Congress for a Declaration of War against Germany and moved quickly to engage the emotion of the American people and organize war production by forming the Committee on Public Information (CPI) as a means of publicizing the war (Devine 794). Frederick Strothmann, a cartoonist of the era, created the poster “Beat back the Hun with Liberty Bonds” for the Treasury Department as one of many effective propaganda tools used to promote the war and mobilize hatred against the enemy.

At the start of World War One president Woodrow Wilson announced to the people and the world that the U.S. will be in a state of neutrality in which the U.S. will not get involved in this conflict. But tension started to rise as the German army announced the quarantine of the British isle and when U.S. ships were sunk by German mines. Many ships kept disappearing and many of them were by the Germans. As tensioned rose president Woodrow Wilson was afraid he would not be able to keep the people of the U.S. out of the war for

Ideology was another piece that fit into the now solved puzzle of why America entered the war. Wilson wanted to make the world safe for democracy. Ideology was seen partly for idealistic justification. The inhabitation of Belgium and the sinking of the Lusitania changed many people’s minds in the United Stated of Germany.

President Woodrow Wilson’s “War Message” addresses the momentous event of breaking neutrality and declaring war on the German government. Wilson explains that America can no longer remain stagnant. He calls his audience to action, through a tactical combination of both structured logic and emotional inclusion. Wilson begins his deduction with several points, starting with the details of the submarine warfare and the “wholesale destruction of men, women, and children” endured not only by the American people but various other countries (2). Wilson asserts that neutrality is no longer possible since peace and the freedom of the individuals of the world were under a direct threat (5). He reassures the audience that although his intentions were the same and he fully intended on keeping the American people safe, avoiding the war and remaining uninvolved was no longer a reality (4).

Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a political cause or point of view(Webster). It has always been used to encourage the support of a cause especially during times of war. During World War II, the American government was hesitant to use propaganda to encourage American support due to past experiences of propaganda during World War I. According to Lincoln Riddle’s article on War History Online, businesses and corporations had to persuade the government to use propaganda in America. The government consented to the deed so long as the ads being displayed by business and corporation were only giving information on the war instead of withholding information from the public (Riddle). Regardless, some posters and ads were overexaggerated for a war effort making them propaganda. The themes could be divided into six main themes: “The Nature of the Enemy, The Nature of the Allies, The Need to Work, The Need to Fight, The Need to Sacrifice, and The Americans-What we are fighting for” (Campbell). These forms used as propaganda ranged from posters, radio, and television.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson wrote and spoke one of his famous speech: War Message. President Wilson wants to ensure the people 's hope and faith from the war. As President Wilson (1917) stated in his speech "Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it... Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion."was to fix the issue the nation was in. President Wilson wants to show the people that we need to get involved war for the loss of many American lives that Germany took. Wilson persuades to Congress to go to war. President Wilson shows his persuasion effectively by using rhetorical strategies. Each strategy he used gave more persuasion to Congress to declare war on Germany. All the persuasion he used to convince Congress was put in his famous speech War Message.

During the early 1900s a new era of warfare emerged as governments began to employ all economic, technological and psychological resources available to defeat their enemies. This concept of Total War altered the direction of humanity and governments understanding in their allocation of resources. This essay will examine the relationship between propaganda used during World War I, its effect on the masses and the absolutely essential need for the success of such campaigns in obtaining military victory. While leaflet propaganda used during the war will be the main focus, considerations will be given to other forms to illuminate the necessity of understanding and utilizing the tools of this very powerful

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Link explained that Wilson believed he was chosen by god to protect and preserve democracy. Wilson fought tooth and nail to keep America out of the war and remain completely neutral, however due to unavoidable foreign aggression and loss of American life and economic despair, Wilson declared war in April 1917. Throughout the entire war Wilson campaigned for “Peace without Victory” and “self-determination” amongst the belligerent countries. As the war progressed it seems less and less likely that Wilson would get his wishes until finally in November 1918 World War I came to a halt. As peace negotiations began Wilson still had high hopes that the Allies and Germany could still work things out peacefully. Unfortunately things didn’t run as smoothly as planned. Wilson ended up sacrificing many principals for overall peace. Though international issues were eventually settled there was much criticism towards Wilson during and after the negations were settled.

Wilson was very sincere in not wanting to go to war when he stated "It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war" (Wilson, 3). Germany's government seemed to be unstable. They took on the strategy of submarine warfare and took down several ships including the Lusitania which contained Americans. Germany then said they would pull back and give ships fair warning of their intentions. However, later on they did not uphold to their word because they thought the U.S could not fight back. Wilson saw lots of innocent lives being lost and how our American rights were being pushed aside. He knew neutrality would no longer work and that action was required to stop what Germany was doing. Though the decision was hard he saw it to be the best thing to make

Hicks, Walter Edmund. “World War I and American Public Opinion, 1914-1917.” University of Louisville, 1949. Lasswell, H.D. Propaganda Technique in the World War. (Reprint of the 1938 edition.)

This was also the first war where the government produced propaganda as a way to target the public and alter their opinion. German sentiment played a big role in ww1. German Americans were often accused of being too sympathetic to Germany. Theodore Roosevelt insisted that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime. When the United States entered the war most German Americans were looked upon with suspicion and attacked regarding their loyalty.

Wilson had been drawn into foreign affairs because he felt a personal responsibility for American foreign policy. He felt that he had learned some valuable lessons in dealing with the revolution in Mexico and the Caribbean republics. The outbreak of the World War in Europe came with many new and difficult problems for the president. Wilson and the American people

When war broke out in Europe, President Wilson pledged to the American people that the country would stay neutral. This was a position that many at the time favored, due to the feeling that this was a European problem and not an American problem. America would isolate itself from the rest of the world, but inevitably this tactic failed.