Propaganda Techniques Used In World War II

Propaganda is information that is biased and used to promote a particular cause or point of view. Propaganda was used through movies, radios, news channels, posters, and movies. Propaganda was very important during this time because without it, people won’t join the army and the country will be at risk. Everywhere people looked there was propaganda. Propaganda influenced many people to serve During World War Two. In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, he shows how the students in there school were easily persuaded to enlist in the war. The three main ways that propaganda was used to persuade individuals to enlist in the war are posters, films, and media.

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.

Propaganda was used in 3 main types of ways in the First World War. It

During World War II propaganda posters where used to influence many peoples value, beliefs and behavior. The use of propaganda had a huge impact on the allied and axis power during this time. Both enemy’s used posters to get support from there government and families back home. Creating these posters encouraged people to save their materials so that most of the weapons could be used during the war. Propaganda it was a smart way to get people to degrade the enemy. Furthermore it was a great financial investment for America and its allies during the war. The poster I will address are what I found to be the most interesting and significant during this time.

Needless to say, every one of the wars just mentioned was advertised as a defensive, moralistic, and completely national expedition. Bismarck even went so far as to make an unworkable treaty with Austria so that he could claim, when Austria broke it, that he was waging war in defense of the sacredness of treaties. But no one should be deceived by such propaganda. All these wars were waged in order to maintain certain groups in control in the belligerent countries.

Propaganda was used by the government as a Mean to accomplish all their major objectives during the war. Propaganda played a very significant part in winning over the citizens of the Unites States of America in the First World War. This propaganda helped gain support for the war, and also created a high morale of the people. Although this is the definition of propaganda, the real question is how valuable really was this propaganda in influencing the views of Americans? The answer is very useful, and looking at propaganda used throughout this major world war you’ll notice its value.

One of the many leaders that used mass media to expand their campaign was Adolf Hitler, one of the most known leaders during World War II. Moving forward, one of the techniques that Hitler used in Germany was to build cheap stereos/radios so that all citizens could hear his speeches.[7] With regards to this technique, it was found as an effective and easy way to gain people’s attention as well as to persuade them. It was thought that if it is through media, then it must be true; until later that is. Another technique which was used during the war times was propaganda. Propaganda can be represented in various ways through “art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press.” It is not to say that propaganda was only used for evil-doings. As the Canadians used it to encourage people to join in on the war effort. Hitler had also taken in this technique and written in his book; “Mein Kampf,” that “…propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea.” [8] Furthermore, since propaganda can be shown through multiple forms, it was and still is a popular choice used to influence people. In addition, the spreading of news and opinions was largely increased through the writing of articles. Most of the anti-Semitic and pro-fascist newspaper publishings were found in Quebec and the reasons being; “Quebec

World War II is one of many, most horrific and crucial events in world history and one of the most important events in the 20th century. Leonard and John (2007) define propaganda as “notions, facts, or accusations that are spread purposely with the objective of furthering one’s cause or damaging an opponent’s cause”. (7) They used media and propaganda in order to increase support for their side of the war. An immense feeling of patriotism was building up, and the nations used all the resources at their disposal to get their nations ahead of the race regardless of how humiliating and misleading the allegations were. Throughout World War II, propaganda was used to maintain the heat in fights and create unity among the citizens of a nation to achieve a single cause. People receive information on a daily basis since the beginning of the war and the parties of the confrontation. United States of America used propaganda for the creation of massive advertisements in the course of the war that could be interpreted as degrading to rival forces (Cogan, Brian & Tony, 53). Propaganda and information were distributed through numerous sources—radio, films, books and newspapers. The major aim was to impose on people the way of thinking and acting, both consciously and subconsciously (Rhodes 5). Though news sources attempted to be objective, there has always been ways to influence the way in which people interpret information.

There was propaganda produced to deliver these exact messages during the war in every country, however some good examples of this can be seen in the Propaganda Lecture Slides that were presented to us. One poster depicted a German soldier nonchalantly stabbing a baby with his bayonet. While another displayed God descending from heaven to care for what appears to be a wounded soldier. There were also posters used to enforce peer pressure, which can be seen in a poster with some children asking their father, “Daddy what did YOU do during the war?” These posters were effective, and unexpectedly powerful due to the unprecedented use of industrialized media (Lecture). Concludingly, recent media innovations allowed for mass production of the written word and higher literacy rates led to an even greater impact for propaganda. This could also be seen with prominent writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, and others who were a part of the British War Propaganda Bureau, otherwise known as Wellington House (Lecture).

Countries such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, are a few of the many countries that used propaganda as an art of persuasion. Propaganda was a popular tool used in World War One to change the opinions of the masses. Most propaganda was negative and/or misleading and lead to feelings of anger or sadness by using blackmail and over-exaggeration. Propaganda was used during the war to influence the public on the home front and boost moral. At the beginning of the war, it was used to encourage the fact that the enemies were evil and also to boost enlistment figures. The United States of America also use propaganda to aid in conserving and rationing food to send to soldiers. World War One would have been very different if the home front had not been persuaded to ration their food or create victory gardens or send men off to the war if there had not been

During World War II, the use of propaganda was commonly used to get a point across or to encourage the citizens to do the “right thing.” An example of this is photograph 4 stating to “BUY WAR BONDS.” To win a war, it cost billions of money so this photo encourages the citizens to buy war bonds to contribute to the war. The photo also states “Keep him flying.” Those words state the reason why citizens would buy war bonds and if they bought some what the government would accomplish with

No one anticipated the international chaos that would emerge during the twentieth century, especially the devastation caused by World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. World War II was the most destructive war in human history and changed the history of the world forever, engaging the world’s most influential superpowers in the largest international event of the era. World War II was fought not only by the armed forces, but also by the home fronts of every belligerent nation, exhausting the economy, the industry, and the morale of those living at home, escalating the conflict into a total war that was larger and fought more expansively than any other conflict in history. The use of American propaganda in the World War II war effort

The World War II propaganda techniques used were to make the United States look like it was a powerhouse, and were winning the war. Other countries did this as well.

The fact that wars give rise to intensive propaganda campaigns has made many people suppose that propaganda is something new. The truth is, it is not. The battle with persuasion for power and men’s minds is as old as human history (Casey, 1994d)

What exactly is propaganda? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary propaganda is defined as “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause”(Merriam-Webster). Propaganda was a psychological “weapon” during World War II to keep the the United States motivated, and give the public a sense of unity making one another work together for a common cause. Although Propaganda could not cause physical harm, how effective could it have really been? Which pieces of propaganda persuaded the public the most? World War II was a time when nationalism was at its peak so it was important for the propagandists to make sure it looked liked the U.S. was always in the lead, since the people’s support was so