In the years spanning the two world wars, propaganda in the United States morphed according to urgencies of national security. Concerns of such did not become paramount until Pearl Harbor, which “shattered…[America’s] illusion of invulnerability” (McMahon 6). In the preceding period of relative safety, Americans had the privilege of viewing Soviets with a gentle condescension. Not yet a genuine threat, the seemingly contradictory ideologies of capitalism and communism posed a mere conflict. After Pearl Harbor, it was still unclear whether the US’s neoliberalistic goal to establish “a freer and more open international economic system” could coexist peacefully with the USSR’s policy of “security-through-expansion” (9, 12), but the predicament was made to fester while both superpowers united to subdue German forces. Far removed from the European continent, average US citizens relied on news networks and cinema, avenues which for these people acted as “interpretive experts to inform their citizenship” (Patrick 11). The mediums acted as “principal information source[s]” (30), but the information provided became increasingly slanted as was necessitated to ‘inform the citizenship’ of persons in such a way as to mobilize a great war effort. The pre-Pearl Harbor film Ninotchka represents an example of the US’s early platonic condescension of the USSR, whereas the 1943 film Mission to Moscow demonstrates the urgency later felt by political elites to mobilize citizens in a war effort
In the 1940’s a series of propaganda films titled Why We Fight were produced for the purpose of defining the enemies of World War 2 to justify the necessity of America’s involvement in war. Hitler needed to be defeated, Nazism had to be destroyed, and tyranny had to be stopped for the sake of the American way of life by any means necessary. How could society argue against America’s role in the world war when freedom was being threatened? As Martin Luther King Jr. said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to everywhere.” No questions asked, Americans mobilized in the name of liberty and freedom. However the 2005 documentary film Why We Fight directed by Eugene Jarecki is not a sequel or war propaganda. The film informs the audience and questions America 's military industrial complex that has since dictated policy since the victory of World War 2. With the help of narration, soundbites, and credible speakers Jarecki shines light on the pernicious impact of the armed industry on our government, army, and citizens.
During the Cold War, the Soviets were trying to spread communism throughout Europe and Asia by exalting its achievements, and undermining democracy. Part of their approach was by launching ‘Hate-America’ propaganda. “As the Cold War intensified, the Truman administration launched an aggressive “Campaign of Truth” […] to counter the Soviet Union propaganda machine (Ubah, 2012).” The Campaign of Truth was created to help convince the world that the United States has “no purpose of going to war, except in the defense of freedom. (Vaccaro, 1950)” Truman encouraged the media to show the world that the United States was ‘wholly dedicated to the cause of peace (Vaccaro,
Source C focuses on the American relationship with the Soviet Union and their indefinite competition to be better than the other, giving information about the commencement of the arms race between the two countries and their discreet battle over which country had the better security and defense system. This source contains information that is critical to one’s understanding of the American policies that were legislated at the given time period.
Propaganda used to induce terror included posters, political statements, and comics. One such comic was Is This Tomorrow?, a popular dramatization of the Soviets and of communism(Document 7). By depicting the Soviets in such a violent, authoritarian light, it spread anti-communist feeling among Americans, and attempted to prevent any Soviet sympathizers. In the Soviet Union, a secret speech made by Nikita Khrushchev to the closed session of the Twentieth Party of Congress denounces capitalism and fights against the anti-communist campaign(Document 6). The Secret Speech was a counter to recently made anti-communist organizations, and reinforced the Soviet Union’s own ideals, while countering the US’s arguments for capitalism. Through the use of past faults and militaristic policies, Khrushchev argues that the US’s attempts at peace were false, and only a front for their true intentions. This effectively promoted terror and anti-capitalist feeling among Soviet Congress. It gave strong reasoning to fight back against Americans, as it instilled fears of a capitalist overtake, and the need for preservation of the
“The Cold War became a dominant influence on many aspects of American society for much of the second half of the twentieth century. It escalated due to antagonist values between the United States, representing capitalism and democracy, and the Soviet Union, representing communism and authoritarianism” (Tradshad, par. 1). This long lasting war had a lot of negative effects on the American people, but also helped many in a positive way of becoming free citizens. Although most people had feelings of hatred toward the Soviet Union, a sense of fear swept over the United States and many actions had to be taken to keep the enemy and their influences out. 4 done.
Even though the United States emerged as a clear victor of World War I, many Americans after the war felt that their involvement in the conflict had been a mistake (Markus Schoof, “The American Experience During World War II,” slide 3). This belief, however, did not deter the country from engaging in many other international affairs in the future, most importantly the WWII and the Cold War. Right from the Manifest Destiny, which led to expand its empire at home and abroad, to the World War I, the country had come a long way from being somewhat a lonely-land to a global superpower of the 20th century. Its influence in the international arena grew unprecedently after its commitment to the World War II, and like they say, the rest is history. If the WWII was a resounding success to the American legacy, what followed, the Cold War, put many implications on the American diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and to the world. Although the rising Fascism in Europe and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drove the U.S. to enter the WWII, historians over the years have laid equal blames on both nations for starting the Cold War. These two events helped in shaping up many domestic and foreign policies for the U.S.
After the ravages of World War II, the United States experienced a long period of economic boom, thanks to industrial weapons work and to the low price of oil. At the same time, under this nationwide economic prosperity, Americans felt increasing fear in the looming shadow of the communist Soviet Union. The US seemed to be in a spiral. Sputnik’s successful launch increased tensions that had been building since the aftermath of World War II; while President Eisenhower and his administration instituted numerous measures to calm down the hysteria that pervaded the US, these attempts had no real effect on de-escalating tensions felt between both sides.
Nitze worked with Truman on NCS-68 which stated how the threat of communism was growing exponentially due to the “clever, consistent, determined propaganda” that the Communists issued to the public, and how this requires the United States to prepare for a potential war and build up an arsenal against the Soviets in the case that more people see communism as a better form of government that democracy. This was extremely true during this time because as we see in modern times, political propaganda can persuade anyone to support someone if they say that we need to “Make America Great Again”. Kennan was equally as knowledgeable on this subject yet, as an eloquent writer, he voiced his opinions on what is known as “The Longest Telegram”. In this document, Kennan strongly warns that due to Russia’s long history of insecurity, they have been overcompensating for this in terms of military preparedness and control over their society. Along with Russia’s abundant nationalism the insecurities they dated centuries before World War I and World War II their growing contempt towards the United States’ belief in capitalism and democracy proved to be the sole problem that U.S. foreign policy makers and government officials needed to address.
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
In the long years between 1947 and around 1957, fear of communism froze the very voices of America into unison. A supposedly enlightened country, the United States of America succumbed to the mass hysteria of the Red Scare with shockingly little resistance. Communist “Reds” and Communist sympathizing “Pinks” were seen everywhere and were often persecuted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (also known by the inaccurate acronym HUAC). Many of these individuals’ only crime was that of sensibility; they saw the truth behind the terrifying chaos. One of the best records of this dark chapter in America’s history is its literature, which expressed opinion when it could be dangerous to do so. The American public’s paranoid fear of
4) How would you describe the sudden influx of United States propaganda during the Cold War?
An article written by Walsh describes how the new film titled “The Battle of Russia”, which was made by frank Capra, made Americans focus their views on the USSR and how they were supposed to feel about the USSR during World War II. In Capra’s film, he encourages American’s
American foreign policy has gradually changed since the birth of our nation. On July 4, 1891, John Quincy Adams addressed the Senate and House of Representatives during a powerful Independence Day speech designed to prevent an alliance with the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire. Although sympathetic to their cause, he warned against involving America in other states’ affairs, stating,” America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to Freedom and independence of all”. This paper seeks to evaluate the implications of John Quincy Adams’ statement, examine the trends of foreign policy and national security from the late nineteenth century to the present, and address current policy issues regarding
The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War. Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.
The purpose for an IT security policy is to provide “strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompasses the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military, and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016).