World War 1 Propaganda

During WWII, Great Britain would create propaganda posters to try to convince ordinary citizens to help the military effort in some way.

Propaganda has an effective psychological influence that works to promote a particular, political view-point. The government of Oceania uses propaganda to their advantage to gain support of the Party’s ideology. Similarly, Adolf Hitler used propaganda during the Nazi reign on Germany to support the Nazi ideology. The sole purpose of propaganda is to encourage a biased belief. For example in 1984 the way in which the Party has spread propaganda is through the use of posters: “A new poster had suddenly appeared all over London. It had no caption, and represented the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier.. a submachine gun pointed from his hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster, the muzzle of the gun magnified by the foreshortening, seemed to be pointed straight at you” (Orwell, 149). These posters were displayed throughout Airstrip One to depict the Eurasian soldier as an antagonistic threat. The configuration of the poster “pointing” a gun at the viewer is to encourage a negative response, thus promoting the goal of the Party. In history, one can see how Hitler used propaganda to his

World War One posters were everywhere. Each one was used for a purpose, either for political reasons or to promote something, better known as propaganda. These posters could be biased or misleading, but not all were. “Pledge to Save the Food” and “Save the Wheat for our Soldiers” are two posters published by the United States Food Administration. Both made it clear, this was the right thing to do for our soldiers, to be patriotic.

(Just as a side note, I had pictures of the posters in the original paper but couldn 't transfer them to here. The first link in the bibliography has tons of WW1 propaganda posters you can use.)

This World War 2 propaganda poster is portrayed as an American Propaganda. This propaganda represents the American side. The catchy caption of the Propaganda; “Enlist in the Army”, “Stop Hitler’s Domino Effect.” This propaganda poster symbolizes the plan of Hitler and the evil Nazi- Germany. Us, as Americans are trying to convince and persuade the citizens to join the Army and fight against the evil Germans.

Posters are splashy, large-format images, which are accompanied by a short text. Usually, the purposes of the posters are to agitate, advertise, inform, or teach people. Posters from World War I and World War II often used metaphors, different figures, events, and places. During the First World War propaganda posters were enormously widespread. Artists used them to agitate people to conscription, subscriptions to war loans, and aid to the wounded soldiers. One of the most important posters from World War I and World War II is “I Want You for U.S. Army” by James Mantgomery Flagg. This poster is very influential because of its figure, the message, and the effect on the people.

     Alike, “The Poster” was the most prominent form of psychological manipulation during Stalin's reign. Until World War I the poster had avoided social themes. However, as Stalin’s Russia rose to war and as a world power, the posters took a turn to be commercial and cultural, an attempt to develop an expanding market and advertise various entertainments. The posters of World War II took on a new task: to mobilize the population in support of the war effort. Stalin’s Posters featured themes of mobilizing the armed forces, reconstructing the economy, as well as various specific war time problems. It was at this point that the government began to make efforts to “shape public opinion” and “arouse patriotic feelings”. The government assigned this task to the mass media. Every political event in Russia found resonance in

The word, propaganda, was created in 1622, derived from an administrative body of a Catholic church called the “Congregatio de Propaganda Fide” which translates to “Congregation for Propagating the Faith”. Propaganda tends to be misleading and false information presented to the public to shape their views, behavior, and beliefs. During World War Two, propaganda was used in many countries, such as Germany, where it was used to portray anti-semitism and America and Britain, where it was used to convince the people to contribute to the war effort. A known example of propaganda that was used in America to convince Americans to contribute to the war effort was the Uncle Sam Poster that shows Uncle Sam and pointing at you saying that you should join the US Army.

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.

Most of the propaganda I’ve seen from the Nazis identify the enemy as rats or spiders, while the American one shows them as monsters. The main message of the Nazi poster was that the Jews were instigating the war, and the American poster was showing that if no one helps stop the war, then they will take over the world. The intended audiences were different as well, the intended audience for the American poster was for the average American citizen to want to sign up for the army, but the Nazi poster was to tell the Axis’ forces why they are fighting. Symbolism The main symbolism traits in the American poster is

Poster artist would used Uncle Sam often more so to persuade people to buy or help in some form. Mocking versions emotionally instilled fear anger or any emotion to cause a reaction of the people and would make them very personal to most everyone. “ This 1942 poster, titled This is the Enemy, circulated in the United States following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Its purpose was to embody the entire Japanese nation as a ruthless and animalistic enemy that needed to be defeated ” (Miles). The poster shows a Japanese man coming out of the shadows with a knife ready to stab a woman who is running away in terror. Every emotion comes to play especially seeing a women in fear causes people to feel empathy because that could be their wife, mother, or sister being attacked. “ In other words, propaganda is used to influence people psychologically in order to alter social perceptions “ (Miles). Racism in that time period was still at a very high point. People still were not comfortable with other races being superior to them. The drawings mocked Japanese by making them have yellow tinted skin, their eyes distinctly narrowed and even their clothing. Also they would include inaccurate features like long sharp nails or sharp teeth to instill fear into the

Such propaganda included posters asking people to “Wake up America! Civilisation calls every man, woman and child!” A British poster that emphasises the involvement of the total population in the war effort shows different kinds of people engaging in war responsibilities – men at battle, women in the workforce making uniforms, men making weapons – and it asks “Are YOU in this?” This kind of all-embracing propaganda had the aim to brainwash whole nations. The combination of the public’s thirst for information about the war and various governments’ urgent need to mobilise entire civilian populations for the war effort led to a moulding of the public’s thinking through the printed word. In Germany, for example, the military had the right to censor the press and any information that could distress the people was suppressed, while unfavourable news about a situation on the front was passed over silence, delayed or toned down. This was the same in Britain and France. The First World War was total because propaganda and censored news were used as weapons that could reach whole populations and intervene into everyday lives. Even though not all people were physically involved in battle, even children could look at a newspaper or propaganda poster and feel the impact of war through words that evoke fear, sadness, anger or give the urge to join the army.

Imagery uses color as well that is eye catching to anybody. For instance, in a poster with a large British solider, this shows that they are powerful and should be looked up to. Below the solider are hardworking citizens which do work and this helps aid to the solider to grow. Additionally, there is another poster that states "Woman of Britain" and has a picture of a factory worker standing right under war planes. It is stating that they have the power to aid with the war by working. Overall, imagery is a necessary part of posters and propaganda to persuade an audience.

During World War II, propaganda was used for a number of reasons, it not only showed how anyond could be of use to the war efforts, but it also showed that every person could contribute as well. These posters empowered everyone to stand behind their nation's Army, and to continue contributing to the war efforts. The posters showed that everyone is needed, that anyone could make a difference, and some even emphasized certain values to those who are already helping with the war effort.

The use of propaganda posters was a logical way to depend on public support to help with victory or defeat during the times of war. During World War 2, Canada frequently trusted propaganda posters for public support. Through the heavy use of elements and techniques, my image and slogan sent a message that joining the military was the patriotic thing to do, particularly in the context of fighting evil. Upon looking at my poster, “Destroy This Mad Beast” along with the image of Hitler taking over the world, emotions of dread and fear are conveyed to the audience. There is a strong desire to help out the country and a feeling of hatred towards the enemy. The first aspect that conveys these emotions is the colour scheme. The use of dull colours