Sunday, November 26, 2017

Different forms of Propaganda in WWII

During any war, the public opinion can be a key factor in determining the course of action that a country decides to take. The United States government, although initially reluctant to, decided to utilize propaganda. However, fearing the provocation of the people, the government initially decided to spread propaganda that was more based on spreading information as opposed to swaying the public. Later, once the United States was fully committed to the war, propaganda was used more and more to sway the public opinion in the governments favor. Although propaganda was spread in traditional ways such as posters and in newspapers, new technologies also allowed it to be spread in different ways, such as through radios and movies.

Radio
Image result for 1930s radio
This relatively new technology became the most widely used form of propaganda during WWII. The ease at which thoughts could be spread across the whole nation caused the radio to be such a frequently used medium to spread propaganda. Even some of Roosevelts fireside chats during WWII were with the intention of gaining public support on his military decisions.


Movies
Screenshot of War Comes to America, one of the seven propaganda films produced in the series Why We Fight. Wikipedia/ Public Domain
Initially, movies were made very neutral and had no attempt at affecting the public opinion regarding the war. However, this completely changed following Pearl Harbor, and movies started to favor the Allied cause. Many movies produced during this time were either based on war or set in a war atmosphere.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/american-propaganda-world-war-ii.html
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 26, 2017 at 11:49 PM

    I like how you split your blog post into different segments, one for the movies and the other for the radio. This helped me get a better understanding of how different countries changed public opinion to help their own cause during WWII.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 27, 2017 at 1:28 PM

    I thought that the utilization of the radio and movies were a creative use of contemporary media outlets in order to spread the general pro war sentiment among the nation. I found more ways in which propaganda was spread, and what was the most interesting to me was the use of comics. Captain America, a character who is so popular in movies today, was actually designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II. ven before Pearl Harbor, the comic book industry enlisted its formidable army of artists, writers, and editors to dramatize the conflict for readers of every age and interest. Comic book superheroes and everyday characters modeled positive behaviors and encouraged readers to keep working.
    http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1958

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousDecember 4, 2017 at 12:20 AM

      I agree with Elise that the utilization of radio, movies, as well as comics were a very creative use of media in order to spread pro war sentiment around the nation. Interestingly, another popular form of propaganda during WW2 was in fact written by Dr. Suess, the children's book author. In his cartoons, he mocked and slandered the Axis powers, adding to pro-war sentiment.
      https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/08/10/dr-seusss-wartime-propaganda-cartoons/

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