Propaganda and the role it played in the world wars and 1984

1. “BECAUSE THE WORLD NEEDS TO BE TOLD WHO EXACTLY TO HATE” Propaganda and the role it played in the world wars and 1984 By Claire Holznagel

2. PROPAGANDAand the role it plays Today, propaganda is everywhere; it sells our products, is constantly spouted by politicians, and practically coats every form of media we have available. Do we all listen to it completely though? Of course not. But in a place like Oceania? Of course. There is no other than Big Brother. And during WWII? It wasn’t much different.

3. The Hitler Youth Adolf Hitler himself was a strong and firm believer in embedding Nazi ideas into people early on in their lives was a good idea and would surely benefit the party. Sure enough, it did. The group was a ‘success’, as he had successfully raised a generation of extremists who believed Hitler was the be-all, end-all of goodness. They were all trained to be ‘good citizens’, and good soldiers as well, through youth specific promotion and propaganda. Essentially, this group was a giant self-promoting advertisement for a pro-Hitler society—designed so that it would be easy to direct all the propaganda aimed at youth. After all, it’s very important for advertisers / propagandists to know their audience.

4. The Hitler Youth cont. • The youth group was originally founded in 1919, and for a few years went through numerous name changes before settling on Hitler-Jugend (The Hitler Youth). The group did not include females until 1931, when a section called Jungmädelgruppe was added. • By 1939, even before the war had started, over %90 of the country’s youth was involved in the group, as no other youth groups were allowed to exist in the country. • The ideas pushed onto females were much more based on ideology, for they were the providers of the ‘future Hitler Youth’. • Children were encouraged report their parents to the GASTAPO, should they be making any plans to overthrow the government.

5. “What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies, they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet in this produced no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party” (Orwell 26).

6. Posters Perhaps the most famous and widespread form of WWII propaganda is posters. Posters would use a wide variety of techniques to get people to feel different emotions, but overall, would get them to do whatever people could to support the cause.

7. In Der Fuhrer’s Face In Der Fuhrer’s Face was one of the most significant and iconic examples of propaganda to ever come from WWII. It was a cartoon created by Walt Disney Pictures Animation, in order to make the Nazi Party seem silly, cheap, and forceful, as well as provide a great sense of patriotism towards America. • It largely relied on a propaganda technique called ‘name calling’, in which the images of the leaders of the Axis Powers are severely stereotyped and portrayed as horribly patriotic to a group of nations ‘obsessed with warfare’. • Testimonials are used, what with lovable, familiar, and patriotic Donald Duck being abused for the Axis Powers’ gain. Viewers are made to feel sorry for the poor character.

8. In Der Fuhrer’s Face cont. • At the very end, Donald Duck is very happy and grateful that he himself is an American and not a part of the opposing side of the war. Obviously, this is to empower the American spirit and leave the theatres with a positive feeling toward what little resources they had had at the time. “FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, AMERICA!”

9. In Der Fuhrer’s Faceand Oceanian Society: a Comparison • The love and patriotism toward a figure that one believes makes them incredibly happy • Big Brother • The country one lives in (in this case, the USA) • The feeling of gratefulness for the resources said figure provides, in comparison to someone who doesn’t have them • The chocolate ration (that actually isn’t up, but everyone is grateful for regardless) • The fact that America doesn’t treat themselves and their soldiers with the same food as Donald Duck eats as a Nazi in the film (“the same rations as the Nazis”)

10. In Der Fuhrer’s Faceand Oceanian Society: a Comparison cont. • Riling up hate and emotion in the masses toward individuals who go against the beliefs of the government • The Two Minutes Hate – hate directed toward Emmanuel Goldstein, for ‘being a traitor’ • Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito – The three who represented the Axis Powers, who opposed the American government • Focuses so much on why one should hate those who oppose said figure, that it is forgotten that this is all created to kill innocents and other people.

11. And for my thesis, I could say… “The main purpose of propaganda in 1984 was to confuse the ethics and instincts of the masses so that they are easily focused on their patriotism toward Big Brother.” But, at the same time, I could also say: “The main purpose of propaganda in WWII was to confuse the ethics and instincts of the masses so that they are easily focused on their patriotism toward their country.” Rather interchangeable, isn’t it?

12. And in conclusion… Propaganda has been used throughout 1984 and WWII to generate a great amount of riling up for war, strong and loyal views, and most importantly, the supports needed to generate a great World War. Orwell really did know his forms of propaganda well, and hyperbolized them into a totalitarian society.