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What is Propaganda?. propaganda is the spreading of certain ideas and beliefs to influence people’s thoughts and feelings ( rather than impartially providing information) It is often referred to as “psychological warfare”
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What is Propaganda? • propaganda is the spreading of certain ideas and beliefs to influence people’s thoughts and feelings (rather than impartially providing information) • It is often referred to as “psychological warfare” • for the people at home, propaganda was used to instill pride and confidence in the country, to inspire sacrifice, and to show the consequences of defeat
Propaganda: a war of words • Guns, tanks, and bombs were the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, more subtle forms of warfare as well • in words, posters, and films a constant battle was waged for the hearts and minds of Canadians on the home front just as surely as Canadian military weapons were used to engage the enemy on the frontlines
Persuading the public became a wartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets and planes. • The Government launched an aggressive propaganda campaign with clearly articulated goals and strategies to fire up public support • some of the nation's foremost intellectuals, artists, and filmmakers were recruited to wage this war
The Targets • Wartime propaganda was aimed at four main targets • for each a specific message was emphasized
Posters • During World War I, posters were the primary form of public communication. • By 1940, posters had been to some extent supplanted by radio, movies, and billboards • Why, then, did the government and private industry turn to posters to rally the public in World War II?
Why were posters still used to rally the public in World War II? • People could encounter posters in places that other media couldn’t reach – schools, factories, offices, store windows, and other public places. • Posters had a democratic appeal – they could be made by anyone and seen by all.
Nazi Brutality • Many fear-inspiring posters depicted Nazi atrocities • although brutality is always part of war, the atrocities of World War II were so terrible, and of such magnitude, they gave rise to a new category of wartime barbarism –the crime against humanity
Lidice, a Czech mining village, was obliterated by the Nazis in retaliation for the 1942 shooting of a Nazi official by two Czechs • all men of the village were killed in a 10-hour massacre; the women and children were sent to concentration camps • its destruction became a symbol of the brutality of Nazi occupation during the war
German Propaganda • considered one of the most powerful propaganda pieces ever produced • powerful Nazi propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress • stupendous Nuremberg rally staged for this film • depicts rally’s martial spectacle, Hitler Youth, speeches by Hitler, cheering crowds and the mob emotions on which Nazism fed.
Cartoons as Propaganda • while the main focus of World War I propaganda was the purchase of war bonds, the propaganda of World War II took new and different forms • the propaganda of war, for instance, took on racist overtones • Dr. Seuss included racist stereotypes in his cartoons
Walt Disney joins the Fight • propaganda pervaded Canadian and American society during the war • In America it was not just the War Information Office that disseminated propaganda, even Walt Disney was involved • even children were not exempt from wartime propaganda • Disney ‘educated’ North Americans about the dangers of Nazism Donald Duck reads Hitler’s Mein Kampf
Looney Tunes sing along • A number of Looney Tunes shorts from the war-era are no longer available due to the racial stereotypes of African-Americans, Germans, Italians, Japanese, and Jewish people • ironically, a significant number of the artists, executives, and producers of these cartoons were Jewish. • a propaganda film had Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Porky Pig encouraging theatre audiences to buy bonds for the war effort • Bugs Bunny Sells Bonds
Hollywood goes to war • while soldiers were off fighting the Axis powers in faraway places, civilians at home found their normal way of life completely altered • Consumer goods became limited as rationing went into effect: • crude oil, rubber, butter, canned goods, clothing, and shoes were all in short supply • unaccustomed to such constraints, citizen chaffed under the restrictions of home front mobilization • the one place where the public could still spend its money freely was at the movies
the Hollywood propaganda machine turned out countless morale-boosting films in an effort to lift spirits • all motion pictures were preceded by news reels providing information about the war • in Canada the National Film Board was created to make propaganda films • in 1942 it made the “Mask of Nippon,” an anti-Japanese propaganda film
Casablanca • genuinely attempted to inform the movie-going public of the war, its causes and in this case the Resistance Movement • The film addresses the intricacies of the Berlin-Vichy situation, and makes subtle references to Spain and Ethiopia • it is not lacking in propaganda
Frank Capra • produced “Why We Fight” series • Award-winning director working to promote the war in America
Radio • More so than any time before, radio allowed the people of occupied Europe, the Americas, and the entire world to experience the Second World War in an immediate and personal way • CBC Radio produced Nazi Eyes on Canada, a series of radio plays in 1942 as propaganada - what would happen if the Nazis conquered Canada? • The plays featured well known actors including Orson Welles, Vincent Price, Helen Hayes and Lorne Greene
Nazi Eyes on Canada • The Premier Show featured Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King speaking on the first three years of World War II and the threat to the "freedom of mankind" from Hitler's desire to conquer the world • King speaks to the differences between the cause of the war and its real issues • the cause is the lust for conquest; the real issue is "rule by a tyrant - himself the incarnation of evil"
Understanding Propaganda • Your task is to look at three different pieces of propaganda from the World War II era and answer the following questions: • Who is the intended target? • Who is the sender of the message? • What is the message of the propaganda? • What is the purpose of the propaganda? • How is the message relayed? • What is the overall effect of the propaganda?
The Objectives 1. To foster a firm belief in the right for which we fight. 2. To foster a realization that we are up against a tough job. 3. To initiate a determined confidence in our own ability and the ability of our comrades and leaders to do the job that has to be done 4. To instill a feeling of confidence, insofar as is possible under the circumstances, in the integrity and fighting ability of our allies 5. To create resentment, based on knowledge of the facts, against our enemies who have made it necessary for us to fight 6. To foster a belief that through military victory, the political achievement of a better world order is possible.
