WWII Propaganda Winning WWII required a commitment beyond what could be required by law

WWII Propaganda

Winning WWII required a commitment beyond what could be required by law.

Unlike TV and Radio, Poster advertisements work 24 hour shifts!

Investment

• Goal: Finance the war• Purchase of war bonds was a generous loan from the

American People to the American government.• Bonds yielded a modest return of 2.9% after 10 years.• The emphasis was not on what bonds could do for the

individual, but what the individual could do for America.• Hollywood celebrities appeared at bond rallies, and

public events like baseball games raised bond money.• By the end of the war, 85 million (out of 139 million)

people bought bonds. • Half of the cost of war was financed by bond sales.

Production

• By the end of the war in 1945, American civilian workers had built 14,000 ships, 88,000 tanks, 300,000 airplanes and millions of guns.

• Factories that had made everthing from cars to waffle irons now made war material.

• Posters were mounted at the factory as a reminder that this, too, was a battlefield.

• Millions of women entered the workforce

Conservation

• There were government enforced shortages of goods.

• Consumers were issued ration cards to limit their purchases of groceries and gas.

• The military needed fabric, so civilian fashions changed. No more: long evening gowns, cuffs, pleats, vests, wide padded shoulders. But, the bikini came into fashion!

• Become more self-reliant! (grow a victory garden • Save, Save, Save!

…and posters for everything else!

German Propaganda

• Notice any differences?