WWII Propaganda!

OPHSWorld HistoryMrs. Abbott

What is Propaganda?

• Information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

• The deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.

• The particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.

WWII American Propaganda

• During World War II (1941–45), American propaganda was used to increase support for the war and commitment to an Allied victory.

War Bonds!

• During a war people can buy war bonds and then after the war they got their money back plus a little interest.

• Children also brought in pennies to school to buy war stamps.

Ducktators! (Propaganda

Video)

Working Together!

• Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character featured in a propaganda campaign created by the U.S. government to encourage white middle class women to work outside the home during World War II.

• These posters were used to inspire and motivate American labor to work longer and harder in support of the war effort.

Loose lips sink ships!

• These posters were used to advise servicemen and other citizens to avoid careless talk concerning secure information that might be of use to the enemy.

Victory Gardens!• Victory gardens were

gardens planted at people’s homes and public parks during the war.

• They were used along with food stamps to reduce pressure on the public food supply.

• In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens also boosted the moral of the gardeners by making them feel that they were contributing to defeating Germany.

WWII British Propaganda

• A motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939, several months before the beginning of WWII, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the aftermath of widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities

WWII Nazi (German) Propaganda

• Nazi propaganda provided a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of their policies, including the pursuit of total war and the extermination of millions of people in the Holocaust.

Shhhhh…

• Translation: Shame on you, chatterer! The enemy is listening. Silence is your duty.

• Similar to the U.S.: Loose Lips Sink Ships

Vote for Hitler!

• Translation: Before: Unemployment, hopelessness, desolation, strikes, lockouts. Today: Work, joy, discipline, camaraderie. Give the Führer your vote!

Hitler Youth

• Translation: Youth Serves the Leader: All 10-Year-Olds in the Hitler Youth

• Remember Hitler said: "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

Defense of Extermination

• Translation: This genetically ill person will cost our people’s community 60,000 marks over his lifetime. Citizens, that is your money. Read Neues Volk, the monthly of the racial policy office of the Nazi Party.

Racist Propaganda

• Translation: The Jew: The inciter of war, the prolonger of war.

• Translation: Get the Jewish-Bolshevist warmongers out of Europe.

The Eternal Jew (Propaganda Video)

Racist Propaganda

• 1933: Jewish students and teachers expelled from schools.

• Translation: The Jewish nose is bent. It looks like the number six…

How was the American portrayal of Mussolini and Chiang Kai-shek similar to the portrayal of Jews

by the Nazis? How was it different?

Your Task

• Essay:– Describe the similarities and differences in the

way that the United States & Great Britain used Propaganda vs. the way Germany used Propaganda.

– How can propaganda be useful?– How can propaganda be harmful?– Give specific examples from the powerpoint and

videos.