When you hear the word “propaganda,” you might automatically think of lies, told to an audience to get them to believe something that isn’t true. And, that’s one way that propaganda is used. But propaganda isn’t always about lying. It is, however, about swaying your opinion. If we look back at history, we can see propaganda used many times.
Although “propaganda” usually evokes a negative response, its true meaning goes back much farther than the “tasteless practices engaged in by totalitarian regimes.” (Donald, 1) Propaganda has been used for as long as history has been recorded. Propaganda, in Latin, means “things to be propagated.” Originally, propaganda wasn’t used to refer to misleading information. It wasn’t until World War I that it took on this new meaning.
Propaganda seems to be most notorious for its association with politics, and with wars. There are three types of propaganda: white propaganda, black propaganda, and gray propaganda. White propaganda gives the origin of its information. Black propaganda pretends to be from the enemy’s own source. Gray propaganda shows no source at all. All three are used often, and all three can be extremely convincing.
Anyone can use propaganda. There are different propaganda devices that are commonly used. “Snob-status appeal, fear appeal, bandwagon appeal, save-money appeal, youth appeal, atrocity appeal, humor appeal, these are all strategies that propagandists will use.” (Thum, 4) They also like to use repetition and confusion to persuade the people to think like they want them to.
While propaganda has been used all throughout the 20th century, especially during various wars, we’re going to focus on propaganda during World War II. World War I and Cold War propaganda was also very powerful and important, but World War II propaganda became very extensive. World War II propaganda was so powerful, that it prompted General Eisenhower to say, “Psychological warfare has proven its right to a place of dignity in our military arsenal.”
They say that probably every conflict is fought on at least two fronts: the battlefield, and the minds of the people via propaganda. Politicians in both Europe and America, not to mention Japan, realized this. Propaganda in totalitarian regimes is easy to recognize, because they use the same crude methods. Propaganda in democratic societies exists, but is harder to pick out. In Japan, they taught soldiers and citizens alike that the westerners wanted harm to come to Japan, and the Americans were horribly cruel and barbaric. By constantly reminding them of this, the Japanese had no problem with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, and had no qualms about invading various areas in the Pacific. In Germany and Italy, they used the same tactics, but not just against America. Germany taught its citizens that Germans were of a master race, and all others were inferior. And the Germans believed this. Brilliant scholars believed this. Why? Because the propaganda was so powerful, that they couldn’t realize that these great words were lies. After Adolf Hitler “rescued” Germany’s economy from its ravaged pre-World War I state, the citizens agreed that Hitler must be right about everything. Besides, if he got out of hand, they could always vote him out. Right?
Germany’s minister of propaganda, Paul Josef Goebbels, was a master at what he did. He was second in power, but only to Adolf Hitler himself. By coming up with brilliant lies, he was able to convince the Germans that Germany was justified in invading Poland, and in invading France, and in invading all of the other countries. Many methods were used, but especially: the scapegoat, over-simplified stereotypes, and appeal to hatred and fear. Hitler’s propaganda was also effective. He not only rallied up the German citizens, but he would spread disunity among his enemies. By using propaganda leaflets and radio broadcasts, he was able to destroy the will of France to fight, before German soldiers even started marching in. Goebbels and Hitler used the four-step method for preparing Germany for war:
1.) The crisis. The Capitalists, Communists, and Jews of the world want to destroy Germany, they’d tell them. Then, they took a concentration camp prisoner, dressed him in a Polish uniform, had him killed, and told the Germans that the Poles were trying to invade. By doing this, they were able to justify going to war with Poland, even if it wasn’t really justified, and it wasn’t really a war. Just an invasion. But it was a crisis nonetheless, and the Nazi Party was, once again, able to gain the support of the German citizens.
2.) The demonstration of the enemy’s leader. By telling the German people that the leaders of all other countries were against Germany, they were able to turn the paranoia in his favor.
3.) The demonstration of the enemy as individuals. There were plenty of posters and speeches, describing the horrible American soldiers, who were sure to come marching in if the Nazi Party lost support.
4.) Atrocities. Stories of how foreign soldiers would march in, harm the women, and ruin Germany. These stories proved to be very successful.
Women were used a lot in propaganda on all sides. Depicted as harmless, loving, innocent, and in danger, the posters were made to rally up men to fight. It illustrated the idea that the enemy was a direct threat to ‘our’ women. Masculine strength was a common theme on other posters.
There were other mediums for propaganda besides leaflets and speeches, however. News reports, government reports, historical revision, junk science, books, movies, radio, posters, they were all used. “They were meant to appeal to fear, hate, loneliness, the need for friendship, patriotism, all sorts of powerful emotions.” (Wikipedia, 2) By combining a powerful picture with a powerful slogan, a propaganda item can be very powerful and persuasive. Symbols are a favorite of propagandists because they are simple and powerful.
Before Pearl Harbor, there was a bit of anti-Japanese/anti-German propaganda in America. After the bombing, and war was declared, however, it was everywhere. Citizens on the homefront were bombarded with propaganda, soldiers sent to Europe and the Pacific were bombarded with propaganda, and the enemy was bombarded with propaganda. Propaganda on the homefront was meant to keep morale high, and propaganda on the front lines were meant to keep morale down.
Leaflets were exceptionally popular on the battlefield. They would be dropped on the enemy, and try to convince them to put down their weapon and surrender. They would promise rest, good food, relaxation, and, if their comrades surrendered as well, a quick end to the war. In America, the war propaganda agency was called the Office of War Information, or OWI. It was under the direction of well-known journalist Elmer Davis. Its division overseas was directed by famous playwright Robert Sherwood.
To fight Nazi propaganda, OWI used primarily three media: the age-old propaganda leaflet, the loudspeaker, and the radio.
Propaganda was hidden behind many names, but no matter what it was called, was known to be an important part of government in World War II. In Great Britain, the head of the propaganda organization was given cabinet rank. In America, for the first time, a special military organization called the Psychological Warfare Division was created to come up with the best propaganda that it could. These soldiers were quite different from any front line combat soldiers. Instead of fighting with guns and ammunition, they carried public address systems, radios, loudspeakers, typewriters, and portable printing presses. Their missions ranged from huge leaflet drops over enemy lines, to a single sergeant driving within a thousand yards of an enemy position, and, over a loudspeaker mounted on his truck, calling out various appeals for the enemy to surrender. (Thum, 63)
Over eight billion leaflets were dropped in the European and Mediterranean theater. Twenty-seven million leaflets were dropped along the invasion coast on D-Day. In August and September of 1944 a survey disclosed that 25 percent of the German soldiers taken prisoner were deserters, and 90 percent of them had American propaganda leaflets in their possession. (Thum, 64)
Black, white, and gray propaganda were all used, of course. One of the most interesting examples of black propaganda was a booklet printed by the OWI and distributed behind German lines. Meant to look like an official German medical handbook, the book taught German soldiers how to fake illness to get out of active duty. A useful gray propaganda item used by the Americans was an American-printed newspaper that they dropped over enemy lines. The German soldiers probably suspected the source of the newspaper, but they wanted news so badly that they read them anyway. They occasionally even complained when issues were missed.
On the homefront, the propaganda was just as powerful. It told women to work in factories, making bombs or planes. It told children to save up their money and buy war bonds, or to start a scrap metal drive in their neighborhood. It convinced young men to enlist in the military. At the same time, it never gave up on talking down about the enemy.
A popular form of entertainment during World War II was going to the theater to watch movies. Propagandists took advantage of this by making ads for war bonds to play before the movie. Newsreels were also played before the movie, which showed the various atrocities that the enemy had committed.
Racial slurs and stereotypes were common. Racial differences, as well as political and moral differences, made the Japanese better targets than the Germans or Italians. The Japanese were often called monkeys, apes, no-tailed baboons, or rats. They would usually be shown as sneaky, conniving, and very cowardly. The Germans were referred to as rodents, Nazi buzzards, mad dogs, or hyenas, among other derogatory names. Italians were basically viewed as naïve and incompetent, blind followers of Germany. These films all show the Germans and Japanese as cruel, and preying upon the weak. And, of course, these films took great pains to remind us that the Axis despised us.
Near the end of the war, propaganda became more common in countries that had been occupied by the Germans. Because the Germans were retreating, the printing presses were now free. Posters encouraged citizens to sabotage the Germans, and to join the resistance and help the incoming Allies. Propaganda in America showed heroic and confident soldiers pushing the Germans out of the invaded countries. And German propaganda started showing desperation, as 15 year old boys in the Hitler Youth were sent out to the battlefields in a last attempt to save the Third Reich. “Never before did things stand on such a knife’s edge, never before did the German people have to defend their very lives under such enormous danger, never before did the Reich have to draw on its last strength to protect its threatened self,” Goebbels said in a 1945 speech on Hitler’s 56th birthday. It was the last speech that he gave.
Propaganda has had a powerful effect on history. We’re constantly surrounded by it-whether it’s a TV ad for Pepsi or a speech by a presidential candidate. The important thing is to gain a sense of what’s true and what isn’t. Propaganda can be as blatant as a swastika or as subtle as a joke. But once the persuasive edge is recognized, it’s disarmed. And in order to make good judgements, it’s important that we learn to recognize such things.
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