How German Propaganda Differed between World War I and II - Essay Example

How Germany propaganda differed between world war I and II Propaganda refers to information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause. This information can be passed through the different Medias of communication. During these two world Wars, this information was passed through the posters, fliers, radios and films. These became effective tools in determining the public opinion and frequently persuaded the citizens to reassess their unique views and attitudes. The radio presenters and film makers were prepositioned by the government to produce programs and movies showing the deeds of patriotism, nationalism and civil duty (Peterson, 1939, pp.8). In 1914, European nations called upon their friends to face up the possibility of going to war and prepare for it. By this time, the United States was faced with isolationism in a bigger part because of President Wilson’s worry of snarling foreign alliances. This isolation slowly started to fade when the united States lend large sums of money to the British and the French. The United States responded to the British propaganda where they considered the British as the unflinching defenders of the right, French and the Belgians as miserable heroes and the Germans as the deep-dyed scoundrels (Schulman, 1990, pp.13) Often, propaganda was used more tactically in WWII. Robert Sherwood, one of Roosevelt’s speech authors, led a committee whose main objective was to battle a war of word in opposition to the axis. Not only did this board act to super charge United States support but also sought to disseminate information on America’s participation to Axis-controlled regions abroad (Schulman, 1990, pp.13). In the late 1920’s and 1930’s, the Nazi party grew stronger while the mass media became a extremely mighty passage for assembling the huge support they were to soon have ( Osley, 1995, pp.7). Carefully and persistently the government officials avoided the word propaganda. The U.S successively preferred using the word information. In 1917, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) was designed by the U.S government to yield support for the war, improve on patriotism and a stronger faith in democracy. The Germans were featured in wartime films as ruthless and life threatening animals. Patriotic colors were used in the posters to show the might of America and its allies. A movement that had Kaiser Wilhelm’s head in a jar was started by the National War Garden commission which requested the public to plant and can vegetables. Cans of vegetables that read, “Can Vegetables, Fruits and the Kaiser too” smothered the head of Kaiser Wilhelm’s head which was featured in the jar. It later became very comprehensible that the Americans may well not stay unbiased and the CPI made posters and advertisements that gave confidence to people to conjoin the forces. One particular advertisement stirred up the emotions of Americans by using tragic events. A passenger ship, Lusitania, which was travelling from New York to London, was bombed by a German vessel killing thousands of people which included 128 Americans. Concisely, another ad was developed that showed a drowned woman being forked out holding her child and said, “ENLIST”. Both the American and British governments used the Lusitania disaster for their benefit. The wrath of the Americans made the American and British annotate the governments’ defects in this connection. There would be a point in disagreement in the potential of the use of Lusitania as it had been equipped with a number of supports for weapons, though no evidence exists to support that the Lusitania was equipped (Peterson, 1939, pp.118). Many Americans, due to their anti- German opinion, felt that the bombing of the Lusitania was planed. According to many Historians, the meeting of the Lusitania and the German boat was accidental and that Lusitania was of its prescribed course and that there were no documented commands from the German Navy to go after that certain ship. (Peterson, 1939, pp.121) During the WWII, the British administration disseminated quite a number of fliers and pamphlets. These pamphlets had convincing messages intended to arouse support for the British in the war attempt. These pamphlets used dry or dark mood. A pamphlet entitled “What would happen if Hitler won?” was distributed across England stating that if Hitler won, one would not crack a joke in the pub without the fear that he would be spied on and beaten up and that one might not be able to talk freely in front of his children as they may him/her away and that as an employee you would not exercise your rights and that you would be at the mercy of the employer. (Osley, 1995, pp.21) The Germans had started working on their own semi official propaganda machinery even before the WWI on August 1914. This machinery had been distributed across the various branches of the German Government. (Welch, 2000, pp.22) A German reporter, Mathias Erzberger, recognized the central office for foreign services early in the year. This office was concerned with sending propaganda to the neutral nations. During this time, the German government used the Wolff Telegraph Bureau to transmit propaganda throughout the World. These undersea cables were later cut by the British Government and Germany relied on the wireless Nauen station. (Welch, 2000, pp.22) The German interestingly also used the mobile Cinemas. These transportable film equipments were used to provide entertainment to the German troops. These films had some scattered newsreels inserted by the propagandists. (Welch, 2000, pp.23) The Germans propaganda had an epic cultural mythology which the British propagandas lacked. This was an added advantage as their visual media stood out from the British in adapting national mythology in the war. The German posters had images dragons, valkyries and Siegfried heroes. (Welch, 2000, pp. 83) The German did not see it important to recruit in its propaganda like the allies did. The German army was quite large at the beginning of the war. This had been promoted by the fact that the German government had depicted their involvement in the war as being defensive which encouraged the populace to join the troops. (Welch, 2000, pp.83) In WWII, Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party which led the propaganda. This propaganda was aimed at creating external enemies and aimed to strengthen the negative perception of Germans towards the treaty of Versailles. Months before the WWII, the German news papers had carried out propaganda to the whole world accusing the polish authorities for ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans living in Poland Also, Germany started ministry of propaganda and bought radios for its citizens that would automatically receive frequencies from stations that were controlled by this new ministry. Radios were used in territories which had been filled by the Nazi soldiers, especially in France, by the converted soldiers in an attempt to acquire support for their cause. (Soley, 1989, pp.11) Film as a medium has been used to show the triumphs and the tribulations of war and carrying public opinion. Many films about WWI and WWII have been made. During WWI the British government financed a film by D.W. Griffith. The film Hearts of the World was created to persuade the Americans of the need to join the WWI. This film is about a young couple who are split up by the war and when Germany invades France, the young man is compelled to fight and leave behind his female friend. These films served not only to increase people’s support for the war but also depicted military as a place for opportunity for all young men. German also used films just like their counterparts to air out views of propaganda to the public. The film (Soley, 1989, pp.13) During the WWII nearly all productive young men had been shipped to go join the military. This left the countries with no men to work in the industries and the companies at home. The only solution left was to involve women and to change and abandon the traditional views about women (Rupp, 1978, pp.138-139). The countries now desperately needed women labor. There were two adverts that were advanced, the first one was of the patriotism where they encouraged the women to help in the war by anyway they could and the other one was to create an expression of guilt. This is unlike in war I where most participants were the soldiers (Rupp, 1978, pp.139). Due to failed campaigns during the WWI, propaganda during the WWII forcefully banned especially graphics or disturbing images were not immediately released to the public. During the WWI they tried to maintain a positive and a pleasantly optimist look. During WWII the methodology to do so seemed very different. The banning of materials at this time of WWII became systematic. An official office of censorship was started after the Pearl Harbor by Roosevelt who gave directions. Roosevelt supported the policy of Truth for the American people and was disposed to give tolerance. At one time, the office changed their tactics and their new approach showed devastating images which was a way to sensitize the public to prepare for more casualties, though not all agencies or groups had such freedom. Magazine photographers were required to send their pictures before publishing to the public. The pictures had to be send to the pentagon for approval. This not only applied to the graphics but also to the textual information that needed to be passed to the public. This was noted by Margaret Bourke-white. (Welch, 2000, pp.90) During the WWII the Japanese were viewed as animals and would be depicted as monkeys in posters. This showed that the Japanese were less human and would have been easier to kill than men since they hanged on trees. (Welch, 2000, pp.45) In the WWI, the Germans goal was to control all the trade routes of the sea. In the WWII, the battle was against the Fascist party of the Nazi Germans, and against the Japanese empire, which was expanding greatly. (Welch, 2000, pp.45-46) During the WWI, the Germans created a poster that portrayed Jesus pointing at the German soldiers off to the battle. This was a sign of blessings that the German soldiers got as they took off to the war. The posters had been written that the sky is dark but over Jesus’ head there is a ring of light. As the Germans rode in darkness they took with them the blessing of Jesus. This poster was aimed to the religious Germans who were off to the battle and their families. These soldiers felt at peace when at the war. (Welch, 2000, pp.32) In WWI, there were descriptions and exaggerations of Germans killing pregnant Belgian women with a knife. In WWII, for the US army, the approach was more elusive. Their Barracks walls were filled with posters from the Troop Information and Education Program. In 1943, a New York Times Cartoonist drew a Japanese soldier looking at a poster that portrayed a German soldier and an American soldier. In this poster, the Germans who were their allies were shown as attractive and the American, their foe, were portrayed as having coarse features and not attractive. (Peterson, 1939, pp.76) In the WWI there was a strategy that was devised to separate Nazi leadership from its followers through the military action. This was to be done again using the Nazi defectors. Such a strategy was not followed after the WWI, which lead to the calamitous rise of the Freikorps. (Osley, 1995, 13) All these affected the people in the different countries. Most of the posters were intended to gunner support from their patriotic citizens. This is evident when the Americans needed women to rise and start working in the industries to help in the production of food for their men who were at war. Other posters had been displayed to portray support for their countries. This targeted the young and energetic men (Rupp, 1978, pp.138-139). References Osley, Anthony.1995. Persuading the People. Publishing Services, Central Office of Information London: HMSO Peterson, H.C.1939. Propaganda for War: The Campaign against American Neutrality. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Rupp, Leila J. 1978. Mobilizing Women for War: German and American Propaganda. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Schulman, Holly Cowan.1990. The Voice of America: Propaganda and Democracy, 1941-1945. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. Soley, Lawrence C. 1989. Radio Warfare: OSS and CIA Subversive Propaganda. New York: Praeger. Welch, David. 2000. Germany, Propaganda, and Total War. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Read More