...------------------------------------------------- How Propaganda Swayed the Public Opinion During World War I Rachel Corona Abstract World War 1 proved America to be the nation producing the highest amount of propaganda. Through his use of propaganda President Wilson was able to draw American Support for the war. Despite his being elected as the “peace” president. Many Americans believed he’d keep them out of the war, especially after he stated that, “so far as I can remember, this is a government of the people, and this people is not going to choose war.” Before his election, Wilson promoted American neutrality. He pushed for what he believed his Americans wanted. However, through his employment of propaganda, Woodrow Wilson was able to convince the American people to join the ranks, he persuaded Americans into accepting rations for food, he involved women in the war effort, he was even able to sway them into buying government bonds (liberty bonds) to fund the war. In the end, through his use of propaganda, President Woodrow Wilson was ironically able to change the popular American opinion and convince Americans to support World War 1. Propaganda, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is the “spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” It is always biased towards a view or idea. Governments employ propaganda to sway public opinions towards supporting a cause. The use of propaganda became very popular in...
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...Propaganda, Media, and the Making of a President August 27, 2010 COM/220 Propaganda, Media, and the Making of a President August 27, 2010 COM/220 Propaganda, Media, and the Making of a President Dr. Joseph Goebbels Dr. Joseph Goebbels The use of propaganda is as popular today for swaying public opinion as it was from 1933 to 1945 in war ravaged Germany. If Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels were alive today, he would be proud to see his propaganda machine being utilized by the U.S. Government to manipulate the masses and used by political parties to elect presidents. From mass print to the “tenth great power” the internet, the persons in control manipulate the masses and systematically destroy our freedoms to truthful information. World War II Propaganda Poster World War II Propaganda Poster In 1938 Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, filled the airwaves with propaganda that led to absolute control of the mass media to the Nazi Party and its Propaganda machine. It was about control, if you control what the masses hear and see, then you control the masses. Goebbels referred to the radio as the “Eighth Great Power”. Through mass exploitation of the media, and control of incoming and outgoing information, propaganda stands as the most effective form of control over swaying public opinion. “Propaganda has been practiced since earliest times, but modern mass media has made it much easier to appeal to wide domestic and foreign audiences” (Hutchinson...
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...In response to the United States entering World War 1 on April 6, 1917, it was important that they recruit troops and prepare the correct equipment required for war. When we declared war, the Government needed to persuade Americans to invest in the war, both financially and emotionally. With that being said, the Government tried really hard to make the citizens think a certain thing. Thus being called propaganda. One of the most popular themes of the propaganda posters were liberty bonds. As one advertisement says, “Beat back the Hun with Liberty Bonds.” In this poster, there is a German soldier with menacing eyes and bloody fingers creeping on the Atlantic. The purpose of this propaganda poster was to encourage Americans to invest in the...
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...American Propaganda Propaganda has proven to be a valuable tool when trying to persuade others during a war. It has proven to bring out the best qualities in a nation, and it has also shown the ability to voice the true feelings of the people. For example, propaganda has been used to increase patriotism in times of conflict in America, and it has also been used to dissuade others from wanting bloodshed. “Uncle Sam” is a large and well-known piece of propaganda in America, and it has been used with countless different mediums to display the true outlook of the citizens. James Montgomery Flagg was responsible for illustrating the classic "I Want YOU for U.S. Army" poster, and an anonymous publisher created the “I Want OUT” poster. Both works used patriotic influences, the need of the country, and a sense of responsibility to persuade the American people; however, their goals were very different. The “I Want YOU for U.S. Army” poster was incredibly effective in bringing out a strong sense of patriotism within the American people. Covered with red, white, and blue colored clothing, including a top hat with stars on it, Uncle Sam directly represented America. Uncle Sam was actually modeled after Flagg himself, but he was made to look older and with a long white goatee. This was done “to save the modeling fee” ("The Most Famous Poster"). Uncle Sam was an older-looking fellow with white hair, portraying wisdom. He also wore a suit and tie, displaying class and integrity. These characteristics...
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...report on the two posters we discussed using all of my notes. The uses of propaganda posters in World War 1 “Daddy what did YOU do in the Great War?” On the poster you see a man and his two children. A girl is sitting on his lap with an open book, and a boy is sitting on the floor playing with soldiers. The daughter looks at him asking “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?”. They designed the poster to induce a sense of patriotic guilt. They were trying to capture the British men unwilling to volunteer for the war and make them feel guilty if they didn’t join. The picture depicts a situation in the future, after the war, where the daughter asks her dad expectantly how he contributed to the war. The war on the poster is already over, the dad can't re-do it. This sends a message to the young boys, unwilling to go to war. Making them think what they would tell their children if they asked what he had done for the war. It also shows that he will come home to his family. The family in the poster are smartly dressed and look wealthy. The colours in the poster symbolise the war and army, the curtains have red roses on them and the chair has the sign of the royal coat of arms on it. This would also make the man think because these are marks of patriotism but this man has not done the patriotic thing. Everything in the poster is positive; nothing would put men off from joining the war even the boy’s toy soldiers are all standing up. “At the front” This poster would stand out to...
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...difference between wartime propaganda and peacetime advertising or politics? 2500 words. Introduction Propaganda is an art requiring special talent. It is not mechanical, scientific work. Influencing attitudes requires experience, area knowledge, and instinctive “judgment of what is the best argument for the audience”. No manual can guide the propagandist. He must have a good mind, genius, sensitivity and knowledge of how that audience thinks and reacts From this we can consider that propaganda is not something based solely on warfare or politics or advertising. The use of propaganda is virulent in peaceful societies not at war by virtue of bombarding the general public with advertising (Newspaper/Magazines/Radio/TV/Internet) for goods and services, political canvassing and promotional material (to channel social development and public opinion, to mold the population into following the the ideals of conflicting political ideologies). Does this contrast with the use of propaganda in wartime? The objective is obviously the same – to get the general populace to accept what the propaganda states and take appropriate action i.e. buy goods, vote for a party or support the war effort. Advertising and political propaganda continue to take place during the periods of War propaganda although the reverse is not generally true (or is reduced to recruitment advertising and maintaining armed deterrents). The method of delivery of the propaganda, in whichever age you choose...
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...26 February 2015 War Propaganda: Guilt Trip To Your Civic Duty Propaganda is an extreme form of advertisement that is used to change or influence the public opinion on a particular matter. This is different than the normal approach taken by most advertisements that persuade a consumer to want or feel the necessity for a certain good. Most companies attune their advertisements to catch the attention of as many different groups as they can. There is one promoter that particularly excelled in the use of propaganda, and that was the United States Government during World War I. The government used propaganda in newspapers and posters around cities to inform the public of what was going on overseas while their men were at war and told civilians what they could do to help if they weren’t in the service. In 1918, Judge Gilbert Stephenson gave a speech to teachers in North Carolina and said: Nine-tenths of us must give our goods rather than our services. If all of the ten million go into active service that leaves ninety million at home. Most of us will go on doing the things we have been doing. Teachers will continue to teach. Our only opportunity to serve is by giving. […] Every idle dollar is a slacker dollar; every wasted dollar is a traitor dollar; and, on the other hand, every war dollar is a patriot dollar (Stephenson). Judge Stephenson made his points very effective by essentially giving the audience an ultimatum. Your money can either be spent on war, and you will be a...
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...American Propaganda and the Suppression of Dissent in World War I “May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion. “ – Dwight D. Eisenhower On June 28, 1914, the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated. That event marked the first phase of World War I (Grayzel 10). Soon afterward nations throughout Europe announced declarations of war. By the end of October countries as far away as Japan, China and Brazil had become involved (Grayzel 11). Susan R. Grayzel in the “Introduction: The First World War and the Making of a Modern, Global Conflict” from The First World War: A Brief History with Documents”, explores a variety of contributing reasons for the Great War (Grayzel 9). The causes most often cited included the rise of nationalism, increased militarism, imperialism, and a willingness among the population to allow their governments to persecute a war (Grayzel 9-10). Ironically, it was a complicated series of competitive alliances and international peace agreements that caused such a rapid global escalation of hostilities (Grayzel 5). With its vast immigrant population, and their own ties to European and Asian interests, America was not immune to finding itself dragged into the war. Hence, during the first years of the war, President Woodrow Wilson struggled to maintain neutrality. So much so that he issued a declaration of neutrality to Congress on August 14, 1914. In his speech he entreated Americans to remember, “Every...
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...Germany lost the First World War was that the German race had been weakened through Aryans marrying non-Aryans. Therefore if Germany was to become strong again, the Nazis had to ensure the purity of the Aryan race. This view of Germans as the master race was encouraged by the use of healthy, ‘pure’ Aryans in Nazi propaganda posters. Source 1: “The Aryan race is tall, long legged, slim. The race is narrow-faced, with a narrow forehead, a narrow highbuilt nose and a lower jaw and prominent chin, the skin is rosy bright and the blood shines through .... the hair is smooth, straight or wavy possibly curly in childhood. The colour is blond.” Description of a ‘pure’ Aryan. From a leaflet ‘The Nazi Race’, 1929. Source 2: A boy and a girl used in a Nazi poster. Question Using the information from Source 1 and any other knowledge that you have, explain why the boy and girl in Source 2 were ideal candidates for Nazi posters. To answer this question 1. Firstly outline Hitler’s and the Nazi’s views on race. Include details of who they believed the master race were. 2. Once you have done this, describe what the master race should look like. Do this by quoting from Source 1. Aim to select a short part of the source which highlights the look of the people in Source 2 3. Now explain why the people in source 2 were used for posters. Include in this part of your answer a description of the couple - matching it to your quote from source 1 (for instance - what...
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...how can one man convince numerous amount of men, women and children that these innocent groups of people were so evil, so evil that they had to be exterminated? One word, Propaganda. "Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people... Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." Adolf Hitler wrote these words in his book Mein Kamp. The propaganda used was all just a matter of media control, the lie that Jews were the cause of all things wrong with the German business world. Then, racial purity, as if they’re such animals for having their certain beliefs. One of the main tools of the Nazi’s was the production of films. Their effectiveness with the use of films that looked like documentaries were carefully edited and presented exactly what and only what they wanted. Having the power to do that, these films helped them raise the support for the movement by brainwashing Germans to believe that the Jews were the cause of all corruption. 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. There were posters that used symbolic imagery. These posters offered a romanticized ideal of the Nazi party as a force for good, often employing religious imagery, which represented...
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...World war 1 was a deadly and horrifying war that was fought in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. This blood thirsty war went for a long four years which stretched from 1914-1918 and cost many lives in our nation and world. Over 17 million people died and 20 million were wounded. Because of this huge amount of casualties, conscription was a very big debate all over the world, especially in Australia. During world war 1, Australians were divided by the call for conscription to a large extent. This was because all Australians had different reasons and opinions for and against conscription, this led to many arguments within Australia. Propaganda was a widely used way to persuade people to vote for or against conscription and resulted in many debates in Australia....
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...The post- World War 2 era in the United States introduced a seductive new form of mass communications. In 1946, there were about 17,000 television alone in the United States. In the span of seven years, more than two-thirds of the household had a television. The media rose in popularity exponentially after the invention of the radio. Thanks to the media, the United State’s gross national product doubled in the 1950’s and again in the 1960’s. Advertising and propaganda was blooming and thanks to the that, the typical U.S family owned a car and a house in the suburbs. Broadcast television was dominant in the mass media. The television media was owned by three major networks who was responsible for all the live events, sitcoms, and news that...
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...international community. As such, the art and advertising associated with the Games had strict standards and symbolism embedded into their design. Adolf Hitler used the 1936 Games in an attempt to prove the superiority of the Aryan race, which failed when Jesse Owens won four gold medals. The Games were meant to be an international meeting of amateur athletes and instead became a showcase and propaganda machine for the National Socialist German Workers' Party leading up World War II. The Third Reich used posters in order to portray the Aryan race’s dominance and higher status...
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...Patriotic War have on Russia in the period of 1941-1945? On June 22 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa; an full scale military invasion against Russia; forcing her entry into The World War causing devastating consequences in all of Russian society, as well as her domestic economic and political affairs throughout 1941-1945. The war featured social effects; the ‘war of annihilation’ of the Russian citizens by Germany in pursuit of Moscow and the increased need of unity and patriotism domestically, economic effects; the complete transition to Russian war time economy to fuel the war and the devastation of Russian industries, however it was the consolidation of Stalin’s communist leadership that was to reign the most significant in terms of its domestic impact but also its lasting effect. The Great Patriotic war forced the Russian economy to transition into a war time economy to fuel the war effort. The final one and a half years of the 3rd five year plan saw a shift into a wartime economy as the Germany invaded Russia; increasing economic mobilisation and increased its PPP usage towards supplying the front with more resources, even more efficiently than Germany due to the war economy. By 1943 60% of Russian output was devoted to its war effort, keeping Soviet army and navy adequately supplied with rearmaments, food, and fuel throughout the war. Through propaganda, Russian labour production shifted importance from developing the economy to contributing to the war, (see extract...
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...Wilfred Owen essay draft. The First World War rained havoc on the population of Great Britain and Europe between the years 1914 and 1918, causing catastrophe to the soldiers and their families. As well as many other European countries, Britain used propaganda as a tool and to make life on the front line sound more appealing to the average man. Propaganda posters were used to lure people into fight and to make those who decided not to fight appear as cowards among the other men that signed up. The propaganda worked and caused a positive opinion towards men going out to fight; which made more men go out to war and hope to come back as heroes. Many poets wrote about the things that occurred in World War One, such as, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, who was one of the leading poets of the First World War. Born on the 18th March 1893, Owen was drafted into the army and he fought for Great Britain, which lead to his shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare, which are mentioned in poems such as, ‘Dulce et Decorum est’, ‘Futility’ and ‘The Sentry’. His presence in the fighting for his country led him into being able to capture the life of the people on the front line and how it wasn’t glamorous as promoted to be and in reality it was a constant battle to stay alive even when not at front line. In addition to this, poets such as: Jessie Pope also wrote about World War One, Pope never was on the front line like Owen, or even been in a trench. Also...
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