The Great War Propaganda

Through his employment of propaganda, President Wilson was able to: 1. Convince the American people to join the ranks, 2. Persuade Americans into accepting rations for food, 3. Involve women in the war effort, and 4. Sway Americans into buying government bonds (liberty bonds) to fund the war. We will discuss four main propaganda posters, which depict these four main themes of President Wilson’s push for war. In the end, President Wilson’s use of propaganda was ironically able to change the popular American opinion and convince them to support World War I.

World War II is one of many, most horrific and crucial events in world history and one of the most important events in the 20th century. Leonard and John (2007) define propaganda as “notions, facts, or accusations that are spread purposely with the objective of furthering one’s cause or damaging an opponent’s cause”. (7) They used media and propaganda in order to increase support for their side of the war. An immense feeling of patriotism was building up, and the nations used all the resources at their disposal to get their nations ahead of the race regardless of how humiliating and misleading the allegations were. Throughout World War II, propaganda was used to maintain the heat in fights and create unity among the citizens of a nation to achieve a single cause. People receive information on a daily basis since the beginning of the war and the parties of the confrontation. United States of America used propaganda for the creation of massive advertisements in the course of the war that could be interpreted as degrading to rival forces (Cogan, Brian & Tony, 53). Propaganda and information were distributed through numerous sources—radio, films, books and newspapers. The major aim was to impose on people the way of thinking and acting, both consciously and subconsciously (Rhodes 5). Though news sources attempted to be objective, there has always been ways to influence the way in which people interpret information.

Propaganda was commonly used during World War One in the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as means of persuasion through bandwagon propaganda, to ration food, convince people to join the army, make victory gardens, or to exploit mistakes made by the enemy. Even before World War One, governments have used propaganda to gain support among its citizens towards wars, and World War One was no different. The United Kingdom especially, utilized extravagant headlines that emphasized the other side as being barbaric and irrational. Regardless of these micro differences, all countries used propaganda to represent a portrait of military superiority. Other United States propaganda encouraged men to join

​Throughout the history of the United States, the American government has employed many propaganda techniques, usually during times of war and hardships, to evoke an intended reaction from Americans. "Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.” To control the public during difficult times, the government heavily utilized propaganda. The wars that propaganda was most prominently employed in were World War I and World War II. Propaganda, specifically in World War I and World War II, has had far more negative effects on American society than positive effects.

The Great War was not only fought with tanks, U-boats, and trench warfare, but it was a war of propaganda. Propaganda from both sides was used throughout the Great War to help try and shape the opinions of each embattled nation. This total war did not just require innovative weapons, but also innovative and at times even deceptive propaganda. The British, Germans and United States governments specifically, invested a lot of resources into propaganda as a way to increase recruitment numbers, build international support, and instill a sense of confidence in what was the Great War. Countries had to not just focus their efforts on getting people from their own country to support them, but also neutral countries, as well as having to focus on the enemies by use of atrocity propaganda. In turn, this led to governments “tampering with the human will,” and even using deceit, all in an effort to help solidify their sides victory. In turn, propaganda played a vital role in the Great War and additionally created an everlasting influence on both war and media in the world today.

In a wartime environment, propaganda is used to shape international opinion as well as influence neutral and enemy countries. The government of a country puts a great deal of effort into propaganda that shapes the opinion of its citizens by justifying their actions and building support for the country. Propaganda was also used to point out the mistakes made by enemy countries. The impact of propaganda can be hard to determine at the surface, but when looking deeper, propaganda and its effect on people is very important in determining the outcome of a war. It has become a common belief that the Germans did not lose World War II because of their performance on the battlefield, but because of the impression that foreign propaganda had on them.[footnoteRef:0] [0: Ian Cooke. ?Propaganda as a weapon? Influencing international opinion,? bl.uk, January 29 2014, May 10

When President Wilson declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, the American people still needed convincing that his decision was the best course of action (World). This convincing was necessary due to the fact that many Americans remained isolationist and Wilson’s decision of war irked them (Belt). To convince and pacify the American people, Wilson created an agency that began to use propaganda supporting going to war on the side of Britain and France (Belt). The many methods of propaganda used by the government were highly effective and quickly won over the majority of the American population. This proved that propaganda had a highly motivational effect on Americans during World War I.

Wartime propaganda has always been a beneficial tool for warring nations. Its ability to effectively persuade, influence, and convince citizens even in a time of distress has made it a vital component of many war-engaged countries. The United States, for example, reaped great benefits by using war propaganda in World War II. American propaganda helped dramatically increase the sale of war bonds, rate of civic engagement, and public morale. Although American propaganda during World War II can be considered as extremely biased and racist, it would have been more difficult to for the Americans to defeat Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany if propaganda was not used at all.

Propaganda is defined as the information, ideas, or rumors which are deliberately spread widely to help towards a nation, government, or any type of cause against another. The use of propaganda can be extremely persuasive, if it is used correctly. In the time frame of July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918, the use of propaganda in the world was being used on a global scale. It was being used through newspapers, posters, radio stations, and even through writing books. There was more than just one type of propaganda being used in World War I, and one example would be the type of propaganda that was used by the British. This was mainly used

The use of propaganda in wartime was not a common thing, but when it came to resources it did. Societies have used and lived with propaganda from the earliest civilizations like Ancient Greece. World War I marked a turning point for state use of propaganda both in war and during peace. One reason was That World War I was the first “Total War.” In the US many Americans were towards the use of propaganda because they needed supplies and men. So propaganda persuaded the audience with ethos or their emotions just so people can get or do what they want.

The second most devastating global conflict, also known as World War II, left over 60 million dead creating panic and fear for citizens all over the world. During these hard times the citizens, dealing with a national crisis, needed something to give them hope that there will be betters days. Propaganda was used in political cartoons to release information that contained biased views and over exaggerations to gain support for the war. These cartoons gave hope to the people and also affected a majority of their opinions. Propaganda became used as a weapon during World War II to create nasty images of the enemy, get individuals to help support the war, to boost the confidence of people, and give them hope during hard times.

During World War I, propaganda was heavily used to raise the amount of troops the British had. Many portrayed that the war would only last for a couple weeks and would be over before Christmas. This was thought as many of the wars since the early 1800’s, had ended in a matter of weeks. Obviously, this was not the case as the war lasted for several years. British propaganda also broke Germany’s morale to an extent as they basically slandered the German’s. They did this to attempt to draw the United States out and have them join the war on the side of Great Britain. (World-Information.org, 2007) This was one of the two main reasons they used propaganda. The other main reason was to urge citizens to join the military to fight. Some propaganda contained people looking generally happy while they were standing in a trench. This created the false idea that people were happy being at war and that the war would be over soon. In fact, many soldiers felt the opposite while they were fighting.

Propaganda often by presenting facts selectively lying often to perhaps to encourage a synthesis. The history of most propaganda has to be almost well known so that later on so that it will be easy to spot it regularly on the streets or hear it in certain adds and maybe have to use it yourself .Propaganda effecting Germany was a huge part in American history as well as it being spread around to Many places. Propaganda has evolved from many years and especially from World War II. In Conclusion, propaganda has been helpful to the United States and Germany but has also left a dark past in each place, therefore there are a lot of different propaganda’s today and from many, many years

Propaganda during World War II was very diverse, it impacted the world greatly. Propaganda had an overall negative and positive impact on the lives and political aspects in different countries. Propaganda is information spread around the world to persuade the society's views on the war. Countries would often target other governments and societies. People would react either positively or negatively it depended on how the topic was presented. Even though propaganda is not as prominent in our society today, it is still their.

Though propaganda has never been a substitute for military strength, extensive resources, or skillful negotiation, it has often played an important role in wartime strategy.(Propaganda,1) Propaganda really influnced both sides of World War II. In this paper I will show why the Nazi party best benifited from the use of prapaganda. Adolf Hilter use it to turn people against jews, blacks and about every one else that was not German and he also use it to make people want to join Nazi army. Franklin Roosvelt or F.D.R also use the science of propaganda to turn people against Germany, Italy and Japan. Hitler had first become aware of propaganda and its uses before the First World War. During the war he saw the