It would take an entire website to detail exactly just how devastating and impactful World War II was. However, governments and artists captured it in just one poster. This special section compilates some propaganda of World War II. Posters, and even animation, spread the voice and incited nationalist feelings. In those times, the philosophy was ”keep fighting until the end”, and as demonstrated by the selections in this section, governments were willing to frighten and threaten each other, and their own populace, in favor of the war effort.
Women of War
During World War II, men were expected to serve and protect, while women were expected to stay home and do chores (History). From 1941 to 1944, the U.S. Department of War launched a propaganda campaign towards the American women who were desperately required to join the workforce (History). The campaign served as a call to all women to stop their frivolous pursuits, such as shopping, and join production of ammunitions and war material, such as tanks, planes, and guns (History). The result of the campaign was that by 1943, women made up 65% of the American workforce (History).
These ads aren’t only a reflection of World War II, and the shortage at the workforce which was filled by woman. It has a much more meaningful impact when one considers what the message was. Women, who were originally expected to be at their home doing chores, were now working in the factories, taking the roles of their husbands while they were drafted away. Things were reverted back to the status quo after the end of the war, and women were relegated back to being simple housemaids. It took an entire movement for women to become full-pledged citizens and members of society. However, these opportunities in a three-year lapse planted the seeds which enabled women to reconsider their role in society and make a new rule of life for themselves.
Avenge Pearl Harbor
President Roosevelt’s address about Pearl Harbor was America’s main motivation for entry into World War II, but posters and propaganda also did a great job in helping spread the word. An example of this is the poster to the right. The image of the attack, accompanied by the words ”Avenge Pearl Harbor”, were present in virtually every corner of America.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was an attack to America’s national pride, a provokation of war, and that’s how they took it. As such, the work of posters like this was to promote nationalist feelings and urge young people to fight to gain back their country’s pride, and prove that nothing could sink America’s morale.
Loose Lips Sink Ships
In times of such massive paranoia, hysteria, and hate, every tiny bit of information could mean one step closer to victory or defeat. Both factions of the war feared that leaked information could sabotage their troops (National Geographic). Through a series of posters, both the US and Germany tried to suppress leaked information which could prove harmful to their battle strategies; said posters had messages such as ”loose lips sink ships”, or ”careless talks cost lives”. One of them is a drawing of a mysterious German figure, wielding a helmet, and the warning ”He’s watching you”.
In times where suspicion and the war effort were at its highest, governments did the best to suppress information that could mean defeat. At the same time, however, they were threatening and frightening their own citizens in the name of war effort and victory. The fact that governments were willing to attack the morale of its own populace for the sake of victory and security it’s another proof of just how dark those days were.
Letters of Ruin
Of course, both sides also threatened and attacked the morale of the opposite faction to attempt to frighten them into surrender. And what’s worse: They made it look like those threatening messages were coming from inside the nations themselves. For a lot of years, German radio stations transmitted threatening messages to the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and made it think like Allied officials pronounced them. America responded by mailling threatening letters (like the one to the right, depicting the skeletal Hitler) and made it look like they came from Nazi opposers (National Geographic).
Widespread knowledge and information about World War II was largely thanks to the effort of posters and propaganda. World War II retains its staus the deadliest and most devastating conflict in the history of humankind. At the same time, it produced some of the most gruesome, nightmarish imagery and proved just how much governments are willing to sacrifice their ideals and
foundations in favor of security.
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