Public opinion of World War II based on printed publications

World War II and Print Media

Print Media and the Propaganda War

Freedom of the press is a basic right granted by the U.S. Constitution. The government cannot restrict the press in its right to inform the people of the United States. However, when one examines the role of the news media during World War II, it becomes evident that although the government cannot restrict the press, they can use it to their advantage. This study will examine the role of the print media, including war posters as a means to influence American impressions and support for the wartime effort. It will use the bombing of Pearl harbor as the turning point in the war.

From 1939 to 1941, the Axis powers retained the upper hand, with the first part of the period referred to as "the phony war" by the media. Hardly a short was fired and the action was political, rather than violent. Americans knew of the conflict, but during this period it was of little concern. It was something happening far away to someone else. Americans may have seen the war as horrible, as with any war, but the full impact of World War II had yet to hit home. Some of the most memorable images from the time are that of Winston Churchill, who had the power to stir his people into action with his words alone.

By June 22, 1941 when the blitzkrieg began, Americans were accustomed to images of Panzer tank columns. The invasion of Russia brought the war closer to home as Americans realized that Hitler did not intend to stop. However, the war was still thousands of miles away in their minds. Americans were against going to war, still shell shocked by casualties in World War I and recovering from the Great Depressions, they were afraid of another crisis. Many Americans did not support the U.S. becoming involved in the efforts of France to ward off the invaders. This research will support the thesis that the American media used print materials to influence the American public, and that it still employs the techniques used to influence the public today.

The Need to Rally Support

However, the war department knew that American participation was necessary and that they needed to convince the American public to support the war efforts. The campaign was not successful until December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor brought the war closer to home. The war was no longer distant, but now seemed to be a real threat in the minds of the masses. The propaganda campaign met with much greater success after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was now necessary to convince the American public that war was close at hand and that they needed to begin conservation of materials for the war effort. As the war began to step up its threat, American increased its efforts to gain public support for the war efforts with a flood of propaganda aimed at the American public. This campaign included radio, visual media, the press, and war posters.

During the early years of the war, posters urged Americans to purchase war bonds. The Great Depression had left the American government with few funds to support the war efforts. It was necessary for the American citizens themselves to fund the war efforts. These posters tugged at the heartstrings of the American public with images of patriotic children being coerced into communism by the Nazis (NARA, Power of Persuasion).

These posters appeared everywhere, on buildings, in storefront windows and in newspapers and magazine ads. The posters were meant to make the war real and to bring the urgency home. These war posters can be divided into several different categories. Poster urged Americans to buy war bonds, volunteer for the armed forces, plant victory gardens, conserve materials and to be cautious of spies.

Using Demographics to an Advantage

One of the common threads that draw the war posters together is the use of models that could be any American on the streets. For instance, the following poster blatantly accuses women, who could be any typical American woman to be careful of what they say to one another. Using models in this manner brought the message to the larger population and made the average American on the street able to identify with the person on the poster, making them more likely to listen to the message.

Source: NARA Still Picture Branch. (NWDNS-208-PMP-91).

Regardless of where they appeared, these posters were striking and got the message across. Many of these posters make eye contact with the viewer, they seem to be talking directly to you, which was the intended purpose. Another common feature of these posters is their use of dark colors. This was especially the case as the need to convince the American people of the urgency became greater. The use of dark colors was meant to convey a sense of impending doom and urgency in their actions.

The use of color was intentional, as was the choice of wording in newspapers and print media. Colors on American posters tended to be bright when the message was one of hope, and dark when it was intended to alarm or to cause fear. War posters sparked a feeling of patriotism as they frequently used red, white, and blue as a common theme. The posters of the Germans often used red and black. German posters were bleak in their color scheme.

One of the key problems being faced by the government was that even though American soil had been invaded with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, for a majority of Americans, life continued as normal. The government needed to convince the American public that a real threat existed, when in reality, the war was still very far away. They used newspapers, magazines, and war posters to accomplish this goal.

War posters told viewers that spies were all around and that even a small amount of information could help the Germans. This was the origin of the famous slogan, "loose lips sink ships." Posters attempted to convince the American public that German spies were all around, when in reality, the threat from German spies was only slight. Americans had to feel as if the war was real. Posters began to depict spies, dying men, and the evils of the enemy.

As the needs of the war changed, so did the themes of newpaper articles, magazines and war posters change to meet those needs. Towards the end of the war, it became apparent that America needed to step up wartime production. With many of the men off in foreign lands fighting, the American workforce was in shambles. This is when the war department developed the iconic image of Rosy the Riveter with her famous slogan, "We Can Do it!" (Nara, "We Can Do it!") American women were urged to help the war effort by taking jobs for the war department, rationing and filling in wherever they were needed.

Women were not the only demographic specifically targeted by war posters. The "Above and Beyond Poster" reminded the American public that it was a war that effected everyone. This poster featured a black man in a sailor's uniform.

Other demographic groups were targeted as well. In order to be successful, the viewer had to identify with the posters. This was one of the key concepts that the government learned from the war propaganda project of World War II. They learned how to bring an idea home to a certain targeted audience. They learned how to personalize the message so that it would have the desired effect on the viewer. Many of the techniques developed during World War II are still used today by advertisers to entice an audience to buy a particular product or service.

The German Propaganda Effort

Personification was a key tool of the wartime effort. The idea was that the person in the picture was anyone's brother, sister, neighbor, or cousin. It was meant to normalize the American population so that everyone took some ownership of the outcome. For instance, Hitler was often called by name, instead of referring to the Nazis or the Third Reich. By contrast, Hitler's propaganda de-personified the third Reich. The following example is an example of German propaganda.

Source: German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University

This poster is from the 1930's. It urges Germans to buy domestic rather than imported goods. The top translates as "Germans buy German goods." The bottom text translates "German Week/German Goods/German Labor."(German Propaganda Archive). Like the Americans, Germany needed to convince its citizens to support the war effort economically in order to continue the campaign. However, war posters produced by the Germans have several characteristics that distinguish them from the approach used by the American media.

The first difference that one will notice is that fewer people were portrayed in German posters, as compared to the personalization of the American campaign. When a person was portrayed they were often in profile, in a manner resembling a comic. American posters were more realistic in their portrayal of characters.

Source: German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University

This poster translates: "Unshakable, determined to fight, certain of victory! "(German Propaganda Archive). Typical themes in German Propaganda posters were anti-Semitism, a call to the labor force, support and loyalty for Hitler, paper and clothing drives, as well as special programs, such as programs to send children to the countryside for safety.

Many of the themes overlapped with American messages. However, as one examines the collection of war posters as a whole, it becomes apparent that both sides had entirely different agendas and different techniques for getting the message across. American posters were more personal and used imagery that captured the audience and pulled at their heartstrings. German posters were often unrealistic in their presentation.

The Office of War Information

There were several forms of media available during World War II. However, there were several reasons for the choice to use posters as the medium of choice for the war campaign. The first was that they were inexpensive and could be produced rapidly. There was a need to bring the urgency of the war to the home front. In 1942 the Office of War Information (OWI) launched a sophisticated distribution campaign for getting the posters where they were needed (Ellis). They became the primary center for government poster design and production. However, the demand for war posters was too high and they soon had to rely on the military, individual branches of the government and large corporations such as General Electric to help produce and distribute posters (Ellis). The Boy Scouts of America was instrumental in placing the posters on a local level (Ellis).

Eventually, the demand for posters was so high that the OWI turned to Madison Avenue advertisers and commercial illustrators to create ad campaigns. This shift changed the design and graphics of the posters, but the content remained the same (Ellis). The posters elicited emotions in the American people and sent the message that actions the behavior of every individual on the home front would have an impact on the battlefront. They could easily be printed in newspapers and magazines for mass distribution.

Freedom of Press

There is not doubt that the United States Government used the media in all forms to control the population for their own benefit. Raw news from the battlefront had to pass through many filters, in the name of security, before it could be distributed to the masses (Herman and Chomsky). This was necessary in order to launch the coordinated media blitz that sparked the American citizen into action. There are some that speculate that the outcome of the war would have been different if the media campaign were not a success (Herman and Chomsky).

World War II changed the way Americans viewed the media and the relationship between the government and the media. The American public became more tolerant of biased media because they saw that the need for victory as a higher priority than individual freedoms at that time. However, it can be argued that this set the stage for a permanent change in the role of the media that still continues today. Production of war poster, news articles and other forms of print media at the direction of the U.S. government and large corporations changed these relationships. Where they were once considered to be disconnected, the relationship had changed and it was now acceptable for them to work together for the common good.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, a principle that was established with the primary goal of giving the people a voice to control their own destiny. However, in World War II, the people were willing to compromise this mechanism. It can be argued that they never gained back control of the press and that the media then became a tool for controlling American thought and American destiny.