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Propaganda in the 20th century war
Propaganda in the 20th century war
Propaganda in the 20th century war
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The Support of the Appeasement of Hitler by the British Mass Media
Appeasement was the conciliatory policy adopted by Britain and France
towards the aggressive foreign policy of Nazi Germany in the years
preceding the Second World War. In Britain it is normally associated
with the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain but was also followed by
Stanley Baldwin. It has been argued by historians such as Richard
Cockett that the press in Britain was manipulated by Whitehall -
especially during Chamberlain’s years as Prime Minister – to publish
only pro-appeasement articles and news and therefore “no alternative
to the policy of appeasement was ever consistently articulated in the
press.”[1] It is indeed partly true that Chamberlain was a master of
press manipulation and the BBC broadcasts were closely monitored by
the Foreign Office. However it would be incorrect to assume that all
of the press was pro-appeasement and there were dissenting voices. One
must also examine in part the role that Hitler played in attempting to
control the news that foreign correspondents in Germany sent back to
their publications.
In order to examine why some publications such as The Times followed a
policy of appeasement one needs to look why at why politicians, like
Chamberlain, were convinced that it was necessary. The actual policy
of appeasement was a reversion to the traditional foreign policy of 19th
century Britain where she had felt it necessary to avoid getting
entangled in the affairs of Europe. Many felt that Britain was simply
not ready for another war, economically she was struggling through
depression in the early 1930s and at that stage simply could not
afford to rearm. It was also during this period that the Empire was at
its most troublesome with uprisings occurring in the Middle East and
India, as well as having to deal with Italian and German expansion,
Britain faced threats to her Asian interests from Japanese
expansionism. Negotiating with Germany, the greatest and closest of
these threats, appeared to be a prudent policy. There was also an
unrealistically high fear among politicians about the destructive
During WW1, the Americans had influenced the war by propaganda. Propaganda is when you spread rumors to influence society. Propaganda was used to affect Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. In Germany propaganda was used to give the soldiers morals and people with false information that was sent by balloons or planes. In America propaganda was used to persuade other Americans to join the war against Germany. In Great Britain, propaganda was meant to convince men into joining the war and for people to save food for the war effort.
Words and images were silent weapons used by all governments involved during World War II. Wars are generally fought between soldiers, but the different ideologies often meet on the battlefield as well. The support of the people is crucial during these times since it general knowledge that strength relies on numbers. Propaganda targets people’s emotions and feelings and changes people’s perception about a particular idea, people or situation. Propaganda goes hand in hand with the art of persuasion and convincing; these tools can control and manipulate the collective minds of massive amount of its audience. During World War II, for instance, the elements of war were taken from the location of the military fights and brought to the households of millions of families. Advertising has the power to sell ideas, to give or take away hope, and to boosts people´s morale; the ideas that were presented to the public through propaganda are immortal, they linger in the nation’s memory. Images often displayed in posters and pamphlets during war time, were an essential factor to gain peoples support and trust, images attract people’s attention with more efficiency than word. It is an effective mean to attract attention; it I said that images speak louder than words and this case is not the exception. Media, during World War II, was the catalyst which increased the magnitude of the issue that was being confronted. This event left a mark in our history since its objective was to generate hatred between ethnics. It is in our nature, the human nature, to take our own culture as a point of reference to judge others, this is a phenomenon called ethnocentrism and it is fuelled bye prejudice and stereotyping. Throughout history whenever technologically...
We all look back at World War II and view it as one of the most depressing, impactful, and downright evil times in history. Although, when we learn about this time period in school, we focus on the Hitler, the Germans, and the Japanese. They were the prime enemy, full of evil and monstrous capabilities. Then there was us, the strong, great, undefeatable United States of America. If you look back on the principal now, its almost as if it was an action packed film, full of war, superheroes, and villains. The sad truth though, it was real. Real people fought, real people suffered, and real people died. I’m sure everyone including myself can agree that we are thankful it ended how it did. Yet, that doesn’t mean everything we did during the war was completely ethical. During these fearful times, America needed a way to ensure the citizens were on their side, and the most effective way was the use of propaganda art. This tactic was and still is used to psychologically influence people in order to alter their social perceptions and dehumanize the enemy. One these images used exaggerated illustration, the technique of fear appeal, and the logical fallacy of unwarranted extrapolation to construct a propaganda image that will forever be marked upon history.
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
Yet during the time appeasement seemed to be logical, as stated in document 8 only the German people could take away Hitler’s power which is why the League tried to appease to Hitler. Also the League feared that if they defeated Germany, Russia would take over most of Europe in their absence. While those are good reasons to try to appease to Hitler, the League of Nations forgot one important detail, Germany wasn’t afraid of the League. Neville Chamberlain the prime minister of Britain was an avid supporter of appeasement, yet even he said he would fight Germany if they were trying to dominate the world by fear of its force according to document 5. What Chamberlain failed to notice was that is what Germany was trying to do.
Propaganda is the art of persuasion, and it had a major influence on WWII. Every country involved in the war had their own way of using propaganda to impact the public in different ways. Some countries were more forceful in presenting their propaganda to their country. Many types of propaganda were used in WWII. Books, radio, films, comic strips, and posters were directed towards the public to put them in a certain mind set about war. Every countries propaganda had different effects on the public. Nazi Germany’s use of propaganda had a greater impact on the public compared to Canada, USA, and Britain’s propaganda.
§ Britain was almost always ahead yet they continuously felt threatened. § Failure to accommodate Germany as a major power. Para3: § Military rivalry. § The arms race between Germany and Russia.
The Nazis are infamous for their heavy use of propaganda during their reign in the Third Reich, they used many means of propaganda such as posters, cartoons, radio, film, etc. The German citizens’ constant exposure to all of this propaganda from all directions had a deep psychological and psychoanalytical impact on them, it redefined their identity and who they were as well as what they thought of the world around them. Nazi propaganda often had deep symbolic meaning usually associated with anti-semitism and German nationalism, these elements were already present in the minds of the majority of Germans so it wasn’t hard for Adolf Hitler and the rest of the Nazi party to further provoke and enrage the emotions of people concerning these things, they merely had to tap into these pre disposed emotions in a way that would have the most favourable psychological impact for the Nazis. Some of the opinions and mindsets that German citizens had may have been there even before the Nazis came into power and made it seemed like they were brainwashing people with their propaganda, but with what justification can it be said that Nazi propaganda had a psychological and psychoanalytic impact on the German population to a great extent, rather than it being the work of pre set psychological states of mind of people due to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, Hyperinflation, and other sources which may have led the German population to support and hold anti-semitistic and nationalistic ideologies.
The Second World War was filled with propaganda. Each nation used propaganda to convince their people that the war was being won and gain popular support. Britain and Nazi Germany, though, were two countries that were arguably far superior to the rest of the world, as they each made use of all forms of media: print, radio and television. To understand what effect, if any, this had on the Holocaust, one must look at what was being put forth from each Government.
Appeasement is the process or act of “pacifying or placating” by acceding to their demands. In 1935, a naval agreement was signed between Britain and Germany. It was an agreement primarily associated with Neville Chamberlain who became the prime minister of Great Britain in May 1937. Appeasement in that case was Britain giving Germany what Hitler wanted in hope that he would at some point become satisfied and draw back on his aggressive actions. This policy lasted for three years until France and Britain realized that it was hopeless, and that Hitler would always want more.
During World War II, propaganda was ubiquibitous. World War II poster help to mobilize nation. Propaganda often portrayed the artist’s view on the war. It show the artist concern to the war, their hope of the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Three persuasive propaganda techniques used during that time were fear,bandwagon and glittering generalities.
When a person sees a new advertisement or commercial for their favorite shoe company, they immediately want to go and check out their latest designs. Similarly, propaganda uses different sources of media to encourage people to buy a certain item that will benefit their country or an organization. Propaganda was used in World War II to encourage citizens to buy certain tools or participate in certain events to help the soldiers fighting. Both video and radio advertisements were used by the Allied and Axis powers to encourage citizens to aid the war effort, resulting in a rise of nationalism and resentment towards opposing sides.
Hitler was able to use his countries momentum and his negotiation skills to achieve what he wanted for Germany and make a deal he knew that he was not going to honor and eventually lead to WWII. Prime Minister Chamberlain also needed to be aware of possible deception that he was likely going to face when dealing with Germany. “When German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1929, Hitler’s promise that Sudetenland was his ‘last territorial demand’ was revealed for the lie it has always been. At best Chamberlain’s summit diplomacy has bought Britain another 11 months to prepare for war at the considerable expense of Czechoslovakia’s freedom”(Rathbone 19). In fairness, Chamberlin had avoided war for a period of time, but the consequences were much greater in the sense that war was inevitable and his people’s lack of faith.
The supreme present of militarism, "a policy of aggressive military preparedness" , in this period of time gave all countries great reason to feel the heavy weight of an oncoming war. Great Britain's naval policy (to always be twice as big as the next two largest navies put together), along with the predominate feeling of war provided countries with a strong reason to try and create an incredibly strong military force. This led to an arms race, which made the impending war seem inevitable. The military planning in some countries also caused an increased fear of war. Since military machines were being developed, each country was appointing a general staff of experts. The greatest problem with this was that there was a fear that "some chief of staff, in order to maintain the schedule on his 'timetable', might force an order of mobilization and thus precipitate war." These two factors also led, in part, to the alliance system. If two or more countries are allied with each other then they have a better chance of defeating their common enemy if war is declared.
Mass media gas grown and changed throughout history with its use and affect on the crowds. Television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet are all part of the means of mass communication, meaning mass media. It is the most affective way of spreading a message/idea, and it directly shapes and reforms the way history will play out. It can also be seen as a source for record keeping, hence history is stored in these forms of mass media. One will be able to see the difference between what happened, what was said to have happened at that time, and what actually happened. When looking at mass media it is important to look at it as a timeline; separating the different types of media. The first to boom was printing press, which allowed newspapers to spread. This allowed people all over to know what was going on across that certain region of publication; then came radio, television, and now the Internet. By each innovation, more people were reached by the message,