World War II: The Power and Impact of Propaganda

World War II propaganda was displayed and spread through various methods by both the Allied and Axis powers. The type of propaganda created heavily relied on its effectiveness and the response generated by its intended audience. Designers had to decide what medium was best for the situation, depending on how many people and what kind of people would view it (Navarro). Propaganda was changed based on the area in which it was displayed in an attempt to gain support from various ethnic and racial groups. For instance, and African American soldier would be depicted on a poster in an African American area, as opposed to a white soldier ("World War II Propaganda").
The “heroes” portrayed in the propaganda, no matter the nation it came from, were also designed to be considered conventionally attractive. However, the nation’s enemies were depicted as ugly and unattractive so they would be perceived as more evil. The enemy was shown as awful and innately cruel. American propaganda often displayed the rights and personal freedoms that enemy nations had violated. By showing how other countries were purely evil, nations were able to convince their citizens that they were on the “right” side of the war (Navarro). Shaping public opinion is the main goal of propaganda, and countries were desperate to have influence over the

Magazines such as Time and Life published articles that contributed to the growing resentment toward the Japanese after Pearl Harbor (Winkler). Other magazines featured articles that centered around working women to convince women to join the workforce while the men were off at war. Consequently, after the war, these same magazines portrayed women as homemakers and emphasized the traditional role of women in the home. This was in an effort to persuade women to vacate their wartime positions to provide returning veterans with jobs