Dehumanization And The War: The Negative Effects Of World War II

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December 7,1941 was a crucial day in time that impacted more than one 's life. Finding itself involved in a war that was spreading across nearly every continent, the United States took shelter as the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor began. America worked hard in the following months to build up support and necessary needs. They built tanks, planes, ships and weapons to fight the war with great power. The American government then went on to build support through the people, mostly by creating posters advertising ways to financially support the war and the troops. World War II propaganda made a huge impact with war efforts on both the American and Japanese sides. Its purpose was to make the enemy be seen as an evil entity and make people want …show more content…

The dehumanization aspect of propaganda can cause great distrust, rivalry and tension between multicultural nations. Before World War II, quite a few Japanese families moved to the United States as a new beginning, but once the war started their lives were in danger. The dehumanization and general hatred that circulated about the Japanese, due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, put those that lived in the U.S in the same category, even if they weren’t involved and on the Americans sided. “Reports on supposed spy activity on the part of Japanese Americans began pouring into Washington, even as Japanese Americans paid for space in newspapers to declare unreservedly their loyalty to the United States.” (history.com, 2009) The Japanese- Americans were only seen as Japanese, not as Americans, which put them in danger of being hurt or killed because of their nationality. Another negative side effect of propaganda is people would focus solely on supporting the war, causing families to suffer. Rosie the Riveter was an influential propaganda poster, primarily because it was there to persuade women to work and help with the war. With more women working and most fathers in battle, families began to fall apart and become unstable. Another negative side effect of propaganda is the effect of the graphic posters. The images that were created by the Americans to depict the Japanese as inhuman were quite graphic and could make young people unable to see the good in those when the war was

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