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Propaganda
Posters as History
Loose Lips Sink Ships
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.
She Has a War Job -- Have You?
Can All You Can
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These
posters were intended to rouse the nation’s spirit
and convey a sense of common purpose. They promoted patriotism,
productivity, and sacrifice. They helped convince Americans
during World War II to put up with shortages, obey rationing
rules, and maintain wartime secrecy.
To
help unify the nation and encourage a sense of purpose and
determination, the federal government information services
and established the Office of War Information in 1942. |
Posters that announced “V for Victory”
helped overcome self-doubts and unite a disparate nation, bridging
divisions of class, ethnicity, and region.
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also explained why the United States was at war. A series
of posters created by Norman Rockwell for The Saturday Evening
Post illustrated President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s contention
that the United States was fighting to preserve four essential
freedoms both at home and abroad: freedom of speech, freedom
of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. To demonstrate
that this was a peoples’ war, a democratic war, many
posters focus on an ordinary man or woman. |
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Hatred and bigotry were used much less in the
posters of World War II than in World War I. Archibald MacLeish,
a poet and assistant director of the OWI said:
I
hate Nazism and Fascism and all their works. But the campaigns
of personal hatreds, of hatred for whole nations of human beings,
are disgusting to me. There is a clear difference between the
hatred of persons and the hatred of evil.
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Still,
some posters demonized our enemies, depicting the Japanese
as bucktoothed monsters in thick glasses and Italians as
buffoons. One showed a Nazi sowing a field of skulls.
Racial prejudice was a particularly contentious
point during the war. African American men had to put up
with segregation and confinement primarily to menial jobs.
But the government was eager to contrast fascism and Nazism
with American ideals of freedom and democracy.
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To
persuade women to advance the war effort by working in factories
and offices, some posters emphasized the importance of “woman
power.” One powerful image depicted Rosie the Riveter,
a strong, competent factory worker in overalls and bandanna. |
To see the posters, click on:
The Powers of Persuasion: Poster Art from World War
II
http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/
powers_of_persuasion_home.html
Questions to ask:
O.
W. Riegel, a propaganda analyst in the United States Office
of War Information during the war, said: “The function
of the war poster 'is to make coherent and acceptable a basically
incoherent and irrational ordeal of killing, suffering, and
destruction that violates every accepted principle of morality
and decent living.”
Is he right or wrong?
How do individual posters use visual symbols to whip up public
emotions?
What
techniques—such as sentimentality or appeals to patriotism,
fear, duty, and sacrifice—do particular posters use?
In what ways do the poster obscure the realities of life on
the home front?
How would you compare these World War II posters with contemporary
advertising?
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