Internet Resources
- Inside America’s Shocking WWII Propaganda MachineMore than half a century ago, the U.S. used provocative posters and fake news to influence its soldiers, its citizens, and even its enemies.
- Powers of PersuasionGuns, tanks, and bombs were the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, more subtle forms of warfare as well.
- Rosie the Riveter and Benny the Bungler: WWII Propaganda at WorkDuring World War II, the US government waged a constant battle for the hearts and minds of the public. “Rosie the Riveter” and many other wartime propaganda posters remain relevant 75 years later.
- These World War II Propaganda Posters Rallied the Home FrontAs the U.S. sent troops to the front lines, artists were recruited to encourage those at home to do their part.
- World War II PropagandaFollowing the Nazis' rise to power in 1933, he established a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda with Goebbels as its head. Goebbels promoted the Nazi message through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, and the press, and censored all opposition. Goebbels worked to inflame the anger of Germans over their defeat in World War I and emphasized German cultural and military achievements to boost national pride. He played an important role in creating an atmosphere in Germany that made it possible for the Nazis to commit terrible atrocities against Jews and other minorities.
A Film Unfinished Exposing Cinematic Manipulation During World War II
This potent documentary uses a long-lost film reel to illustrate how the Nazis controlled images of Jewish life during World War II. Though the Nazis made a propaganda movie of contented Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, the missing spool exposes the truth.
Source: Kanopy
Propaganda Research Guide
View McKee Library's propaganda research guide page for links to materials, including a selection of virtual archives featuring WWII propaganda posters and more.
Perspectives
Manipulating Images
Manipulating Images: World War II Mobilization of Women through Magazine Advertising explores gendered and class-based representations of American women in women's magazine advertisements published during the period surrounding the Second World War. Focusing on the interrelationships among political, economic, and social forces in the construction of prevailing cultural images and gender roles for women in society, the book examines both the process of creating and the resulting content of wartime mobilization messages found in magazine advertising aimed at American women. The unique circumstances of the Second World War provide a window where the continuous, but normally implicit interactions among the social forces which construct class-differentiated gendered expectations for women in society are revealed, recorded, and made accessible for study. During this period, the federal government altered the prevailing media representations of women and women's roles in response to widespread labor shortages stemming from the movement of male workers into the armed forces and increased demand for military and consumer goods. The advertising industry, business leaders, and media representatives cooperated with the federal government in the creation of labor mobilization and other wartime campaigns. Two types of data are examined to assess the changing nature of the relationships among government, business, and media and the resulting media images and messages regarding women's roles. First, the study explores archived government documents that illuminate the relationships among government, business, and media as they responded to the needs and conditions of war. Second, this book examines advertisements published in women's magazines before, during, and following the Second World War.