American propaganda during World War II

[8] In 1944 (lasting until 1948), prominent U.S. policy makers launched a domestic propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the U.S. public to accept a harsh peace for the German people.

[31] Mauldin's cartoons not only publicized the efforts of the ground forces, but they made the war appear bitter and onerous, helping convince Americans that victory would not be easy.

[39] After the atomic attacks, more pamphlets were dropped, warning that the Americans had an even more powerful explosive at their disposal equal to that of 2,000 B-29 bombers carrying thousands of conventional bombs.

[48] The CBS international radio network continued to support the cultural diplomacy initiatives of the State Department and the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs throughout the 1940s.

Broadcasters were warned not to cut to a commercial with the line, "and now for some good news," and reporters were instructed not to describe bombings precisely enough so that the enemy could tell what they hit, for example, they were to state "the building next to the one I am standing on," not "the First National Bank.

[60] Hollywood movie studios, obviously sympathetic to the Allied cause, soon adapted standard plots and serials to feature Nazis in place of the usual gangster villains while the Japanese were depicted as being bestial, incapable of reason or human qualities.

Many actors such as Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt, Martin Kosleck, Philip Ahn and Sen Yung specialized in playing Axis spies, traitors and soldiers.

To address the identity problem, the Office of War Information (that controlled and influenced the contents and subjects of American motion pictures[67]) decided to collaborate with black leaders to try to improve Hollywood's portrayal of colored people and obtain their support to the Allied cause.

Harold Lasswell, an expert in communications and wartime propaganda, testified at his trial in 1944 that 1,195 statements of Nazi Party ideology were found in the Silver Shirts' Galilean newsletter.

Among the suggestions were a detective who was "cheerful" about following a suspect without using an automobile, a woman working in a traditionally male job, the importance of the 35 miles per hour speed limit and carpooling, and good Chinese and British characters.

The committee consisted of 54 people, including political, industry, and entertainment luminaries such as Irving Berlin, Katherine Cornell, Marshall Field, Edsel Ford, Helen Hayes, Henry Luce, Paul Robeson, David Sarnoff, Spyros Skouras, and Thomas J. Watson.

A non-profit corporation War Shows, Inc. was created to oversee the business aspects; the ticket revenue was turned over to the Army Emergency Relief Fund.

A great number of civilians with experience in professional exposition and public production were called on to support the six-month tour, including father-and-son outdoor show producing team Frank and John Duffield, NBC's Blevins Davis, and Ringling Brothers transportation expert George Smith.

[97] In 1940, even prior to being drawn into World War II, President Roosevelt urged every American to consider the effect if the dictatorships won in Europe and Asia.

[99] Hitler, Tojo, Mussolini and their followers were the villains in American film, even in cartoons where characters, such as Bugs Bunny, would defeat them[69]—a practice that began before Pearl Harbor.

[105] In one speech, Henry Wallace called for post-war efforts to psychologically disarm the effect of the Axis powers, requiring schools to undo, as far as possible, the poisoning of children's minds by Hitler and the Japanese "warlords.

[79] The diary of a dead Japanese soldier, which contained an entry coolly recounting the execution of a downed airman, was given considerable play as a demonstration of the true nature of the enemy.

[143] One OWI suggestion for adapting "pulp" formulas was a sports story of a professional baseball team touring Japan, which would allow the writers to show the Japanese as ruthless and incapable of sportsmanship.

The problem was with negative rumors, that spread much faster than good news, and threaten to weaken home front morale or make American groups fear or hate each other.

Historian D'Ann Campbell argues that the purpose of the wartime posters, propaganda, and censorship of soldiers' letters was not to foil spies, but "to clamp as tight a lid as possible on rumors that might lead to discouragement, frustration, strikes, or anything that would cut back military production.

"[192] Many artists and writers knew that keeping up morale was important, but considerable debate arose over whether to go for light frivolous diversions, or to impress the severity of the war to stir up support.

[193] Many stories were set in the frontier era or on family farms, to emphasize traditional virtues such as hard work, innocence, piety, independence and community values.

[210] Women were encouraged to help with conservation in their cooking, saving fat and grease for explosives,[16] and rationing sugar, meat, butter, and coffee to leave more for the soldiers.

[211] Fiction often depicted a heroine who spent her high wages on fancy dress, but found that her soldier boyfriend disapproved until he learned she had a war job.

[229] These posters were used to persuade workers to take shorter breaks, work longer hours, and produce as many tools and weapons as possible to increase production for the military.

[250] Key symbolic figures such as "Rosie the Riveter" and "Mrs. Casey Jones" appeared in posters across the country representing strong women who supported their husbands in the war effort.

[261]The female war worker was commonly used as a symbol of the home front, perhaps because, unlike a male figure, the question of why she was not serving in the armed forces would not be raised.

[272] The appeal for women workers suggested that by performing war work, a woman supported her brother, boyfriend or husband in the armed forces, and hastened the day when he could return home.

[74] The first part of the film depicted the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, recounted past failures to invade Russia, and described Russian scorched earth and guerrilla tactics.

[74] The Nazis Strike covers the seizure of land starting with the Anschluss and concluding with the invasion of Poland, as it depicts Hitler creating an enormous military force.