British propaganda during World War II
A wide range of themes were addressed, fostering hostility to the enemy, support for allies, and specific pro war projects such as conserving metal and growing vegetables.
[2] The MOI was keenly aware of the value of commercially produced entertainment films in furthering the national cause generally and maintained close contact with film makers: The Ministry both advised the producers on the suitability of subjects which they had suggested and proposed subjects which we thought would do good overseas.
[3]As a result, the typical British war film attempts to construct a gripping suspense story which at the same time conveys propaganda ideas in support of the Allied cause.
Kenneth Clark, as head of the Films Division of the MOI, argued in 1940 that the public must be convinced of German brutality, stating "we should emphasise wherever possible the wickedness and evil perpetrated in the occupied countries.
"[4] Subsequently, the Home Planning Committee felt it essential to portray fully "the evil things which confront us ... to fortify the will to continue the struggle".
"YOUR COURAGE, YOUR CHEERFULNESS AND YOUR RESOLUTION WILL BRING US VICTORY" (All versions capitalised, second printing included considerable underlining of nouns for even more emphasis) and "Keep Calm and Carry On".
The original designs were approved for mass production and distribution in April 1939, though there were rarely displayed, and remaining stock was pulped in 1940.
[7]: 40 On the anniversary of Hitler's premature declaration of victory against the Soviet Union, in 1941, copies of the Völkischer Beobachter reporting the story were dropped on Germany.
[8] A few weeks after D-Day, crates of books were landed in Normandy, to be distributed to French booksellers; an equal number of American and British efforts were included.
[5]: 110–111 Edward R. Murrow's broadcasts of the Blitz were particularly useful in propagandising the United States, because of his calm, factual, and unopinionated manner; he received full rein and facilities, even access to Churchill.
[7]: 198 Propaganda was deployed to encourage people to volunteer for onerous or dangerous war work, such as factories or Home Guard.
[7]: 25 Many were, in fact, brought back during the Phoney War, and the government redoubled efforts to persuade them to let the children remain away.
Instructions included the advice that torches should be pointed downwards to avoid blinding people,[23] that care should be taken while crossing roads,[24] and that when alighting from a train, passengers should check that the door opened on to a platform.
[7]: 111 Propaganda was deployed to encourage people to economise on travel, save waste paper, and to obey rationing.
[7]: 149 Propaganda also publicised that pregnant women could get orange juice and vitamin pills by bringing their ration books and medical certificate to the Food Office.
[7]: 183 Because the war limited other options, the bus system was overloaded, and posters urged people to walk for short distances, to ease the burden.
[40] Alternative history novels depicted Nazi invasions of Great Britain as a form of "cautionary tales".
[42] The instant—and unauthorised—rejection of the peace terms of Hitler's 19 July 1940 speech by Sefton Delmer on the BBC produced a great impact on Germany; Goebbels believed it had to show governmental inspiration, and while propaganda efforts were made to talk the British around, the German press were instructed to attack the rejection.
[44] Although Winston Churchill found the disaster at Singapore and the loss of Burma, Hong Kong, and Malaya humiliating, Brendan Bracken, the minister of information regarded it as impossible to rouse the British to sentiments similar to those the British public held toward Germany, as the Japanese were across the globe and the Germans there, and his views prevailed.
[52] Italy's entrance to the war was derided for their having waited until victory looked secure, but the anti-Italian feeling never reached the pitch of anti-German sentiment.
[65] Prior to the German attack on the Soviet Union, the USSR was treated with hostility, such as when a paper explained that Tchaikovsky was a product of Tsarist, not Bolshevist, Russia.
[6]: 84–85 The British Ministry of Information put out a booklet on countering ideological fears of Bolshevism, including claims that the Red Terror was a figment of Nazi imagination.
This inspired George Orwell to leave the BBC and write Animal Farm, which was suppressed by the Ministry until the end of the war.
[70] The news coverage of the Blitzkrieg attack was produced in America in the hopes that the public opinion of supplying the UK would turn in their favour.
At the end of May, Advertiser's Weekly noted that "sex appeal" had been introduced in the form of a beautiful spy, whom they insisted on "christening Olga Polovsky after the famous song."
In June 1941 they further noted that, having covered public house talk, wayside conversations with strangers, and "harmless chat" with friends when on leave, the government believed they had identified "the major problem" at last.
