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World War Two

While the main focus of World War I propaganda was the purchase of Liberty Bonds, the propaganda of World War II took on different forms. There were movies, posters and cartoons. Every item of propaganda was used to encourage Americans to support the war effort. The propaganda of World War II took on racist overtones. Japan was especially attacked. The Asian population looked different and had different values than the American population. Thus, the Japanese became a target for racism.

Propagandists used the race issue to persuade Americans to support the war effort. The films produced for the army by Frank Capra are perhaps some of the most memorable propaganda used by the government during World War II. The seven films that Capra produced were collectively called "Why We Fight." Many of the films focused on the dehumanization of the enemy. Capra accomplished this by using film and other materials captured from the enemy. He would take these images and edit them so that an "anti-Axis" would appear clear to the audience.

In Capra’s films, Germany, Italy and Japan were each attacked. Capra portrayed them all as non-human murderers. "In these grandest of overviews, Japan, Germany, and Italy were hardly to be distinguished. They were the slave world whose histories were swollen with lust for conquest, whose leaders were madmen, and whose people were a subservient mass, ‘a human herd.’" "Know Your Enemy-Japan" was produced by Capra and released during the last month of the war with Japan. The film portrayed the Japanese as robots, bowing to their leaders. Sweeping generalizations were made about the Japanese. In the film, Capra emphasizes that there is a Japanese soldier with certain characteristics. Thus implying that all Japanese soldiers were the same, they did not have any individual thoughts or ideas. This was part of the dehumanization process of World War II propaganda that worked so well.

Der Fuehrer’s Face poster

Propaganda pervaded American society during World War II. Even Walt Disney was involved in propaganda. Children were not exempt from propaganda during World War II. This poster is advertising a cartoon that Disney put out in 1942. Here, we see Donald Duck incapacitating Hitler with an overripe tomato. Even this poster encourages the reader to buy war bonds and stamps for victory.

Keep These Hands Off! Poster

This poster depicts the picture of innocent Americans. An all-American mother clutches her baby, a Gerber baby look-alike. However, the scene is not so innocent. We see two misshapen hands with long fingernails, threatening to grab at the mother and baby. One hand had the swastika, obviously representing Germany and the threat of the Nazis and Hitler. The other hand has the sun that represents Japan. These hands are monstrous, they do not appear to be normal human hands. The faces that belong to the hands are not shown, this also adds to the dehumanization of the enemy. However, the reader of the poster is assured that if they buy the new Victory Bonds to help contribute to the war effort, the innocent mothers and children of America will be safe from the horrific enemies of Japan and Germany.

Stop this Monster that Stops at Nothing…PRODUCE to the Limit! Poster

The non-human image of the enemy in this poster is obvious. Portrayed here is a two-headed monster. One head is wearing a Nazi soldier helmet, and the other is wearing a Japanese symbol on his hat. This monster is clutching the statue of liberty in one hand, while trying to fend off American advances with the other. The hand that is staving off America holds a torch that has a dagger for a handle. Both of the heads, meant to represent Germany and Japan have fangs as well as teeth. The Japanese head has blood dripping from his fangs as well as severely slanted eyes. Yet, the poster assures us that if Americans would just produce to the limit, America could fend off these evil monstrous forces. A shining, human hand is holding a wrench with the inscription "production." The viewer of the poster is supposed to believe that production is the key to winning the war.

Japanese Bat Carrying Bomb magazine cover

This poster is a prime example of the views that many Americans had of the Japanese during World War II. Here, a bat, representing a military leader of Japan (curiously enough wearing swastikas on his shoulders), has a bomb that the viewer is assuming he is ready to drop on America. The bat has long fangs and grossly slanted eyes. On the bomb is what seems to be Japanese writing. The left-hand corner of this magazine cover has the date, December 7, 1941, the date the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The total dehumanization of the Japanese is apparent in this picture. A bat is a disease-carrying rodent. The picture here is not of a person dropping a bomb, but of a complete pointy-eared, fanged vampire that has come to suck the freedom from America.