In the 1930s and 1940s there was a worldwide obsession with war. World War II was the main cause of many nations starting a pro-war movement, especially within Europe, Asia and the United States. All the nations that were involved with the war had their different forms of propaganda but all intentions were the same--- to have their citizens support their country and/or fight for their country. Although many nations had participated in the evil romance of war, the focus of this essay will be the U.S., Germany and Japan and their use of propaganda.
Germany
It was no secret that Nazi Germany used various tactics to romanticize war. On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler justified the invasion and their attack on the Soviet Union. Throughout this explanation, …show more content…
Other books were burned, especially if the authors were socialists, Nazi regime critics, international authors, and Jewish authors (USHMM 1.) (If a writer had criticized Hitler or war, a couple things could happen. First, if a writer were to publish the book, it would have to be done secretly. Second, If the book gets into the wrong hands, the author would be in trouble with the law. Third, the writer would be labeled as a traitor and be punished severely or killed.) Due to this, most of the German books in public places were Pro-War and Pro-Nazi. Throughout WWII, especially when Germans authorities won over the people, Pro-War concepts began to mix with entertainment and media. For example, a child’s game called “Stukas Attack” was created. The object of the game was to move all pieces to the enemy’s airbase and back without getting attacked. The cover of the board game was a violent, graphic image of planes attacking an airbase with missiles (Bytwerk 3.) This game was created to get children to think of war in a positive, fun way and the creators of this game hoped that this would make children inspired to join the Nazi military. Also, posters and caricatures were common in Germany. In the Nazi humor magazine, a picture was published on January 16, 1934. This image was captioned “Then and Now” and it shows a Jewish man stealing a farm (Pre-Nazi era) and he gets …show more content…
American writers and directors began to create movies and television shows about war, but in the 1930s and 1940s, there was an increase in shows and movies that surrounded the concept of WWII. For example, in 1945, the movie “Here Is Germany” was put on shelves. Its “sister” movie was “Know Your Enemy: Japan.” Many Americans have viewed these movies. These movies, like the Japanese films, were to boost the American peoples’ pride for their country and the hatred and/or fear of the enemies: Germany and Japan. Along with movies, the US also used propaganda posters and cartoons with intentions to fire up Americans. These posters were often racist however, the racism was overlooked since, at this time, Americans were extremely crude and many said vulgar things about the Japanese and Germans. For example, many posters referred Japanese to Gorillas, which was no different from Japan’s “hairy demon” comparison.
Learning about the romanticism of war during the WWII era and comparing it to how life is now shows growth. There aren’t any posters about who the enemy is in schools and in public. We don’t constantly get bombarded with war movies about specific political leaders as much as back then. Also, we have generally become a more accepting society, and if there happens to be another war,
Germany
It was no secret that Nazi Germany used various tactics to romanticize war. On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler justified the invasion and their attack on the Soviet Union. Throughout this explanation, …show more content…
Other books were burned, especially if the authors were socialists, Nazi regime critics, international authors, and Jewish authors (USHMM 1.) (If a writer had criticized Hitler or war, a couple things could happen. First, if a writer were to publish the book, it would have to be done secretly. Second, If the book gets into the wrong hands, the author would be in trouble with the law. Third, the writer would be labeled as a traitor and be punished severely or killed.) Due to this, most of the German books in public places were Pro-War and Pro-Nazi. Throughout WWII, especially when Germans authorities won over the people, Pro-War concepts began to mix with entertainment and media. For example, a child’s game called “Stukas Attack” was created. The object of the game was to move all pieces to the enemy’s airbase and back without getting attacked. The cover of the board game was a violent, graphic image of planes attacking an airbase with missiles (Bytwerk 3.) This game was created to get children to think of war in a positive, fun way and the creators of this game hoped that this would make children inspired to join the Nazi military. Also, posters and caricatures were common in Germany. In the Nazi humor magazine, a picture was published on January 16, 1934. This image was captioned “Then and Now” and it shows a Jewish man stealing a farm (Pre-Nazi era) and he gets …show more content…
American writers and directors began to create movies and television shows about war, but in the 1930s and 1940s, there was an increase in shows and movies that surrounded the concept of WWII. For example, in 1945, the movie “Here Is Germany” was put on shelves. Its “sister” movie was “Know Your Enemy: Japan.” Many Americans have viewed these movies. These movies, like the Japanese films, were to boost the American peoples’ pride for their country and the hatred and/or fear of the enemies: Germany and Japan. Along with movies, the US also used propaganda posters and cartoons with intentions to fire up Americans. These posters were often racist however, the racism was overlooked since, at this time, Americans were extremely crude and many said vulgar things about the Japanese and Germans. For example, many posters referred Japanese to Gorillas, which was no different from Japan’s “hairy demon” comparison.
Learning about the romanticism of war during the WWII era and comparing it to how life is now shows growth. There aren’t any posters about who the enemy is in schools and in public. We don’t constantly get bombarded with war movies about specific political leaders as much as back then. Also, we have generally become a more accepting society, and if there happens to be another war,