British Propaganda During World War II

Propaganda is a political tool that has been around for centuries. Heightened in times of war and turmoil, the propaganda efforts during the Second World War saw an unprecedented rise in perceived importance to the war effort. Part of this rise was through new technology, including multimedia outlets such as radios, movies, and news literature. While propaganda became a tool used by every nation, British propaganda specifically, utilized motifs of good and evil in attempts to continually redefine acceptable ideologies not only for its citizens but also for outside countries. British propaganda in the year leading up to, and during World War II, became a way to convey patriotism, influence the masses, and maintain state control over public opinion. …show more content…
Moreover, the Ministry of Information became forced to adapt to the players involved; often the propaganda constituted direct responses to the activities of other countries and more specifically, as opposition to German propaganda. These responses illustrate that while the British attempted to maintain and display control over situations, in reality, they became subject to the nations that their propaganda tried to dictate. These changes leading up to the war required the British to reinvent what was acceptable British behavior and ideology. By dividing my paper into countries (United States, Soviet Union, occupied countries such as France and Norway, and the colonies of the British Empire), I will highlight the rhetoric used in the preparation of this propaganda. This rhetoric often displayed a reaction to maintain a display of strength and to combat the real or perceived threat of Nazi …show more content…
Balfour seeks to determine the context of wartime propaganda efforts by both countries. As a previous Ministry of Information worker, Balfour seeks to use source material varying from government materials, intelligence reports, and published documents. However, Balfour’s study disproportionately looked at German propaganda due to a much more extensive available source collection. Using material such as Joseph Goebbels journal, the author provides a much clearer picture of the Nazi propaganda minister then that of the British counterparts; this detailed study included how Goebbels viewed the effect of the propaganda and the bureaucratic debates that followed. Several authors criticize this book for its lack of analysis and unclear thesis; however, Balfour does suggest that the propaganda’s effect on the course of the war was ambiguous, concluding that it had no apparent impact on the military's war outcome. Despite these critiques, Balfour produces the first example of historical writing that looks at the effects of British propaganda in comparison to another