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Propaganda and Poster Art
Propaganda and Poster Art
Propaganda and Poster Art
As the researcher, I attempt to describe the poster art of the four main
superpowers during the Second World War , namely America, Britain, Soviet Russia and
Germany. While discussing about the poster art and propaganda through the same by these
major powers, I have covered the themes on which poster art was frequent. These themes
predominantly relegated to the sphere of national security, intimidating the enemy, uplifting
the condition of women etc. I have also traced the development of poster art in Germany
along with the growth of a cult that was loyal to the Fuhrer. The sole reason due to which
poster propaganda of Germany remained the important pillar of their dogged determination
was the growth of this cult. Lastly I have concluded by showing the underlying causes of the
poster propaganda of these superpowers and providing a list of illustrations of some of the
posters.
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Introduction:
community for achieving military and political dividend with the strategic use of visual or
cave paintings depicting groups of men fighting, suggested that war time art was prevalent in
and intimidate the enemies. It contains no aesthetic detail but contained struggle and facts. In
Laura Brandon’s book, ‘Art and War” she unites that art was the most important medium to
reach out to the common masses. Propaganda through art and posters were primarily released
for motivating and instilling a sense of responsibility for war effort the civilians and the
1
Christopher C. Thomas, ‘A Thousand Words: Themes and Trends in Home Front Poster Propaganda of the
Second World War’, (Texas: A&M University), 2007
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soldiers. Various scholars have demonstrated by using privacy and secondary sources that
there remains a blurred distinction between art and war. Since expression of culture through
the artistic element is always the primary feature of art, art that developed at the time of
Second World War mainly the posters focused an economic hardship and sought to renew the
spirit of nationalism thereby also establishing a national culture. As posters were not at all
inexpensive, they were accessible to all and capable of disseminating political messages to
the public.2
Art specially poster art remained the most effective tool during the
second world war for disseminating fear, motivation, ideology, responsibilities towards the
powers, namely America, Britain, Russia and Germany during World War II having different
themes like patriotism, national security, war production, internal alliances and intimidating
the enemy.3
meanings and propaganda used by the four superpowers to inculcate a sense of war time
implications during World War 2. In America, after the attack on Pearl Harbour, a sense of
urgency surrounding the American industry and the shift to consumer goods- masculine men
2
ibid
3
Jennifer M. Wilcott, ‘Wartime Art : A Study of Political Propaganda and Individual Expression in American
Commercial Combat Art during World War II’, Buffalo State University.
3
operating machines became very prominent. There was a growing need for factories. The
War Department and War Production Boards released posters promoting workers, managers,
for recruitment in factories of artillery. The production of posters from ‘National Association
of Manufacturers’ aimed to promote industry, which was the key component for defence of
the country. These posters sought to insert spirit of guilt, fear and revenge among people, so
that civilians of USA would participate in these jobs. The posters of ‘We can do it’(fig.1) for
the first time broke the stereotype that women should remain in domestic sphere. USA
government focused on the propaganda of recruiting women in the home front. Mareen
Honey- a scholar has been a pioneer in this field. According to her, as American men were
shipped off overseas, women required jobs for sustaining themselves. The Second World War
produced the necessary changes in womens’ ability to enter the work force. Posters like
‘Longing won’t bring him back sooner, Get a Job’ (fig.2) were used to inspire young women
Northern Ireland having distinct identities that has remained a cause of discord throughout
history. These 4 countries came together to form the United Kingdom. But they retained their
Crisis began in 1937, when Neville Chamberlain became the Prime Minister.
Hitler wanted to create the living space or ‘Lebensraum’ for Germans at that point of time, to
which Chamberlain followed a policy appeasement.4 With Hitler invading Poland and the
4
Auriol Weigold, Churchill , Roosevelt and India, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group,2008
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outbreak of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was challenged by an outside force
that threatened to invade the UK. At that point of time, the goal of the Ministry of
The most effective way to unify people at the time of war, was through poster
art. For instance, the ‘Keep calm and Carry on’ (fig.3) poster, printed in 1939 became the
icon of Britishness, representing the British identity for the very first time. In his book, John
M. Mackenzie, ‘Propaganda & Empire: The Manipulation of British Public Opinion, 1880-
1960’ analysed posters printed by the UK government. Usually, the posters contained a sly
sense of humour, featuring cartoons, jokes, etc, in an effort to make war time seem a bit
lighter. For example, The ‘Careless talk Costs Lives’ displayed the caricatures of the enemy
reduction of wastes and stretching resources. Posters like ‘walk short distances’, ‘Dig for
Some posters also promoted historical pride and patriotism, by reminding the
citizens of the country’s successes and portrayed prominent leaders like Winston Churchill as
in the posters of ‘We beat ‘em before, we’ll beat ‘em again’(fig.5). Some of them promoted
unity among the citizens. The best example of this kind of a poster featured mens’ forces
The British Ministry of Information used to convince the citizens that they
must sacrifice for the country during the war than face consequences of losing to the Fascist
Germans. The poster by Railway Executive Committee, ‘Is your journey really necessary’
targeted the upper class citizens so that they did not waster valuable resources on frivolous
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The poster ‘Mr. Hitler wants to know’(fig.6) portrayed Adolf Hitler having an
The poster of ‘Be like Dad, Keep Mum’ hints on gender roles of that period.
Literally, mum means keeping quiet but this poster also hinted at the fact that it was a man’s
Churchill released posters as a form of propaganda to garner support and foster unity among
the estate system containing 6 estates from the top- Royalty- We reign, Church – we pray for
you, Judiciary - we judge you, Military- we protect you, Peasantry – We feed you and lastly
the working class was told “ and you must work”. This poster is a classic example of haves
unite”(fig.7) was commissioned by the publishing house of the All Russian Central
5
Elizabeth Tate Goins ‘ Promoting Unity Through Propaganda: How British Government Utilized Posters During
The Second World War’ Western Kentucky University, 2011.
http://digitalcommons.wkuedu/stu_hon_theses/340 Retrieved on: 8th October
6
Lisa Khrischenbraum, ‘Our Cities, Our Hearths, Our Families Local Loyalties and Private life in World War II
Propaganda’ Slavic Review, 59,no 4, 2000 : pp 825-847
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Committee of Soviet workers, peasants, red army soldiers and Cossack deputies. The image
depicted monarchism as a ghastly beast lying on the plate of capitalism. The crown of the
beast is also the symbol of the orthodox church, implying the idea that the Church acts as a
manipulative institution. The plate crushes the workers on it, while some become successful
in defeating it.
After the Bolsheviks victory in the civil war of 1917 and formation of the
Soviet Government they had a precise plan of actions, ideology and turning the world war
goals. The achieved it through poster art and visuals. The image ‘Thanks to Dear Stalin for a
happy childhood’- portraying Stalin in a white suit , resembled purity and the young
generation and hinted at the fact that he is admired by the young generation.
regime nurtured the idea of collective labour and motivated people to work harder.
The poster “All for the front! All for the victory” (fig.8) remained the essence
of the Soviet message that everything has to be devoted to the cause of the war. The tent in
the poster suggests that a range of missiles. Machine guns, rifles, tanks are to be made. The
Another poster, “In the face of Hitlerism” depicting Hitler in the absence of a
military uniform having the skin of an animal showed his monstrous nature.
The main objective of the image “Avenge” was to provoke anger and hatred towards the
invaders by using a physically weak woman and child. Another poster, “For the Motherland,
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For Stalin” depicted a soldier standing in front of tanks and planes. The sole purpose of this
poster was to urge soldiers and motivate them to destroy the enemy that had invaded Russia.7
Propaganda through poster constituted one of the finest and most efficient
tool for the German chancellor Hitler and the Nazi Party against the allied power during the
Second World War. Simple slogans and themes were used for Nazi propaganda. German
freedom and victory clearly showed tow common motifs in early Nazi propaganda reffering
With the rise of Hitler and the growth of a cult, propaganda through
poster became easier. The Nazi Party had campaigned against their chief rivals the
regular basis, the Jews and Russians. To embed the seeds of antisemitism more efficiently the
Jews were portrayed as animals, shadowy monsters interested in money making and usurping
The pro-mi used propaganda to garner support among the population and
troops hammering stereotypical images of the Russian Communist Party, Stalin etc. On other
7
ibid
8
Michael, J. Stout ‘ The Effectiveness of Nazi Propaganda During World War II’. Eastern Michigan University
8
hand true Nazi believers and worshippers sought to cleanse the Soviet Union of ‘Jewish
Bolshevism’. In this content the pro-mi released a poster which portrayed a monstrous
looking Stalin with his sharp teeth trying to bite down on a German Helmet emphasizing on
the results of the 1941-42 results of Soviet. With the Nazi seizure of Stalingrad another poster
Moreover, after the War and surrender of Germany, people lost its faith in
the leadership. Yet what was commendable about the German propaganda and the
mastermind behind them- Goebbles- was how he adapted and changed the style of
propaganda. The portrayal of the savagery in the Eastern front, Jews as monsters,(fig.9) the
Red Army had one key link in all of them- and that was the myth of Hitler. Thus the overall
picture of poster propaganda boiled down to three common elements- Propaganda and the
people, propaganda and the troops and the myth of the Fuhrer.
The creation of a Fuhrer cult coupled with soldiers and civilians loyal to Hitler
resulted in the dogged German spirit of providing resistance to the allies during the War.
Indoctrinated German youths and fanatical bodyguard units willing to serve Hitler resulted in
Conclusion:
The propaganda posters of the four important super powers cover the themes
of national security, intimidating the enemy, patriotism and women empowerment at the time
of War. But what remained the most distinguishable feature of all the four categories of
poster art was the German poster propaganda that revolved around a cult of Hitler and the
worshippers of ‘Fuhrer’. As a result, almost all the posters by the Propaganda Ministry had
9
ibid
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this as a key link in every poster. Thus it can be concluded that poster propaganda remained
List of Illustrations:
fig.1 : We Can Do It
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fig.3: Keep Calm and Carry on
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Courtesy: Google Images
Again
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fig.6: Mr. Hitler wants to Know
fig.7 : international
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fig.8: All for the front! All for the victory
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Bibliography:
http://digitalcommons.wkuedu/stu_hon_theses/340
Francis Group.2008.
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